REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION: TWENTY-NINTH WEEK OF THE YEAR
Saturday, October 28, 2023
by Fr. David M. Knight
FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION: TWENTY-NINTH WEEK OF THE YEAR
Invitation:
To acknowledge that “The kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever.” To treat God as God: power, inspiration, strength, and joy.
What can the statements below add to your appreciation for the Mass? Sunday: At Baptism we turned over to God all we own, all we are. God in return has put everything back into our hands to manage for him as his stewards.
Monday: We get free of the shortsighted preoccupations of our culture by asking constantly: “Why am I doing this? Is this the best use of my time and talents?”
Tuesday: When one of us sees what needs to be done, we are the “one” who must exercise leadership in getting it done.
Wednesday: There is no neutral ground between serving God or serving sin. We have to take sides positively and work for one or the other.
Thursday: By focusing us on the “end time” the Rite of Communion fosters in us a constant attitude of responsibility for everything and everyone around us.
Friday: For those “with ears to hear,” conflict is the counterweight of value. We forsake for the sake of the Kingdom all we have. With passionate desire.
Saturday: We fail to keep God’s law because cultural conditioning “programs” us by implanting the “roots of sin” inside us—Pride, Envy, Avarice, Anger, Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth—translated into the distorted attitudes, false values, and destructive priorities of our particular time and peer group.
We place our hope, not in our efforts, but in the gift of the Spirit who empowers us to live on the level of God himself. To be “faithful stewards” of that gift, we must take responsibility for keeping the Church focused, not on law observance, but on interaction with the living person of Jesus.
In the Rite of Communion we look to the future with confidence. Our hope is not based on what we have or have not done, but on God’s mercy: “Look not on our sins, but on the faith of the Church, and graciously grant her—and the world—peace and unity in accordance with your will.”
Decisions:
Make a list of what you are managing for God—time, treasure, and talents— and dream of how you might best invest each.
Be Christ’s steward: Live in hope, and work with confidence. Do what needs to be done as if you were the only one who can Be always alert for chances to serve Christ. Live for the end time with passionate hope. Take responsibility for graced decisions. Focus the Church on bearing fruit by grace.
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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