Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB
Our Lord in today’s
gospel is helping us to get our priorities in order regarding how we are to
live our lives in relationship with Him and our eventual goal in the life
hereafter: heaven. Many of us get so wrapped up with financial security,
accumulating material goods such as cars, or just simply making sure we have
enough to retire with. Being financially responsible is important and good. But
accumulating wealth or material goods are not to be our priority in this world.
Money and materials are only tools for us to use to live out our lives here on
earth. As we see with the increasing cost of living and the fluctuation of the
stock market, we can’t really count on material things or wealth to bring us
peace and contentment. Rather, our focus should be on things of heaven. We can
always loose material things through decay or theft or the stock market
crashing. It can be like that old saying, “Here today, gone tomorrow.”
The focus in our
lives should always be on our relationship with God. The way we can accumulate
heavenly treasures is by using the many tools our Lord left us in His Church.
These tools are the 7 sacraments. These sacraments bring us spiritual healing
and help us to accumulate these heavenly treasures our Lord speaks of. Through
baptism we become children of God, washed new in the eyes of God. Then with
confirmation we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then through the frequent
use of confession and the receiving of Holy Communion, we can continue to grow
in holiness in order to accumulate those heavenly treasure. It’s an ongoing journey
to get to heaven.
Further, the day we die, we will leave all our
earthly treasures behind. We cannot take them with us to heaven nor to hell.
Jesus’ desire for us is that we store up what is lasting, what will never
decay. Jesus desires that we store up the treasure that will never fail us: the
gift and grace of love! God is made for love: love of God the Father, Jesus the
Son and the Holy Spirit and love of other frail human beings!
Today let us take time out to think what is
truly important in our lives: material things or things of God. Let us attempt
to always keep our priorities in order: to love God with all our mind, heart
and soul. Then we’ll be able to have treasures in heaven.
Our greatest legacy that we can both leave for others on earth & take with us to heaven & help us to get to heaven does not consist of material possessions we accumulated but is the good we have done while here on earth, hopefully as an expression of our love for GOD & for people & for His Kingdom here on earth. GOD is more interested in what we gave away & how we used the gifts, abilities & talents He gave us.
ReplyDeleteHopefully our legacy here on earth will provide an example to inspire others & encourage the people whose lives we touched to continue to serve as we have served.
And hopefully as we approach the gates of heaven and see the review of our lives we will hear Our LORD say the words we most need & long to hear: "Well done, good & faithful servant; enter into the Joy of your LORD."