Losing One's Life for the Sake of God

In today's Gospel, Mt. 10: 37-42, Jesus says to us "whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  You may have seen the Special Olympic race in Seattle a few years back when, as the race started, a little boy lost his footing and another racer came back to help him. Seeing that, the other six racers returned to the starting line also to help!  It was not about winning for those children, it was about helping another little boy who had fallen and scraped his knee and elbow in the process. I also recall seeing, in another racing incident, an example of "losing" and thus finding.   A racer falls down during a race and a fellow racer stops to help him. Both lose the race but know what Jesus meant in today's Scripture!  The generosity of God to those who  put helping others ahead of material gains is beyond measurable now and in eternity!

We see God's generosity working through Elisha in today's first reading.  A wealthy woman built a room on the roof of her home and furnished it so that the prophet Elisha, when he visited again, would have a place to stay. Elisha, in turn, wants to do something for this woman and asks: "'Can something be done for her?' His servant Gehazi answered, 'Yes! she has no son, and her husband is getting on in years.' Elisha said, 'Call her.' When the woman had been called and stood at the door, Elisha promised, 'This time next year you will be fondling a baby son.'"

God is never outdone in generosity!  How generous am I, are you, in being there for others and giving a helping hand? Would I, would you, do what the one special Olympiad had done to help one of the racers who lost his footing and thus risk losing the race oneself? 

Lord, may I have my priorities straight! May I live for You and not for things this world promises when such would replace doing what the Spirit invites me to do.

Bringing Others to Jesus

In today's Gospel, Mark 2: 1-12,  crowds surround Jesus seeking healing.  Four men bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus but are unable to get close to  him, so they lower the man from the roof.  Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralyzed man: "Your sins are forgiven."  Some scribes observing Jesus  say to themselves: "Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?"  Jesus knows what they are thinking and asks them: "Why are you thinking such things in  your hearts?"  Turning to the man on the mat, he says to him:  "...[R]ise, pick up your mat and go home." The man does so, thus Jesus emphasizes His power to both forgive sins and to heal the sick! Others there, contrary to the scribes, are astounded and burst into praise of God, saying: "We have never seen anything like this."

Who am I in this story:  someone who needs friends who will take  me to Jesus, one of the scribes questioning Jesus' authority and accusing Him of blasphemy, one of the persons in the crowd astounded by what Jesus has done and glorifying God, one who forgives others and thus being a source of healing for them?

I have choices to make every day! By some of those choices I distance myself from Jesus, others paralyze me spiritually, emotionally or physically. Other choices draw me closer to the Lord as I do what Jesus would do.  Still other choices give glory to God and lift my own faith and that of others!

What choices have I made today? yesterday? What do I need to do differently tomorrow so as to draw closer to the Lord, give glory to God and strengthen my faith and that of others?

God's Got Our Back!

Both readings of today's liturgy, Numbers 11: 4b-15 and Matthew 14: 13-21, speak of God providing food for His people. In the desert God sent manna from heaven each day.   "At night, when dew fell upon the camp, the manna also fell." In the Gospel, the disciples ask that Jesus "dismiss the crowds so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves" as it was getting late. Jesus replies:  "There is no need for them to go away." The disciples discover that someone in the crowd of 5000+ people has five loaves and two fish. Jesus takes "the five loaves and two fish" and feeds the crowd of "about five thousand men, not counting women and children." We are told that "all ate and were satisfied."  In the desert, on the other hand,  the people complained about  God's choice of responding to their hunger by sending them manna to eat. They were angry about having no meat.

In the Gospel, the disciples could not believe that there was anything that could be done to feed a crowd of 5000+ people with only two fish and fives loaves of bread.  God's response to the Israelites in the desert and to the disciples gathered around Jesus, is one of patience. God had a plan then and does now in your life and mine!

