St. Gaspar’s Ideal for the Management of Church Goods
As far as the goods, monies, and estates pertaining to the Church go, the Stigmatine is like one of God’s Administrators or Book-keepers, with the servant’s “Power of Attorney” to some extent – appointed by the Church as His Estate Manager. St. Gaspar was convinced that the authentic “Administrator is the Church” [cf. Letter 119, July 20, 1827].
In this reflection, we will try to show the meaning of St. Paul’s idea of the “stewardship of the Mysteries of God” [1] [cf. 1 Co 4:9; cf. Dt 15] as applied to the Church’s handling of valuables. From there we develop a thought about St. Gaspar’s consistent mentality of gratuitous service: his non-acceptance of offerings from a Reverend Mother, Teresa Gamba; his [and the community’s!] non-acceptance of a deceased confrere’s [Fr. Francis Cartolari] substantial bequest; and St. Gaspar’s offer of all the community owned, first to the recently [re-instated] Society of Jesus – and then subsequently to Pope Gregory XVI.
In all of this, St. Gaspar’s sublime motivation was to ask himself in what way would his administration most benefit the Church.
Related document:
 | St. Gaspar Bertoni and his Faith-Inspired Economy of the Goods of God - by Rev. Joseph Henchey, CSS [2015] |
Lecture:
| Economy 01 | |
| Economy 02 | |
| Economy 03 | |
| Economy 04 | |
| Economy 05 |