Working The Clay

The prophet Isaiah in today's first reading offers us one of Scripture's most beautiful images of God. God is the potter, and we are the clay. Like an artist, God is busy molding and shaping us. He is not some distant, impersonal force watching over the world the way a little boy might look at an ant farm. Rather, God is involved in our lives, calling us to recognize his great love and inspiring us to show it to the world.

The question we might naturally ask is, "If God is so active in the world, why is it such a mess?" Isaiah himself asks this question when he writes, "Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?" It is a question that mankind has been asking for thousands of years.

One simple answer is that God is not done with the world yet. Before the potter gets his hands on it, clay is just a lump of wet mud. The potter has to place it on the spinning wheel and then form it gently but firmly into whatever shape is pleasing to him. Then, the clay must be baked in a kiln, and once it is removed, the paint can be applied. It is a long process to go from a lump of clay to a beautiful vase. And, it is a long process to lead humanity out of its selfishness into the wisdom of God.

If there's one thing we can say about God it is that he is in no rush. God takes the time he needs to get things right. He has all the time in the world! He took millions of years to form the universe and eventually to form the earth. He took millions more years to make the earth suitable for life and to sustain humans. Then, he took many centuries to form the people of Israel. Over the course of several more centuries, he taught them to hope for a Messiah. Then, in the fullness of time, Jesus was born to save us from our sins. Now, God is preparing the world for the time in which Jesus will come again to create a new heaven and a new earth.

We don't know how long it will be until the world comes to an end. But, it will come to an end. And, when it does, Christ will be revealed as the King of Creation, and those who have believed in him will reign with him in glory. As Saint Paul tells us in the second reading, "He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." God's masterpiece, which he fashioned patiently with his own hands, will then be complete.

There's another reason why the world can be such a mess. Very simply, we don't give God permission to work on us. We keep trying to get in the way of God's plan. Clay does not have a mind of its own. It cannot jump out of the potters hand or out of the kiln. But, human beings are always running away from God. We'd rather stay a wet lump of cold mud than be transformed into something beautiful by him. Even believers very often find it difficult to trust God enough to let him take control of their lives. It is a basic human tendency to believe that we know better than God what's good for us and how we should live.

But, God never gives up on us. Like an artist consumed with his work, God is intent on making each of us into the woman or man he dreams we can be. He doesn't see a cold, hard lump of clay when he looks at any of us. God sees something beautiful made in his own image. No matter how we may have tarnished our beauty through sin, God never fails to see the good he has placed within us. And, God will never stop working to bring the good out of us.

The early Fathers of the Church had a beautiful way of describing how God works in the world. They described Jesus and the Holy Spirit as the two hands God the Father uses to shape us. Jesus reveals the truth of the Father's love while the Holy Spirit works within our hearts to inspire us to do good. All this takes place within the course of our lives. When things are going well, the Son and the Spirit work together to make us grateful and generous. In bad times when we are suffering or struggling, the Son and the Spirit teach us to place our trust in God and to allow him to carry us through it. Therefore, whatever situation we may be facing, God is with us, using the circumstances in our lives to help us grow in holiness. With the Son and the Spirit, the Father shapes and molds us into something beautiful.

Today, we begin the season of Advent - four weeks of preparation for the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We wear purple during this time as we do during Lent because it is a season of penance. We are to spend these weeks searching our hearts for the ways in which we fail to let God work in our lives. We are to invite God back, asking him to take us into his hands and mold us into the image of his Son, Jesus Christ. The gospel warns us to be on the look out for the God who approaches us with tenderness and mercy. May he find us ready to welcome him and ready to abandon our lives into his gentle yet firm hands. 

The Saintly Queen Of Portugal

We are all familiar with Jesus’ saying, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God” (Mt 19:24). However, as always, Jesus leaves us with a word of encouragement and hope, “For man this is impossible but with God all things are possible” (Mt 19:26).

Throughout history, by God’s grace, many rich and powerful people have found their way to heaven and are counted among the saints we honor and venerate.

One of those rich and powerful persons who became a saint was Saint Elizabeth of Portugal.

She was born in 1271 in Spain. Her father was Pedro III who would later be King of Aragon. Though raised with great wealth and privilege, she always sought to live modestly and humbly. Possessed of an intense love for God, she practiced self-denial and frequent penance from a young age.

As was the custom among royalty of the day, she was given in marriage at the age of 12 to King Dinis of Portugal. During those years, she suffered greatly because of his infidelity. Though they had only two children together, he fathered as many as seven children with other women. Nonetheless, Saint Elizabeth was determined to remain faithful to her husband and to lead a model Christian life in hopes of inspiring him to convert to a more moral lifestyle.

The greatest sign of her holiness, however, was her care for the poor. To the outrage of her husband, she would often leave the castle at night to bring them food, clothing and money. Whenever she learned that a beggar had been mistreated by one of the castle guards, she would usher the beggar in, feed him and treat his wounds.

She also had a profound devotion to the Holy Spirit, directing that a church be constructed in honor of the third person of the Blessed Trinity. When the country was suffering from a long drought, Saint Elizabeth promised to donate her crown to that church if God would bring an end to it.

When the drought did end, she established the tradition of feeding all the poor in Lisbon on Pentecost Sunday. At that celebration, she would choose children from the crowd and place the crown on their heads to symbolize that the poor were the true royalty of Portugal, thus committing herself to serving them as she would any other king or queen. 

