Rosary Intentions
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| Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for us who have recourse to thee! |
As the weather grows colder, my
intentions today are for those who are homeless. Mother Mary and St. Joseph, you know what it
is like not to have anywhere to stay.
Please watch over them and help them to bear their difficulties with
faith and hope in Christ.
Reflection
The
dishonest steward (Luke 16:1-8) is accused of squandering his master’s
property. I’ve read that this parable
teaches the prudent use of material wealth in the face of a looming crisis.
It makes me
think of how I choose to make use of what the Lord has given me. There are many
ways to squander the Master’s gifts. It
makes me wonder: Do I give appropriate
care to the things that have been entrusted to me?
What about
my wife and children; my granddaughter; my mother? They are beautiful and they love me. Do they get the time and the attention they
deserve, or do I squander time I could be spending with them?
What about
my faith life? Do I take time each day –
more than a few minutes -- for prayer and meditation? Or am I just too overwhelmed with tasks to
worry about such things? Focusing on my
busy-ness to the exclusion of my relationship with Jesus could be construed as
wasting my life.
Let’s not
forget about my work. Do I honor in my
heart and in my deeds my pact with my employer?
Do I make full use of the talents and abilities that have been given to
me? Do I honestly, cheerfully and
responsibly carry out my assigned duties?
Failing to do so is dishonest and erodes my spiritual health.
What about
other people? Do they receive from me
appropriate care, regard, and respect?
Or do I discriminate, backstab, or ignore individuals based on whether
they happen to be useful or attractive to me?
Am I driven
to fill every minute of the day with “productive” activity, or do I spend time
enjoying the poetry, beautiful music or good companionship that the Lord has
provided in such abundance?
When we err,
when we do what is less than perfect, when we do things that we feel like
kicking ourselves for, it is good to remember what Paul wrote to the community
at Rome. (Romans 15:14-21) It is a salutary reminder of where we stand and it
is supported by both scripture and long practice.
To
understand, we need to go all the way back to the book of Genesis, in which we
find that God created humankind and "it was good." Both the act of
creation and the created being are good. Catholics believe that humanity is
essentially good - that we are fallen and broken and wounded, but that we are
essentially good. Some others believe that humanity is totally depraved and
that it is essentially bad - to say it another way, bad in essence, bad to the
very foundation.
That’s just not
so - over and over again, we are reminded of our fallen nature, but we are also
reminded that we are Children of God, and by that designation, we are good.
Additionally, I said that Paul's statement is true in scripture and in
practice. Following the old adage, you are what you eat - if we consume the
flesh and blood of Our Savior, then we incorporate Him into ourselves - He is
ALL goodness. And so, by partaking of the Eucharist, we are "full of
goodness" because Christ fills us each time we receive Him.
So next time
you are down about yourself, remember this essential truth - you are flawed,
you will fail if you rely upon yourself, but you are good at the start, and you
are filled with God's own goodness each time you attend Mass and partake of the
Lord's perfect gift to us.
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