God: the Center of All We Do

In today's first reading, 1 Peter 4: 7-13, Peter admonishes us as follows: "[L]et your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining."  Each of us, he says, "has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God; whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Am I, are you, a good steward of the gifts God has given to us, that is, do we use our gifts for the good of another?  Are we "hospitable...without complaining"?  Note Peter's comment that however we serve others,  however we make the world in which we live, be that our family or community living space, we do so "with the strength that God supplies"!  Without God's strength, we would not be building up God's kingdom of love here on earth!  Furthermore, Peter tells us, the purpose of what we do here on earth, as father/mother, parent/child, priest/religious women/men,  is "that in all things God be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever."

Jesus Christ is the Same Yesterday, Today and Forever

In today’s first reading, Hebrews 13: 1-8, St. Paul admonishes us to allow “love [to] continue, to “not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels. Be mindful of prisoners,” Paul says to us, “as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill-treated as of yourselves, for you also are in the body,” awaiting redemption, as they are.  “Let your life,” he challenges, “be free from love of money but be content with what you have,” for God “will never forsake you or abandon you”.

How fitting for our times, as millions of people seek hospitality, as they flee for their lives and the safety of their children and as they seek refuge in countries not ravaged by war-filled violence of undue proportions.  Millions of people are being ill-treated around the world, including in our own country.  More and more people within and outside of the U.S. face difficult times,  as one nation after another threatens the other with dire consequences if they make choices that threaten the security of us all.  With hatred peppering the speeches of world leaders and threats being hurled toward anyone who challenges leaders from pushing forth their personal agendas, it is likely that hard times lull in our futures. Paul invites us to “[r]emember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”