Though she was a woman of great wealth and power, she chose to use her privilege not to benefit herself but the poorest members of society. In so doing, she is an example to us of the meaning of the feast we celebrate today - The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Though no one more powerful than Jesus has ever walked the earth, He came to serve and not to be served. And He calls upon us who have any wealth or privilege, no matter how meager, to use it in service of others, especially the poorest and weakest.

In today’s gospel, Jesus makes it clear to us that we will be judged at the end of time. It is a fearsome scene which should grab our attention. Furthermore, He lets us know on what terms we will be judged. Did we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned or welcome the stranger? If we have provided for the needs of others, then we will share His victory and be welcomed into His Kingdom. If we have not, then we will be cast off to eternal punishment.

We should pay very close attention to what Jesus has to say to us. It is not enough to say that we believe in Jesus if we reject Him in the poor. It is not enough to say that we came every Sunday to be fed by Him if we failed to feed Him in the hungry. It is not enough to say that we read the Bible everyday if we did not put into practice its mandate to welcome the stranger.

Though these words may cause us to tremble, they should not leave us without hope. Certainly, all of us have fallen short in one way or another in serving our needy neighbor. But it is possible to turn things around because all things are possible with God.

The first step is to ask God for the opportunity to help someone in need. However, be prepared! This is certainly a prayer God will answer when we least expect it. It could be that we see someone stopped at the side of the road who needs help changing a tire. It could be a student being picked on in the schoolyard who needs someone to stick up for him. We never know when needy people will cross our path, but we should never fail to help them. Why? Because we will need that good deed to be counted in our favor when we stand before the judgement seat of Christ more than whatever money or time helping them cost us.

The second step is to practice self-denial on a daily basis. We often do not serve the poor because we are too attached to money and to comfort. However, serving others means going out of our comfort zone and even taking the risk of being hurt. Saint Elizabeth of Portugal prepared for her life of service by refusing to indulge in  the many luxuries of palace life. If we are to follow her example and win praise from Christ when we stand before Him at the end of time, then we must learn to rely less and less on modern conveniences. This will give us the courage to go out of our comfort zone and also leave us with more money to give to others.

Saint Elizabeth of Portugal followed the example of Christ who came to serve and not to be served. Despite her great wealth and privilege, she sought to comfort others rather than live comfortably. We must do the same. This mandate of Jesus is even more urgent in our day when the gap between the wealthy and the poor is widening. And, the truth is that our time is short. It will not be long before we will have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. What good deeds will we have to ensure that we are counted among those who are blessed? 

The Prison Angel

Mary Clarke was born with every advantage in life. Her father was a wealthy businessman who moved his family to Beverly Hills, California. Among her friends were millionaires and movie stars. Though surrounded by luxury and all the trapping of wealth, she always felt that something was missing.

As a young girl, she had a dream that she was about to be executed on Calvary. Jesus appeared to her and offered to be killed in her place. However, she refused promising Him that she would never leave His side. This dream stayed with Mary and later helped convince her that she would only find happiness and fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

When she reached the age of fifty, her second marriage ended in divorce. With her seven children already grown, she decided it was time for her to realize her dream to dedicate herself totally to God’s service by becoming a religious sister. However, because of her age and divorced status, she could not find a religious order that would accept her.

Nonetheless, she remained determined. Selling her house and all her possessions, she decided to dedicate herself full time to serving the needy. One of her cherished ministries was visiting prisoners. Eventually she decided that visiting them was not enough. In 1977, she moved into a cell in the women’s section of La Mesa Prison in Tijuana, Mexico. Though free to leave whenever she wanted, she otherwise lived under all the restrictions of prison life eating with the prisoners, using the same bathroom facilities and lining up at roll call. She became a prisoner for the sake of other prisoners and came to be called “La Mama” or “Mother” by the inmates.

Her work in the prison was not limited to providing spiritual advice and guidance. Often she would bring blankets and medicine for the prisoners. When they were sick, she would nurse them back to health or sit by their bedside when they died. Despite her love for the inmates, she would never allow them to forget why they were there, the suffering they caused to their victims and their need to repent and change their lives.

In 1997, she fulfilled her dream of becoming a religious sister by starting her own order, The Eudist Servants of the Eleventh Hour, and changed her name to Sister Antonia Brenner. Her heroic service came to the attention of the whole world when a book about her life, The Prison Angel, was published and a documentary later produced.

After nearly forty years of ministry in the prison, Sr. Antonia died on October 17, 2013.

Like Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta or Saint Damien of Molokai, Sister Antonia decided it was not enough to merely visit those in need. She wanted to share her life with them. She wanted to live among them, to experience what they experienced and  to suffer alongside them. In doing so she was also following the example of Jesus who, though rich, made Himself poor for our sake. Jesus did not descend from heaven merely to rule over us but to share our life. He made Himself poor and homeless for our sake. Eventually He was tortured and killed, refusing to use His power to protect Himself from the cruelty of the Roman soldiers. In every way He lived a human life, identifying Himself with the naked, the prisoner and the sick to such an extent that He can say to us, “Whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.”

It is one thing for us to serve the poor. But it is another thing for us to look upon them as brothers and sisters. It is one thing for us to share our surplus money, food and clothing with them. But it is another thing to call them our friends, to know their names, to know their background and to allow them to know us. It is one thing to give of our time to those in need. It is another thing to give of ourselves to them, to inconvenience ourselves or even suffer alongside them.

