As I sit writing this reflection, Pope Francis is on the lawn of the White House in Washington D.C., addressing President Obama and the American people on some of the major challenges facing North American society.  He invites us to be good stewards of the earth, “our common home”; to defend and promote authentic religious liberty; and to cultivate solidarity and integral human development, so that the freedom and dignity of all God’s children may be honoured and respected. 

Pope Francis exemplifies the spirituality of Christian stewardship.  He reminds us of our responsibility to care for creation, to care for one another, to care for the kind of world we are leaving to our children and grandchildren.  Because of his spirit of joy and gratitude, he sees all as God’s gift, and therefore to be shared generously for the sake of all.  He lives in a space of deep spiritual freedom, enabling him to be himself and to give himself generously and totally.  Nothing is held back, for all belongs to God.  Now we can’t all be Pope Francis!  Nor are we expected to be.  My vocation is not to become someone else, but to become more fully myself.  But what freedom comes when I realize that all that I am, all that I have, is ultimately a gift of God.  What I do with that, the person I become – this is my gift to God!  God who is generous calls us to generosity. 

Consider the gift of time.  Sixty minutes in every hour.  Twenty-four hours a day.  Seven days a week.  Twelve months in a year.  How many years in a lifetime?!  Time also belongs to God.  We can be tempted, as Christians, to see time given to God in some little compartment called “Sunday Mass”, or “church”, or even “private devotions.”  These are all good things, and we need to carve out those special moments each day, that hour every Sunday, for praise and worship, for connecting with the Lord.  Where a problem arises is when we see this time as somehow “in competition with” or “taken from” the time dedicated to duties, tasks, relationships, and escape valves that fill our days.  It’s a particular temptation in the hectic pace of modern family life, where because of the many pressures of work, school, family, and activities, the time we need to nourish our spirits and deepen our faith is often relegated to the bottom of the priority list.  

Maybe this week, we could prayerfully reflect on the use we make of our time, and ask for the grace to become more aware of how each part of our day, every moment, is filled with the presence and glory of God – and then, strive to consciously live out of that awareness.   Let us experience each day, each hour, each moment as gift.  I guess that’s why it’s called … “the present”!