REMEMBER! A steward is someone who is appointed by God to care for the Earth.
In the Old Testament it is written about the very first humans that:
‘God blessed them, and God said to them; Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’
Genesis 1:28
However, God made it clear that: ‘The land belongs to me and
you are only strangers and guests.’ Leviticus 25:23
According to these sacred texts, we need to begin by accepting three truths: 1. God created the Earth. 2. We do not own this planet. It belongs to God. 3. The Earth is a gift given to us by God. We have been entrusted with its care.
How should we show our gratitude to God for this gift? By taking seriously our responsibilities as stewards, namely:
n Showing due respect for all the different forms of life that co-exist upon the Earth.
n Sharing our planet’s resources fairly and wisely. n Handing on the environment in a living and fertile state to future generations.
n Putting right any harm that has been done to the environment in the past.
There is no better example of Christian stewardship in action than that offered by the life and work of Sister Dorothy Stang.