This is what makes Christian commitment to the poor different from other philanthropic efforts or from the welfare provided by the state. When government agencies step in to help the poor, all they can provide is food, money or housing. Of course, that is good, but it is not enough. There is a deeper ache in each human heart that no amount of material goods can comfort. We need love, friendship and compassion. No government agency can provide that.

That need for love, friendship and compassion is not only felt by the poor but also by the wealthy. It is what unites us as brothers and sisters created in God’s image and likeness. It is what made Sister Antonia restless even though she lived in a Beverly Hills mansion. Jesus Himself felt that need which impelled Him to seek out the poor, the blind and the outcast. Only by going outside our comfort zone to reach out a hand of friendship to those in need will that loneliness within each of us be comforted. Only by living among the poor - by being poor alongside them - can we truly discover Jesus hidden among them.

These are challenging words. They should give all of us - myself included - much to think about. For each of us, the call to not only serve the poor but identify with them will look different. However, it is not an option. Jesus, our King, makes it clear that He will judge us by how we treated them. To receive the blessings of His Kingdom we must become poor ourselves. If we put our lives under the Lordship of Jesus, our King, He will provide us with opportunities to do so. In the process, we will find the unsettled feeling within us subsiding and being replaced with the blessings that only come from God.

Finding Jesus Among The Poor

Many of the Church’s great saints were soldiers. Such a one was Saint Martin of Tours.

Young Martin joined the Roman army at the age of nineteen. Unlike other soldiers his age, he was a sensitive and spiritual man. Though drawn to the teaching of Jesus and inspired by the lives of the Christians he knew, he did not seek to become a Christian himself.

One day while standing guard by a city gate, he noticed a beggar shivering in the cold. Martin took his sword, cut his cloak in half and gave it to the beggar. That night, he had a dream in which Jesus appeared to him wearing the cloak he had given the beggar. In the dream, Jesus was telling his angels, “This is Martin who shared his cloak with me.” When he woke up the next morning, he arranged to be baptized, left the army and dedicated his life to serving the poor and defending the Christian faith.

Saint Martin experienced the promise that Christ makes in today’s gospel. Whatever we do for the poor, the hungry and the suffering,  we do for Jesus. And, whenever we turn our back on those in need, we are turning our back on Jesus.

Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. We know that earthly rulers live in splendid palaces and wear the finest clothes. They move in the circles of the wealthy and powerful. But Jesus is a different kind of King. Though He is almighty and can do whatever He wills, He chooses to associate Himself with the poor, the meek and the humble. Whereas we can expect to find earthly kings in palaces, we can expect to find Christ the King in factories, in slums and in soup kitchens.

If Jesus seems distant, if we have had trouble finding Him and wondered whether He is really present among us, it could be that we have been looking for Him in the wrong place. If we really want to meet Jesus and get to know Him, perhaps we need to find Him among the people He so strongly identifies with. Maybe we need to break out of our circle of friends and acquaintances and take the risk of going out to the homeless shelters, the hospitals, the prisons and the soup kitchens where we will encounter a Savior who makes His home with the poor. If we want to take our spiritual life to another level and deepen our relationship with Jesus, that might be just what God is calling us to do.

Of course, poverty comes in many forms. Often people with plenty of food and enough money can be poor in other ways. They may find themselves isolated and lonely. They may be caught in addictions and harmful habits. Or they may feel lost with no direction and no meaning in their lives. Jesus also identifies with these spiritually poor people. So besides feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, we are also called to pray for those who have died, comfort those who mourn, counsel those who are confused, and teach those who are in error. If we love Jesus and desire to serve Him, we must be ready to provide for the needs of others no matter what they are. We do so with trust that if God puts a needy person in our path He will also provide us with what we need to help him or her.

Jesus’ words in today’s gospel also mean that we have to start looking at people in a different way.  Too many times as a society and as a nation, we talk about the poor, the unemployed and the immigrant as a problem to be solved. Often they become scapegoats for society’s other problems. This is particularly true of immigrants. But people are never problems to be solved. Rather they are individuals whom we must love. Most importantly, they are Jesus in disguise. And we will be judged by how we treat them both as individuals and as a nation.

We are always asking for God’s blessing, and it is a good thing that we do. Could it be, however, that God’s blessing comes to us through the needy people who cross our path everyday? Could we begin to change our outlook to such a degree that we see the homeless person on the corner, the beggar in the middle of the street and our lonely relative as God’s blessing in disguise? Rather than feeling inconvenienced or put out by those who ask for our help, could we see ourselves being blessed by them instead?

Can we also change the way that we look at our possessions? Are they for our use alone, or are they given to us by God to share with others? Could we ever consider doing without so that we could share more of our goods with the poor? Could we ever consider sacrificing one of our most precious commodities -  our time - to visit someone who is lonely and could use a little of our attention? What might not seem like much to us could make a world of difference to someone in need. And we will find ourselves being immeasurably blessed in return. We may come to see and know Christ in a way we never did before.

