Choosing the One True God and His Will for Us

In today's first reading, Hosea 11: 1-4a, 8e-9, the Lord confronts His people for placing strange gods before Him: "When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the farther they went from me, sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like the one who raises an infant to his cheeks; Yet, though i stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I  was their leader."

The Israelites abandoned God and followed other nations in their worship of false gods.  They wanted a king, rejecting God as their king, and fell into idolatry like so many others around them.  We, too, have a tendency to worship idols: wealth, pleasure, sex, consumerism, materialism, power and control, technology, TV, entertainment--anything that we allow to consume our attention and occupy our time above God is idol worship.  With what, we need to ask ourselves, do we spend most of our time to the extent that we do not take time to pray, to study the Scriptures,  to meet out responsibilities to build up God's Kingdom on earth, to foster unity among those with whom we live, to save those suffering starvation--starving physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially--in ways we are able to bring relief?  To and from what do I seek comfort and peace more than I do from God, my Creator?

Let us heed the words of today's responsorial psalm: "Let us seek your face, Lord, and we shall be saved"(Psalm 80) from our misguided pursuit of happiness in place of seeking happiness in You above all!  Save us, Lord, from pursuing security in accumulating more and more material things, in increasing excessive wealth, that crowds out our awareness of You and of our responsibilities to love
others as we truly love ourselves and to love them above material comforts.

Serving the Lord Completely and Sincerely

In today's first reading, Joshua 24: 14-29, Joshua assembled the people and exhorts them:  "Fear the Lord and serve him completely and sincerely."  Not halfheartedly! Not only when it is convenient! Don't pretend to be serving Him when you really are serving other gods!  "Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.  If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

"Decide today whom you will serve!"   The same challenge is placed before us! Decide today!  Stop procrastinating! Stop serving other gods because they please you or because your ego is your "king," your savior from all that distresses you! Stop serving other gods because others are doing so and you want their approval! Today, you are to make a decision to serve God, the Lord, or serve false gods, pseudo gods, God substitutes!  What will your decision be?

Joshua reminds the people that they "may not be able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God who will not forgive your transgressions or your sins, [Joshua warns]. If, after the good he has done for you, you forsake the Lord and serve strange gods, he will do evil to you and destroy you."  Resolutely, the people respond:"We will serve the Lord!"   What is your resolve?

Serving God will not be an easy journey. We will, like Jesus, face opposition; for some, even death for God's sake.  The journey is an uphill climb, a climb up to Jerusalem with Jesus. We are not alone on this journey!  Along the way, we will meet critics, persons who will challenge our resolve and tempt us to abandon our commitment to serve the Lord. We also will fail at times, abandon our resolution.  However, we know from Jesus that God is a forgiving God, a God of compassion, slow to anger, a God who has pity on us, as modeled by His Son Jesus, the Christ!

May you and I, with Jesus, in good times and bad, remain steadfast in our resolve to serve the Lord, and not other gods.  May we live by faith, a resolve of our wills, and not by our emotions!  They are passing, like clouds by day or night!  Like Mary, our mother, who said "Be it done to me according to your will," may we also surrender our wills to God's will!

Living for God Alone!

In today's first reading, Philippians 4: 10-19, St. Paul is grateful to the Lord and to the Philippians for being their for him, in good times and bad, in times of abundance and "famine."  Through the strength of the Spirit within him, St. Paul had learned to survive in any circumstance in which he found himself. Out of his abundance and his poverty, he served the people and they helped him. It was a receiving and a giving. Sometimes, Paul  needed the people to give to him out of their abundance and at other times Paul had to give from his abundance.

Like Paul, we are both needy and rich.  At times, out of our richness,  we are able to give and, at other times, in our poverty,  we are the ones who need others to share their riches with us.  We are to learn independence and interdependence, both materially and spiritually! When we learn to take care of ourselves in good times and in "bad," we are then able more efficiently and generously to give to others in their need.

In the Gospel, Luke 16: 9-15, Jesus warns us that, if we are serving "two masters", we will "either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot," Jesus says to us, "serve God and mammon."  We are here on earth to glorify God and to do good to and for others as a means to give glory to our God.  If we divide our attention to glorifying oneself or money, for instance, we will resent the single-minded and single hearted call to give glory to God alone!  As we journey through this life, we are on the way to the realization of our deepest union with God and to become more and more united with others in God!  Our ultimate goal is union with God for all eternity and living in the Kingdom of Eternal Love.

In God's Service in All We Do

In today’s first reading, James 4: 13-17, St. James addresses those of us who say, “‘Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit’—you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears. Instead you should say, ‘If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that.’”  Wow!  St. James might as well have asked us “Who do you think you are? You have no idea whether you will be here tomorrow. And where is God in this plan of yours?”

As I reflected upon James’  message, the thought occurred to me of the greatness of our God. God is in charge. And, yes, God does want us to be planning for tomorrow and the next day, the next month, the next  year, and so on. The key is that we acknowledge “If it is God’s will I will do such and such tomorrow or the next day or the next month or year.” We want our wills to be in harmony with the will of God. We want to be doing what the Spirit leads us to do. Imagine—no, realize—that God is in charge. It is God who directs us and with His direction comes the power to do what is right and good, to make a difference, to bear fruit that will last forever. It is when we allow ourselves to be agents in the hand of Almighty God and when our wills are  in harmony with the will of God that great things happen, that people of faith encounter God in us and are drawn to God. That is why God put us here on earth! No other reason!

Discernment: Serving God--the ultimate goal of one's life

More about having one’s priorities straight in order to reach the ultimate goal in life: serving God. Any vocation—religious life, priesthood, marriage, the single life—has the same purpose, namely, to serve the Lord using our talents and gifts, our strengths and challenges, our educational background and all that has contributed to making us the persons we are before God.  Any choice within our vocation, as well, must be directed toward that end, giving glory to God by our obedience to His will. All in life is a means to that end! One vocation is not better than another, it is simply a different path to which God call us. He calls us to a particular vocation because that is best suited to who we are and are to become.  God wants the best of us and wants us to be where we will thrive and find our greatest peace, joy and love. For some that is in serving the Lord as women  or men religious or as priests.  For others that is going through life with a particular partner in marriage and raising children. For still others it is serving the Lord as single women or men, giving one’s all to careers of service to humankind. Source: Discernment of Spirits by Warren Sazama, SJ, National Religious Vocation Conference, Chicago, IL 60615.