The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Extraordinary Time
While people were listening to Jesus speak,
he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem
and they thought that the Kingdom of God
would appear there immediately.
So he said,
“A nobleman went off to a distant country
to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return.
He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins
and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’
His fellow citizens, however, despised him
and sent a delegation after him to announce,
‘We do not want this man to be our king.’
But when he returned after obtaining the kingship,
he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money,
to learn what they had gained by trading.
The first came forward and said,
‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’
He replied, ‘Well done, good servant!
You have been faithful in this very small matter;
take charge of ten cities.’
Then the second came and reported,
‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’
And to this servant too he said,
‘You, take charge of five cities.’
Then the other servant came and said,
‘Sir, here is your gold coin;
I kept it stored away in a handkerchief,
for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man;
you take up what you did not lay down
and you harvest what you did not plant.’
He said to him,
‘With your own words I shall condemn you,
you wicked servant.
You knew I was a demanding man,
taking up what I did not lay down
and harvesting what I did not plant;
why did you not put my money in a bank?
Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’
And to those standing by he said,
‘Take the gold coin from him
and give it to the servant who has ten.’
But they said to him,
‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’
He replied, ‘I tell you,
to everyone who has, more will be given,
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.
Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king,
bring them here and slay them before me.’”
After he had said this,
He proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem. Emphasis mine Lk 19:11-28
Wow!
I just read the readings and groaned. The Holy Spirit pointed out what we highlighted, and I groaned again.
Blank mind.
Where are we going with this blog was my only thought.
Then, at age eighty-three, I realized something that I had never noticed before and had a thought I had never had before, that being:
This reading ties into the Story of the birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2: 1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet:
‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word that I too may go and do him homage.” After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary, his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then, they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.
Notice: the first is a parable, and the second is the story of Jesus’s birth. In both cases, there are three groups.
The first group are those who don’t want him: ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’
The King they are referring to in the Parable is Jesus. In the birth story, Herod doesn’t want Jesus alive, as we will discover when the three Kings return to their homeland via a different route.
The second group, the servants and the three kings do God’s will. The servants invest the money given, and the Three Kings find the King of the Jews.
The third group is too lazy to do as they know they should. The servant who hid the money and the Chief Priests and Scribes who quoted where Jesus, the King of the Jews, would be born and had no interest in going out and giving homage to the newborn king.
All three groups refer to everyone alive today, and you must ask yourself at some point in your life, “Which group do you belong to?”
And,
If you are in the wrong group. Are you considering a change?
I, yes, I believe you are among the Kings and the good servants.
Why?
You are reading our blog and trying to change your life with what you read. In short, you are searching for God and investing your precious time trying to find Them.
Sidebar:
The left leg appears to be healed.
I saw the dentist on Monday and had my left eye tooth pulled. Of course, I said the prayers I always say, and I had faith God would take care of me.
But, I must confess that, unlike the Prostate operation where my blood pressure was 132, low for me at a Doctor’s office, my B/P for the tooth extraction was 177, my normal b/p when in a doctor’s office. I was mad at myself for not putting my Faith in God and asked to be forgiven.
The fight with satan goes on.
Despite my lack of faith, God did take care of me!
Fred, get off of it. I assume many of you are thinking. But you see, I can’t because the life I, we, are now living is so much richer.
This all started when I went to a Baptist small faith group meeting on St Patrick’s Day, and my life changed.
What happened?
The hostess asked us to describe how Jesus had been active in our lives the past week.
What’s your answer to this question?
Jesus hadn’t been active the past week, but I said, “Jesus was always active in my life.”
A Lie, but I had to say something.
The hostess was the last to answer the question, and she said she was slated to go into the hospital and have a double mastectomy; she felt heat on her chest, knew she was healed, went to the hospital, told the surgeon her story and asked the surgeon to check her one last time, the surgeon did, and told her she was healed.
I had never heard a story like this before, and as I drove home, I looked up through the windshield. I have prayed this way three times, Holy Number, and received an answer all three times. I asked why I hadn’t experienced any healings. The answer was that I didn’t have Faith that God would take care of me. Remember, for me at that time, God was up there, I was down here, and I would do God’s will when it corresponded with my will.
For many, I was a good Catholic. I attended daily Mass, prayed the Stations of the Cross, participated in small faith groups, taught CCD, and the list goes on, trying to earn my way into Heaven.
Not fully appreciating I am going to Heaven NOT by what I have done, BUT because of what HE did on the Cross made my, yes, my life very tough. When have I done enough?
From His Cross, Jesus forgave me!
OUTRAGEOUS LOVE!
But I wasn’t willing to submit fully to God’s will. God’s loss? NO!
My loss.
That night changed my life; as you all know, I have had many healings.
We have also often reported that God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit want a relationship.
Why?
To make your life richer.
But you can’t find this out by not investing the money (time) or going to the Manger to pay Homage to the King of the Jews.
Wow.
We started our blog with a wow and will end it with a wow. I can’t believe what we just wrote. Writing our blog is “Fantastic.”
“Thank you, Father.”
Picture:
This image was made one morning at Hacker’s Hill in Casco. God provides such scenic wonder…all we have to do is stop and take it all in! Picture by Richard Sawyer
Please keep Snapping!
Email me if you want a copy of the prayers we discussed or the three hiking pictures we showed.
fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