Jesus is in our midst, but He is hidden among the poor. One day He will come in glory. Then there will be no doubt that He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Everyone will have to acknowledge Him and bend the knee before Him. And each of us will be judged not just on how often we went to Church and not just  on what Church we belonged to but on how we served Jesus in the poor and needy in our midst. Jesus has already revealed to us what the questions on the test will be. He has also provided us with His word to guide us and His sacraments to strengthen us. There will be no excuse for us if we fail to live up to His expectations. At the same time, there will be untold blessings for us if we serve Him in every needy person we meet along the way.

Jesus Christ, The King Of The Poor

Saint Francis of Assisi is one of the Church's most popular saints. With good reason he is considered the one saint whose life most resembled that of Christ. Of all the good works he performed, one kind deed especially stands out. Shortly after he decided to dedicate his life to God, he came upon a leper in the street. It was customary at the time for lepers to ring a bell to warn people that they were approaching. When the young Francis saw the leper's twisted body and open sores, he felt disgusted and revolted. But, just as suddenly, another feeling came over him. His heart was filled with compassion for the man's suffering. Overcoming his feelings of disgust, he rushed over to him and embraced him as a brother. Inspired by today's gospel reading, Saint Francis understood that it was Jesus he was holding in his arms.

Jesus tells us in today's gospel that we will be judged by how we treat the poor and needy in our midst. He does not tell us this story to scare us, but to encourage us. For, when we find the courage to reach our hand out to another in need, something incredible happens. We discover Jesus. As he says, "Whenever you did it for the least of these, you did it for me." Jesus still walks the earth in the form of the neediest among us.

In the first reading, the prophet Ezekiel blasts the "shepherds of Israel." They are both the political and spiritual leaders of the people who have used their authority and power to enrich themselves rather than to protect the sheep. God will not leave the sheep of his flock scattered, terrorized by predators and hungry. If the princes and priests of Israel will not lead, then God himself will come down to tend his sheep. God himself will protect them, feed them and heal them.

This prophecy finds its fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God himself come down from heaven to guide his sheep to everlasting life. His message was not just that a better life was waiting for us in heaven. Rather, Jesus came to show us how even now we could experience the saving love of God. As he told the disciples of John the Baptist, "The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them." With Jesus, the destructive effects of sin and death are being undone and the foundations of a new heaven and a new earth are being laid. It becomes real in the world today by the love which Christians show to those in need.

On this feast day, we proclaim the bold truth that Christ is King! As Saint Paul describes it for us in the second reading, Jesus by his death and resurrection has already won the victory over sin and death. Evil has already been defeated. That victory has been revealed to us through faith. It is hidden to give the world time to repent and to be saved. But the day is coming when Jesus' victory will be revealed once and for all. Then there will be no doubt. All people will have to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Until he comes again in glory, Jesus has left it to us to seek out and find those who are lost. Who in our life needs an encouraging word? Who in our life needs a friendly ear? Who in our life could use a visit? Who in our own home needs to know that they are loved and cared for? Like lost sheep, they will not come to us. If we are to live up to the challenge Jesus is giving us, we must go out to them. 

For Christians, salvation is not just a future event awaiting us after death or at the end of the world. Salvation and eternal life are here, today and now. What we as Christians seek to do is bring heaven and its promises down to earth. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," and so we seek in everything we do to bring the love of Christ to those we meet.

Christ now reigns in heaven above. He has come to earth to bring hope and comfort to those who suffer. That same Christ is still among us hidden in the weak, the poor, the outcast and the sick. Saint John of the Cross said, "At the end of our lives, we will be judged on love." If we serve the suffering Christ in those we meet, we can be assured of reigning with Christ the King in his heavenly glory.  

Small Gifts Of Inestimable Worth

Ernest Gordon was a young man from Scotland who fought in the Pacific theatre during World War II. While traveling from Singapore, he and several other soldiers were captured by the Japanese and sent to the infamous Kwai Valley to join a force of prison laborers building a railway from Thailand to Burma.

The conditions the workers endured during those years were inhumane and cruel. With little food and lacking adequate clothing, they labored from dawn until late in the evening. Because the guards were afraid that they would not meet the deadline imposed on them by the Japanese government for completing the railway, they would beat the prisoners mercilessly to get them to work even harder. Torture was common including hanging prisoners from trees by their thumbs, crushing their heads in vices and burying them alive.

Over 16,000 prisoners died during the construction of the railway. At first, the hope of one day returning home motivated the prisoners to stay alive. Soon, that hope gave way to hatred of their captors and,  later, hope gave way to despair. As Ernest Gordon related it to a journalist, “One grey day succeeded another. Misery, despair and death were our constant companions.”

Eventually, under the harsh conditions, Gordon fell victim to several ailments including malaria and tropical ulcer and was sent to a “death ward” where prisoners would go to die. It was there that he met three men who would change his life. They were devout Christians who sacrificed themselves to care for him and eventually save his life.

Every day, they boiled rags and applied them to his wounds. One of them, sold a watch to buy medicine for him. Often, they would go without food themselves so that he could eat. Though Gordon had experienced nothing but cruelty and torture during his captivity, a light of hope was beginning to shine for him in what had been a living hell.

It became clear to him that what motivated these men to sacrifice themselves to save him was their Christian faith and convictions. Though Gordon had been an agnostic, he embraced Christianity because of their example and started to join them in prayer and good works.

Eventually, Gordon recovered from his illness and regained his strength. When the other prisoners saw that he had not died, the morale among them greatly improved and a new hope motivated them to endure the degrading conditions of the camp. The prisoners began doing good deeds for one another, joining together in prayer and helping one another with their work. As they shared the gospel with one another, they even found the grace to forgive their captors and witness to the guards.

