Sunday, October 30, 2011
NEW ADDRESS
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Diare Catholic Church
You all know that I’m a teacher. And one thing a teacher notices right away about his students is that they do not perform, understand, or respond to their education all the same. Some are naturally talented and are considered smarter than the others, some simply just try harder and put forth more effort than the others, finally, there are those that don’t seem to care and act as if their education is a joke. Who do you think is going to progress in life? Who will do well in a profession that demands an education and benefit from the financial, social, and intellectual stability that this brings? It will be those that responded to the gift of education with joy, humility, perseverance, and hard work. They will enjoy a rich feast!
The same can be said for us in our spiritual lives. We’ve all received an invitation to the kingdom of heaven, to the heavenly feast. This invitation is a gift that we don’t deserve, but it has been offered because we have an awesome, merciful, and compassionate God. We’ve received this gift of life through grace and with it comes an incredible responsibility. It is written in scripture, “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” (Luke 12:48) And “To whom that has, more will be given and they will grow rich; however from anyone who has not, even what they have will be taken away.” (Matthew 13:12)
We have been given an incredible gift and a lot is expected of us. If we respond well, by making right choices, acting with kindness, generosity, and compassion, loving God, ourselves, and our neighbors as ourselves, we will grow rich and richer each time me make the next right decision. However, as we backslide, acting out of lust, greed, laziness, and anger, we will have the gifts of life taken away. The same goes for the students I spoke about earlier. Those that are putting forth an effort in school, those that come to school ready to learn, who return home at night eager to do homework (even asking for homework when it is not assigned), these students are properly responding to the gift of education that has been given to them, and to these students more education, possibility, success, and knowledge will be given to them. However, to the students who come to school and sleep through the day or play games with their friends, who count the seconds until the closing bell is rung so they can run home the gift of an education will be taken away. They will not be able to progress in Forms and surely will not make it beyond the JHS level. What education they’ve received will be lost as it goes unused in their brains. The bicycle that sits outside unused in the rain, day after day, month after month, will surely rust and spoil. Will it not? So will our brains in school and so will our souls in life.
We are all invited to the feast. The good and bad alike, just as in the parable this morning. No partiality has been made during the invitation process. All are invited! Not one is unwelcome. However, it is the guest themselves who decide how to respond. They are free to accept or deny the gift given. In our parable, who determined the unworthiness of those invited? It was those invited themselves! They paid no attention to the invitation. Some even killed the messenger. Others came to the banquet unprepared, putting forth only a minimal effort. I’m speaking of the man who came without a wedding garment. It has been said that half of the challenge of life is just showing up. This is true, the man in the parable just showed up. However the other half of life is coming prepared! We must come worthy of the great feast to which we’ve been invited. The students that just show up to school and expect to learn without any effort of their own are in for a surprise! To benefit from the gift of education takes a lot of work. Similarly, to benefit from the gifts of the spirit (that is the seven gifts of wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge, and reverence) takes a lot of work as well.
Some say, the task is too great! How can I keep up this work ethic for a lifetime? Paul answers this for us in the Second Reading in his letter to the Philippians. He says there is strength for everything through Jesus who empowers us. He says God will supply whatever you need in accordance with the riches of Christ Jesus. And in this letter Paul is writing words of thanks and praise for he though he has learned to be self-sufficient, to live humbly through many trials, he has been given abundant gifts by God in the spirit and by the Philippian people who took care of him. So there are resources available to us in God and in each other for the journey.
Finally, I need to mention what the benefit of this hard work is. For the student I’ve already mentioned it. They will go far in their education, they will receive their first degrees and maybe even second degrees, and they will have financial, social, and intellectual peace, success, and stability. And for us believers, us that accept the invitation to the heavenly feast by living lives of virtue, prayer, and faith? This answer comes from our First Reading in Isaiah. Death will be destroyed! The only inescapable thing in life is death and the Lord God will save us from it for we will be with Him forever in the heavenly feast. Let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us! Let us respond to the invitation, the free gift of God, with passion, lives of virtue, and hard work. Then let us encourage students to do same in their studies. Amen.
Monday, October 3, 2011
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Stories and reflections to follow. Godspeed. -Zachar