Our readings today call us to pause for a moment and consider how we respond to God’s love for us each day. 
 
Our Gospel recounts a dialogue between the Pharisees and Jesus. The Pharisees questioned why Jesus’ disciples did not practice the ritual washing before eating a meal. 
 
Jesus’ response reminds us to ask ourselves ‘why.’ Why do we remain faithful to God’s commands? Why do we pray or go to Mass? Why do we participate in the sacraments? Why do we love others?
 
Often, we are living our faith a certain way out of obligation, fear, or duty. But Jesus reminds us that the greatest way to live out our faith is through love. Our faith has obligations to provide us opportunities to love, honor, and praise the Lord. They are meant to aid us on our personal journey with Jesus Christ. 
 
St. James reminds us that every moment of each day is an opportunity to respond to God’s infinite love for us with love and gratitude in return. 
 
If we approach our relationship with Jesus with this in mind, then we begin to realize that the gift of the Mass is an opportunity to worship God, the sacraments are ways to draw us closer to Him and His commandments are opportunities to love Him more faithfully. 
 
And if we approach our day-to-day moments with this in mind, then we begin to see just how many blessings God has given us. Looking at life through the lens of gratitude helps us to see each moment as a gift with endless opportunities to respond in love. 
 
This is how we ought to live our lives as Christian stewards — by recognizing our lives as a gift and an opportunity to love God in response to how He has loved us. 
 
— Stewardship Reflections by Catholic Stewardship Consultants

Our readings offer us examples of how we should be living, and they present us with an opportunity to make a radical change in our lives. 
 
In our first reading, Joshua tells the leaders of the Israelites to decide as to who they shall serve in this life. As he presents them with this choice, he boldly states, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Who or what does your household serve? Whether you are a household of one or twelve, now is the time to decide, ‘will we serve the Lord?’ 
 
We are constantly bombarded with endless distractions around us. It can be very easy to serve other ‘gods’ in our lives. For instance, putting technology (phone, internet, TV), kids’ extracurricular activities, our jobs, or our social lives before the Lord. We also might be putting these things above our loved ones, and if we are doing that, then we are putting them above our relationship with God. 
 
With this in mind, we must strive each day to intentionally live as disciples of Christ. It starts with commitment — incorporating personal daily prayer and increasing that prayer week by week, incorporating prayer into our marriages and families, frequenting the sacraments, and serving others. Through this time with the Lord and service to those around us, He will reveal to us where to go next. 
 
Reflect on how you may not be putting God first in your life and decide to respond like the Israelites, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord for the service of other gods… Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
 
— Stewardship Reflections by Catholic Stewardship Consultants

Today we celebrate the Assumption of Mary — the moment she was taken up, body and soul, into heaven. This day reveals much about our Holy Mother. Next to her Divine Son, Mary truly is the model steward for us as we journey through this life. 
 
Our Gospel recounts the story of Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth who was soon to deliver John the Baptist. Mary truly is a dwelling place for Christ. Even baby John the Baptist noticed as he leaped in his mother’s womb upon Mary’s greeting! We too are called to be a dwelling place for the Lord. Yet for Christ to dwell in us, we must prepare our hearts for Him. 
 
Mary was prepared for Christ to reside in her, and her Magnificat expresses how we can imitate her and prepare a place for Christ in ourselves: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord…” 
 
How can we proclaim the ‘greatness of the Lord?’ It is simply by how we choose to live our lives. Each day is an opportunity to grow as a disciple of Christ. We can choose to rise each day in prayer, respond to those around us in kindness, serve in our vocations and occupations from a place of love and selflessness, and use our gifts and talents for the glory of God. 
 
As we reflect on the life of Mary today, let us strive to imitate her in proclaiming the greatness of God by how we live our lives. Let us celebrate her as our Mother, our Queen, and a Model Steward. She is not distant or out of reach, rather, she is as close to us as a mother to her baby — constantly watching, interceding, and guiding us to be with her Divine Son in eternal life.
 
— Stewardship Reflections by Catholic Stewardship Consultants

Our readings today continue to educate us on the Eucharist. 
 
Jesus tells us in our Gospel that He is this Food that sustains us as He says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven…and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” This bread He is referring to is His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity that we receive. This bread becomes the flesh of Christ Himself. 
 
And in consuming Him, we receive every grace we need to live forever in eternal life. We are strengthened in virtue and united more closely to Christ. This is the Food that will fill us as we journey through this life. 
 
Mistakenly we often take the Eucharist for granted. Maybe we come to Mass to “check the box” instead of actively partaking in this intimate exchange or we receive Jesus in the Eucharist and then forget about Him the second we leave the church after Mass. 
 
To receive all that God wants to give us in the Eucharistic, we must do our part in being receptive to His grace and living out active discipleship in our day-to-day lives. 
 
Let us approach the Lord acknowledging His Divine Presence and be open to all the graces He desires to pour out on us. Then we must go forth, being attentive to the moments that the Holy Spirit is calling us to act as He acts — in total love and sacrifice. 
 
The Eucharist affects our lives more than we can comprehend. We are receiving God Himself. Let us strive to receive Him reverently and with open hearts. 
 
— Stewardship Reflections by Catholic Stewardship Consultants