Ernest Gordon survived those difficult years of captivity and was eventually rescued by allied troops. After the war, he became a Presbyterian minister and the chaplain at Princeton University. He tells the story of those years in the book, Through the Valley of the Kwai which was made into a movie in 2001 entitled, To End All Wars.

Ernest Gordon’s conversion experience is a beautiful and moving illustration of today’s gospel message.

The prisoners had very little to give. They were all struggling under the same harsh conditions. However, instead of keeping the little they did have to themselves, they sought to serve one another. Who knows how many lives were saved because of the sacrifices that the prisoners made on a daily basis to treat each other’s wounds and raise each other’s spirits. In particular, the prisoner who sold his watch to buy medicine for Gordon illustrates how much good comes from a small kindness. Who knows where that watch is today? But we are still inspired by the charity which moved him to sell it.

Hearing Jesus’ words in today’s gospel, we might think that we have too little to give. We might wonder what good we could possibly do in a world with so much need. We might even fear that if we give what we have there will not be enough left over for us.

However, it is often true that, those with the least to give make the biggest difference. Besides, the greatest acts of kindness are often those which do not require money or special talents. They are the smiles that we give to strangers to let them know that they are welcome. They are the pats on the back we give to our friends to let them know they have our support. They are stopping for a few minutes to listen to a neighbor who  is having a hard time. These small acts do not cost a dime yet they pay inestimable dividends.

We live in a world in which there is much neglect and cruelty. However, our world suffers perhaps not so much from the evil done but from the good that so many fail to do. Inspired by Jesus’ message and the witness of people like Ernest Gordon, let us go from this place intent on doing what good we can, no matter how small it may seem. As we receive the greatest small gift of all - the Body and Blood of Christ - let us ask God to put His love into our hearts so that we will be generous in giving of ourselves to others. Then despair will give way to hope and hate will give way to love. The light shining forth from our good deeds will light the way forward for others. And, when we appear before Jesus, the Just Judge, we will see how our good works were multiplied over and over again to the glory of God, the Father. 

A Master Who Is Generous

Does the parable in today’s gospel make you feel uneasy? Did it make you think about all you have been given and what use you have made of it? Did it make you wonder why some people have so much and others have so little?

If you did react in any of those ways, it is completely natural. That is why Jesus spoke in parables so frequently. He wanted to shake us out of our complacency. He wanted to challenge the way we look at ourselves, at the world and at God. He wanted to prod us into seeing reality the way that our Heavenly Father does so that we will change our lives accordingly. By their nature, parables are meant to leave us with more questions than answers.

The main point of today’s parable seems clear - we will be judged according to our use of the talents God has given us. But if we reflect closely on Jesus’ words there are some even deeper insights we can gain into the spiritual life and our relationship with God.

The first point is how generous God is.

In the parable, the king gives his servants five, two and one talents. In Jesus’ day, a talent was the largest denomination of money. It was reserved mostly for government transactions. Therefore, the king was not entrusting his servants with token amounts of money, but what would have been vast sums that could have potentially bankrupted him. The king himself was taking a risk in entrusting these talents to his servants.

In the same way that the king was generous in entrusting talents to his servants so our Heavenly Father is generous with His gifts to us. Before we ever can give an account of what we have done with His gifts, we first have to make an inventory of just how much He has given us. It all starts with the gift of life. None of us asked to be born. Our life and everything that goes along with it are a pure gift of God’s generous love.

We were then blessed to be born into a family of people who cared for us and nurtured us when we were at our most vulnerable. None of our families were perfect, but we would not be here if they did not care for us to the best of their abilities. It was in our families that we learned what true love was and how to nurture relationships with others. By having families of our own, many of us have passed that gift of life and love on to others, sharing in God’s creative love.

For most of us, the gift of faith would have been given to us through the witness of our families. They were the ones who had us baptized, who insisted that we attend Mass and live the values of the gospel until we were mature enough to see the truth and value of it for ourselves. That faith has been with us carrying us through the hard times and making our joy complete in good times.

Then we have our  individual abilities and gifts. We have skills, material wealth and prosperity, health, strength, vigor, charisma and other character traits that come naturally to us as part of our personality. Even physical beauty is a gift of God. All these traits can be put to use to build up God’s Kingdom. Along with life, family and faith they are entrusted to us so that we can do our Heavenly Father’s will.

When we consider all that God has given us, it will be natural for us to feel grateful. However, through the parable, Jesus wants us to take it one step further. He wants us to consider how we can put all those gifts to the service of God’s Kingdom. How can we make the world a better place, a place of welcome for the poor and vulnerable, a place of justice for the oppressed, a place of love for the rejected? He wants to challenge us to see our unique skills and abilities not as ways to build up our self-esteem but as means to build up His Church.

The second point of the parable is not only that God is generous but that His gifts to us are multiplied when we put them to use.

In the parable, the good servants were able to double their investments. Not only that, but the servant with the ten talents was given the talent of the lazy servant. In the same way, when we take the risk of sharing what we have with others, our total is not diminished but increased. In God’s calculus, the more we give, the more we have.

The best example of this is love. When I take the risk of loving another person I do not end up with less love to give away. Rather I experience the joy that comes with sharing my heart with another person and so I have the courage to take the risk again and again. As light grows stronger when it is passed from one candle to another, so the gift of love multiplies as we give it away.

