Fr. Kit Issues a Stewardship Call to Care, Dare and Share
Fr. Francisco ‘Kit’ Hernandez SDB was the recollection facilitator at the December 15 ‘Spirituality of Stewardship’ talk organized by the Stewardship Committee for its last quarter formation talk.
Fr. Kit began the recollection by saying that here on earth, there are many temptations. But the Lord is always here with us. It’s important to remind ourselves that we are only transients here on earth, that our final destination is heaven.
Despite our imperfections and weaknesses, he argues that our hearts were made for loving, for caring, for daring to be with others, for sharing. For most of the year, chances are that our hearts have been troubled and loaded with excess baggage. As we begin the Christmas season, we all need a change of heart. We need to have a holy heart, like Jesus. That means we should be willing to give fully, to be forgiving, to be more loving, to be more compassionate, to be more merciful, to listen well, to respect everyone, to love our neighbors, and to work for the common good and in the best interest of everyone.
Fr. Kit spent some time to talk about the stewardship of creation. He asked rhetorically, ‘Why should and how do we show respect for Creation?’ He answered that the earth and all life on it are part of God’s creation. Hence we are called to respect this gift, that is, we are responsible for taking care of the world we live in and for sharing all the wonders and resources the earth has given us. We love God so we need to do everything to make this a beautiful world to live in. Fr. Kit is impressed with humble homeowners who live by the maxim, ‘Tapat ko lilinisin ko.’ As stewards, we are caretakers of this earth, Fr. Kit asserted. Which is why he’s fascinated that the Tagalog word for steward is – ‘katiwala’.
He bemoaned the continuing damage to the environment. ‘The changing environment prompts us to stop and think about how we live on our planet. We are called to adopt new ways of living, as Pope Francis highlighted in his encyclical: On the Care for Our Common Home,’ said Fr. Kit. ‘Unfortunately, it is the world’s poorest communities who are most affected by changes to our planet. We must care for the earth and its resources,’ he added. In the encyclical, Pope Francis criticized consumerism, irresponsible development, lamented environmental degradation and global warming, and called on all the people of the world to take ’swift and unified global action’.
As stewards, we need to share our time, talent, and treasure. But in order to share, we need a happy heart. Fr. Kit ran through the five faith qualities that a steward should possess:
- Personal. His relaJonship to God must be meaningful, inJmate, and deep.
- Reasonable. His acJons and thoughts must be raJonal and understandable.
- CommiNed. The steward must have his prioriJes correct, should feel a sense of responsibility, and be obedient to God.
- Living. The steward’s soul and faith must be alive, growing and dynamic.
- Apostolic. He must be imbued with a firm belief that he was sent to save, to serve and to share.
He ended the sharing as he started it, playing the Kenny Rogers song, ‘Someone Who Cares’, since he thought the words contained so much meaning, in reference to Christ and the Church (‘someone’) and his relationship to each of us (the ‘you’ in the song):
Someone who cares, someone who dare to love you; someone who thinks enough of you, to always be willing to share. Someone who gives, someone who lives inside you, someone who’ll be strong beside you, through all the days that you live. Someone who dreams of being in your mind tomorrow, sharing your joys and your sorrow, helping you see what it means to be loved.
Fr. Kit is a Don Bosco Salesian and currently the Economer of the Don Bosco Seminary in Paranaque. He graduated from UST with a BS Chemical Engineering in 1981, worked for PNOC as a research engineer till 1988, then entered Don Bosco to pursue his bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology, graduating magna cum laude. He then followed this up with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, graduating in 1992, again with magna cum laude honors.