In these two stories, we could be like the Israelites in the desert who are fed up with "manna" and complaining that life, in the past, was much better than it is now. Or we might identify with Moses, who goes to God and says:   "Where can I get meat to give to all these people? For they are crying out to me 'Give us meat for our food.' I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you will deal with me, then please do me the favor of killing me at once, so that I need no longer face this distress."  Might we be like the disciples in the Gospel who want Jesus to send the crowd away and not be bothered to feed any of them?  Some of us might be like the person in the crowd willing to share the little he/she has, trusting that God will provide. And, finally and hopefully, many of us are like the people who are fully satisfied, at the end of any day, that God has generously met our needs this day so that, in turn, we can meet the needs of others as well.

Whoever you are in these stories, may you humbly go to God and share your story!

A Gospel Challenge

In today’s Gospel, Luke 16: 19-31, the evangelist presents the story of Dives and Lazarus. Dives,  a rich man,  ignores the needs of Lazarus, a poor, very ill man who sat outside the gates leading to the rich man’s property.  Dives  is deaf to the cries of the poor and blind to their needs, using all of his wealth for himself and his family. Both men die! Dives, by his sins against the poor, has shut the door to enjoying God’s presence in eternity and ends up in eternal torment, while Lazarus enjoys eternal bliss at Abraham’s side.  Dives begs Abraham: “’Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’  Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus…received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’”

Who am I in this story? Dives or Lazarus? Am I rich financially and using those riches only for myself or am I financially strapped, not knowing how I will provide for my family’s needs for food, shelter, medical care, education, clothing and thus dependent upon those who are better off to be generous in sharing of their riches? Also, am I rich or poor spiritually, socially, and intellectually? With which talents has the Lord blessed me?  Do I share my riches—my joy, my faith, my hope, my love, my caring, my compassion, my  upbeat personality? Do share my talents—whatever I am good at because of professional training or natural talent? Do I share my giftedness—and we are all gifted--with others, or hoard my gifts and blessings for personal use only, for my own comfort here on earth,  ignoring the needs of others, not caring that their rights are being violated by me or anyone else?

Furthermore, I might ask myself:  Am I building  “a kingdom” for myself here on earth and for
me alone?” Or am I concerned that everyone has what he or she needs to provide for their families and for themselves and that I, when possible, share of my wealth, whatever that might be? In other words,  am I preparing myself to enjoy God’s kingdom in heaven that is reserved for those who are mindful of the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized of our societies and who use their gifts to serve others and to make the world around them a better place? Am I a “Dives” or a “Lazarus”?  

Storing One's Wealth for Personal Use Only or Sharing It?

In today’s Gospel,  Luke 12: 13-21, Jesus reminds us that our lives do not “consist of possessions,” not that possessions are bad but that such is not what life is about.  Life is about love, loving, and being loved; about caring and showing others that we care, about compassion and being compassionate, about understanding and being understood, about consoling and being consoled, about forgiving and being forgiven. It is all about relationships, about modeling our relationships on the relationships of the Trinity, where all share equally in the Trinitarian resources,  where each in included in the activity of the other and equally contributing, equally rewarded and compensated;  where each Person of the Blessed Trinity is of one in mind, one heart and one spirit, committed to doing good and being goodness in the lives of all humankind, reconciling us to our Creator God.  The Trinity models love.

The core realities of life spiritually, I believe, are faith, hope and love--love of God, love of self, and love of one’s neighbor.  The expression of love is the richest of life’s experiences and transcends all of life.  Of faith, hope and love, only love lasts eternally. Am I using my surplus to show love and concern for others, or am I hoarding it? The use of wealth for the benefit of others enhances love. The accumulation of wealth for its own sake, to “build larger” storage spaces to “store” one’s good, and then say to oneself, as the rich man in today’s Gospel, now I have”so many good things stored up for many years,” I  will rest, eat, drink and be merry” the rest of my life. (cf the parable in Luke 12: 13-21) can be a source of hardening one’s heart toward another’s plight and need for compassion.

What do I do with the wealth with which I am blessed?