The same is true of all God’s gifts, even material ones like food and money. Like the wicked servant in the parable, we may want to hold back out of fear. We may want to keep what we have buried so that we will not lose it. But in doing so we are only cheating ourselves of the other blessings God wants to shower on us.

God has blessed each one of us generously. Take some time this week to make an inventory of every blessing in your life. Ask God how He expects you to put them to use for His Kingdom. If we can respond generously and courageously to His will, we will find even more blessings flowing from His hand. Then, at our Master’s return, we can feel confident that we will enter into His joy.

Time's A'Wastin'

There is no avoiding it. It will happen to all of us no matter how rich or poor, no matter what we believe or do not believe, no matter how long we may have lived. All of us will one day stand before the judgement seat of God. At that time, we will be asked to give an account of our lives. How have we used all the gifts we have been given? Did we put them to use in service of God and others or did we hide them out of fear?

It is not something we like to think about. All of us have made mistakes in our lives. We have all made choices that we regret. Most of us, if we could turn back the clock, would have made different choices. But that is not possible. We have to live with the consequences of our past actions and go into the future resolved to do better with God’s help.

At the same time, as we look back on our lives, we see good choices that we have made. There were times when we could have been selfish but chose to be generous instead. There were times when we could have looked the other way when someone needed us, but we chose to lend a hand instead. There were times when we opened our minds and hearts to God and were filled with His light. Those choices have brought many blessings into our lives and perhaps into the lives of others in ways we cannot even imagine.

Each of us is a mixture of strengths and weaknesses, triumphs and failures, saintliness and sinfulness. None of us is totally blameless but neither do we deserve a blanket condemnation. By God’s grace, we are what we are. And each of us for the most part is striving to do the best we can with the gifts God has given us.

It does happen, however, that we can grow complacent. We get into a rut of just trying to get by. Life can seem so overwhelming at times that we shut down and do as little as we can to make it through. When that happens, we lose the big picture. Our life becomes just a series of disconnected days. Before we know it, we have lost time and lost ourselves. Like the servant who buried his talent, we let fear and anxiety keep us from investing our gifts and yielding a rich return.

That is why is it is important for us to remember that all this will not last forever. We will not get a second chance. This day and this time in our lives will never return. We will not be able to redo or undo the choices we make today. We must live this day well if the rest of our lives is to go well. We are building tomorrow on the choices we make today.

Jesus did not die on the cross for us so that we could just make it through life. Instead He wants us to live a full and abundant life. He wants our homes and our hearts to be full of peace, love and joy. He wants to pour out His blessings on us and our loved ones so that we can be radiant with all the gifts and talents He has prepared for us. When we are afraid or when we are willing to settle with just getting by, however, we cannot receive all that He has in store for us. When we bury our gifts and refuse to put them to use in service of God and others, then we cannot receive the dividends of peace, joy and love.

It is natural for us to wonder what talents we have been given and how we should use them for God. It is not always apparent to us. Many times others notice them in us before we see them in ourselves. There is really only one way to find out. First, we must pray to God and ask Him to reveal to us the gifts He has given us and how He expects us to use them to help build His Kingdom. However, we cannot sit around waiting for an answer. Instead, we must get busy doing whatever we can, taking advantage of whatever opportunities are in front of us to volunteer or to help out. Only then, by trial and error,  will we begin to discover how we are called to serve God and others. As we make the effort to serve, our talents will become clearer to us. Only by taking the risk of failing or looking foolish can we invest our talents and reap an abundant reward.

Life goes by very quickly. Time slips through our fingers often without our even noticing it. Nonetheless we can be deceived into thinking we have plenty of time to change the things in our lives that we know are not pleasing to God. But we have much less time than we think. The longer we wait, the fewer opportunities for doing good we will have. And, as Christians, we know better. Jesus told us that He would be coming at a time we would not expect. Today is the only day we have. Let us live it to the fullest by giving all we have and all we are to our Heavenly Father. Then we can stand before God not with fear but with confidence and hear Him say to us, “Come, share your master’s joy.”

Polishing Off The Antiques

The Antiques Roadshow has been one of the most popular programs on public television over the past several years. The show follows experts as they go around the country appraising the antiques people have in their homes. It is a delight to watch the shock and surprise registering on people's faces when they learn that an item which they may have purchased for a few dollars at a yard sale or at the corner store is really worth thousands. Their small investment increased significantly in value. It makes one wonder what treasures we may have stored in our attics or basements.

In today's gospel, Jesus tells the story of three men who are entrusted with a treasure by their king who is going on a journey. Jesus calls the treasure they are given "talents", which was an ancient measure of silver roughly equivalent to 90 pounds. The English word "talent" meaning a special ability is taken from this ancient word. Though the king is gone only a short period of time, two of the men are able to double their money by investing it. How were these men able to be so successful? First of all, they recognized the value of the treasure which had been entrusted to them and knew that the best use of it was to invest it. Secondly, they understood that the treasure belonged to the king and not to them, and that they would have to give it back some day. They were convinced that the king would want his treasure back with interest. They were not willing to let the treasure gather dust, unlike the third man who buried his talent in the ground out of fear.

Jesus' meaning could not be clearer. Each of us has been entrusted with a treasure by God, and God expects us to make good use of it. During this week, each of us will have to examine our own conscience to determine what that treasure is and how we can multiply it for the glory of God. Today's readings, however, suggest to us two treasures which all of us share and which we can so often take for granted like valuable antiques gathering dust in our attics. They are, namely, our family and our time.

The first reading from the book of Proverbs is a poem praising a good wife whose "value is beyond pearls". Pearls were among the scarcest and most valuable items in the ancient world. In essence, the poem is saying that there is nothing more valuable than a good wife. By extension, our families are the most valuable treasure entrusted to us by God.

We see how true this is throughout Scripture. In the ten commandments, the first three spell out our obligations to God. The very next commandment, the fourth, commands that we honor our father and mother. Except for our obligations to Almighty God, our obligation to our family is first and foremost.

  

It is often said that charity begins at home. The home is a school where children are taught to love and serve God. Whether we are parents or children, the home is the place where we learn to become holy. In fact, families which eat at least one meal together daily, pray and go to Mass together have practically a zero percent divorce rate. Our homes must be places where God is honored if our marriages are to be strong and our children are to grow in virtue. And that means they must be more than just the place where we eat and sleep in between our jobs, our classes and our other activities. Our homes must be the place where we pray, where we come to love and understand each other, and where we practice kindness and generosity.

The second treasure we have all been entrusted with is our time. In today's second reading, Saint Paul warns us that the time is short. The day of the Lord is coming at a time we cannot know. Whether the "day of the Lord" is the end of the world or our own death, it is closer today than it was yesterday. All of us would agree that time is something we all take for granted. We assume that we have plenty of it. And yet, we are shocked by how quickly it passes and that Thanksgiving is less than one week away. 

So, if we were to turn off the television, computer and cellphone, what could we do with the extra hours we would have in our day? We could go for a walk with our spouse. We could go to the park with our children or grandchildren. We could spend time marveling at the beauty of God's creation. We could read the Bible and pray. We could go out for ice cream. We could go to daily Mass.

The Danish author, Karen Blixen, once wrote: "Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever..." The world is full of much beauty for us to discover and our families full of much love for us to share.

Our family and our time are among the treasures God has given us for our enjoyment and for his glory. The way a valuable antique can get lost in the clutter of our attics, they can get overlooked because of the hectic pace of modern life. How our lives would be blessed if our families were to continually grow in love and faith! How rich we would be if we used our time to be continually mindful of God's presence! How glorious it would be to stand before God and hear him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant", because we were able to recognize the value of all the gifts he has given us and to return them to him with interest!

Jesus - The Best Investment

Thanks to advances in medicine and technology, people are living to a much older age. Whereas life expectancy for those alive during the 1960’s was about seventy years, people living today can expect to live well into their eighties and even into their nineties.

While the prospect of enjoying a longer life is certainly a blessing, it also presents many challenges to us as individuals and as a society.

When faced with many years of retirement, most people wonder whether they have saved enough money to last them all that time. Though we would all like to spend our last dollar with our last breath, none of us can know how long our lives will be. How will we know whether we have put enough aside and when we can stop working?

And, how should we allocate the money we are able to save? What percentage of it should be in cash and how much should remain invested in bonds? What will happen to our savings if interest rates go down or if the stock market takes a dive? What effect will taxes and inflation have on our nest egg?

Also, what will happen to us if we get sick and need extensive hospital care? Who will take care of us when we are no longer able to take care of ourselves? And, who will pay for it all?

None of us has a crystal ball to see into the future. Not knowing what will happen makes planning that much more difficult.

Though we have been talking about planning for retirement, our readings today point us to an even more urgent reality awaiting us in the future - the coming of the Lord. None of us knows when Jesus will come again in glory. However, one thing is for sure, it will change whatever plans we have for the future. Jesus makes it clear to us that the future is in God’s hands. However, like the wise virgins in the parable, we have to be prepared to wait a long time and have to be vigilant so that we can enter into the heavenly banquet when He does arrive.

Interestingly, many of the same obstacles that keep us from planning well for retirement can also keep us from planning well to meet the Lord.

The first obstacle is denial. Some people just do not want to think about having to stand face to face before Jesus to be judged by Him. The thought of it is just too alarming to consider. Also, many people wrongly believe that Jesus will not judge us but will simply welcome us into heaven no matter what type of life we have lived.

Of course, such an illusion is contrary to what Jesus Himself taught. In fact, every Sunday we profess in the creed that “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” And that judgment will be no simple pat on the back. If we have failed to show love to our neighbor, then we can expect to hear the fearful words that Jesus speaks in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats: “Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

If we are under the illusion that Jesus will not judge us, we had better wake up. If we are going to stand before Him on that day, we have to prepare by repenting of our sins today. We have to go to confession regularly - at least once a month - to unburden ourselves of the guilt we have committed and to find the strength to resist temptation in the future. And we have to show love to our neighbors by practicing works of mercy. If we do all this with love and faith, then we will be prepared to meet Him when He comes.

Another obstacle to preparing ourselves to meet the Lord is complacency. We think we have plenty of time to change our lives and are in no hurry. Whereas the virgins in Jesus’ parable thought the bridegroom would be coming sooner than expected, we are not expecting Jesus to come anytime soon. Therefore, we think we can put off conforming our minds and hearts to His word.

If we are under the illusion that we have plenty of time, we had better wake up. Even if the end of the world is still a long ways off, we do not know how close we are to our own death. It is likely that we have far less time than we think. We have to be prepared today to meet the Lord because we do not know when we will draw our last breath.

Finally, another obstacle that keeps us from being prepared to meet the Lord is investing our time and energy in the wrong things. Just as people can jeopardize their retirement by putting their money in the wrong investments, so we can jeopardize our salvation by investing ourselves in the wrong pursuits. If we have spent our lives seeking pleasure, power over others, status and money, then we will not be prepared to meet Jesus. Who of us can impress the Lord of all creation with our fancy titles or accomplishments? What Jesus will be looking for from us instead  is an accounting of how we loved our neighbor. If we gave our time and talents to feeding the hungry, praying for sinners, advocating for the powerless and being patient with those who irritate us, we can be sure that our investment will pay off dividends good for eternal life.

All of us will one day stand before the Lord to give an account of the good and the evil that we have done. None of us has a crystal ball to tell us how much time we have left. Therefore, if we are going to be prepared to meet Him, we have to shake off the denial and complacency that fool us into thinking that we do not have to deal with it. If we live each day conscious of the account that we will have to give to Jesus, then we do not have to worry about facing Him after death. After all, He died so that we might have eternal life. At the same time, however, He is a just judge.

Let today be the day when we earnestly seek Him so that we will not be a stranger to Him when we meet Him face to face. 

Leaving A Light On

If we are home and are expecting one of our family members to be coming home late, we usually leave the light on over the front door. We do the same if we are expecting visitors after dark. Leaving a light on lets visitors know that they are welcome, that we have been expecting them. When we leave the light on for our children who are out late, it lets them know that we are concerned for them and that we will not be able to rest until they are back home safe with us. Keeping a light burning on the porch or in a window is a simple but powerful symbol of how we are looking forward to welcoming our loved ones home.

What would happen if we were expecting a visitor after dark and we either forgot to turn the light on outside or the bulb burned out? The person we are expecting might think that no one was home or that we were already in bed. They might think that we had forgotten that they were coming or that we had changed our minds about having them over. Thinking we were not home, they would have no choice but to continue on their way. All the while we would be waiting inside wondering why they had not arrived yet. Because we failed to keep the light burning outside, we would have missed our chance to spend time with our friend.

Much the same thing happens in today’s gospel. Ten young women are waiting for the arrival of the groom. In the culture of Jesus’ day, weddings were major social events. It was often at weddings that young men and women would have the opportunity to meet each other and fall in love. So for a young woman who was anxious to be married, a wedding was the most important event of the year. To miss it could mean losing the chance to meet a husband. So they were all excited about the arrival of the groom.

The difference between the sensible women and the foolish women was simply that the foolish women expected the groom to be on time while the sensible women planned for a delay. And so, when the groom finally arrives late in the evening, the sensible women are prepared to welcome him while the foolish ones are out trying to find oil for their torches. They are not there when the groom arrives, and he has no other choice but to pass them by and lock them out of the festivities. The foolish women would have felt devastated. They had been planning all year for this wedding, but they were left out in the cold simply because they were not prepared to meet the groom when he finally arrived. They could not keep their torches burning, so the wedding party moved along without them.

Like the young women in Jesus’ parables, we too are waiting.  We are waiting for Jesus to pass by. As today’s psalm says so beautifully, our soul thirsts for the living God and our body pines for God our Saviour. The deepest yearning of our heart is for union with the God who created us. Sometimes we do not recognize it. Sometimes we mistake it for a desire for success or material possessions or human love. But it is a desire that stays with us nonetheless. It is a fire that burns within us.

The saddest thing that could happen to any one of us would be to miss the opportunity to meet the one our heart longs for, to miss the opportunity to meet Jesus. How could that happen? It could happen in hundreds of ways throughout our day. It could happen if we do not make time to pray during the day. Then we would be missing out on an insight or a grace that Jesus would otherwise want to give us. It could happen if we ignore someone who needs our help. Then we would be missing out on the opportunity to serve Jesus who continues to suffer in the poor and needy. It could happen to us if we allow ourselves to fall to temptation and sin. Then we would be turning off the light, locking the door and telling Jesus that He is not welcome in our lives. How sad would that be?

Instead we have to keep the light burning brightly over the door of our hearts. We have to let Jesus know that we are expecting Him and that we are ready to welcome Him. Because we do not know when He will come to visit us and because He always visits us in a disguise, we have to be ready to keep our torches burning for a long time. We have to fuel our lamps with prayer, with good works and with the sacraments. In particular, reading the Bible everyday will help train us to recognize the Lord in the ordinary circumstances of our lives and teach us how to respond to Him with love and generosity.

Like the young women in Jesus’ parable, none of us knows when Jesus will be coming to visit. However, we do know that it will be at a time that we do not expect and it will be in a disguise. What we do know is that we want to be ready to open our arms and welcome Him. We want our lamps to be burning brightly so that He knows we are waiting for Him eagerly.

At Mass today, we will have a privileged opportunity to receive a visit from Jesus, one that we can easily recognize and prepare for. Jesus Himself will be coming to us in the form of bread and wine. We know it to be the Body and Blood of our Lord. Let us ask the Father to give us souls that yearn for this living bread and hearts that burn to be united to Jesus. Let us not miss this opportunity to welcome the One our body pines for.