Wednesday, October 23, Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Extraordinary Time
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Then Peter said,
“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”
And the Lord replied,
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
Truly, I say to you, he will put him
in charge of all his property.
But if that servant says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
That servant who knew his master’s will
but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly.
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” Emphasis mine Luke 12:39-48
I first really thought about this reading while I was a student at Stonehill College in a Theology class. My, yes my thinking was, “This is easy. I will only be a person who is entrusted with a little. ” I won’t read the Bible cover to cover, I won’t go to daily Mass, I won’t ….. and the list was long. And since I didn’t know much, I would only be beaten a little.
See how easy that is.
I am in a men’s faith group and was shocked to learn how many men, and I will bet women, haven’t read the Bible cover to cover.
Seventy percent of Catholics, according to Pew Research a few years ago, don’t believe Jesus is fully present in the Eucharist. They don’t know that when they receive communion, they touch Jesus, they are invited into a cosmic dance with the Triune God, and they don’t believe that when they touch Jesus, healings take place, yet they are very happy to go to church once a week, to fulfill their obligation, I yes I hate that word.
Going to weekly Mass should be considered a CELEBRATION. God will speak to you through the readings, AND you have the chance at Communion to enter into a Cosmic, I just learned that term, Richard Rohr, beautiful isn’t it, Dance with the Triune God.
Life is simple: little in, little out. The greater the effort, the greater the outcome.
Don’t fall into the trap I fell into for eighty years, that by my striving for a greater outcome meant I was ensuring my entrance into Heaven—this is WRONG. I will go to Heaven because of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection on the Cross. Jesus took all of my sins and forgave me. Jesus established my outcome on the Cross.
Last week, in Luke 11, Jesus talked about a friend needing three loaves of bread to feed a friend who had just stopped in. Jesus said the man at first declined to help, but after his friend persisted with his request, he gave him the bread.
Jesus went on to say, What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit[e] to those who ask him?”
Emphasis mine Lk 11; 11-13
Matthew said,
If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. Emphasis mine, Matthew 7:11
For a long time, I have liked Matthew’s interpretations better. I wanted good things, not the Holy Spirit because I didn’t realize Matthew’s good things was the Holy Spirit. I was thinking of cars, houses, more money, etc.
What I, yes I, failed to realize all those yours was that I was missing a RELATIONSHIP with the Triune God, and that RELATIONSHIP is the most precious gift I can possess.
Why?
Love, Joy, and Peace.
Kick out Satan—we told you how. Read the Bible daily and realize that the Old and New Testaments are about YOU. Receive Communion enthusiastically because you are touching God. Have faith that God Has, Is, and Will take care of you.
Lastly, ASK, ask for everything; I also just found out at daily Mass that not asking is the sin of PRIDE. Why is this true, you might ask? The answer is you don’t need God in that part of your life.
Who else would you want?
Sidebar:
Cumber County Jail last Thursday. We had twenty men, a record high, which made for very tight quarters. A few were there to get out of their cells; their choice was to stay locked up or come to Bible study.
A few were there to chat with friends.
After the meeting, the Holy Spirit and I decided that this week, those who want to chat will be asked to leave, which will happen quickly with no reversal. They will respond, “I will change.” We will tell them, “Next week, if you show up, you can change. Today, you’re gone.”
I go to jail on Thursday. Today is Friday. All week, I practiced what I, yes, I would say (Satan). And all last week, I got worked up about what I might have to do (Satan): throw people out. Basically, on this issue, I threw The Holy Spirit under the bus. Twenty men came into the meeting, and to my astonishment, we gently (Holy Spirit taking over) asked them to raise their hands if they wanted to say something.
They did
And
It was one of the best meetings we have ever had.
And
No one was thrown out.
Let God take over, and the results will prove God is with you—or, in this case, me.
Why are we mentioning this?
What happened in the Jail is happening with so many others in everyday life.
I was just as guilty.
I went to Mass to socialize but did not really pay attention to the readings and did not really consider who I would touch, Jesus, when I received communion.
Sad, God will provide everything, and we want little.
We will repeat the words from C.S. Lewis, “You would rather make mud pies in the slum than be on Holiday at the Ocean.”
Picture:
A picture of an egret-taking flight that I took while kayaking. To me, it looks like it’s leaping.
Gen 1:20 …let birds fly above the earth… Picture by Jerry Torres
The good thing about sending you pictures is that I usually have to search scriptures to find a verse that might go with them.
You keep blogging, and I’ll keep snapping. Peace Jerry
Jerry didn’t know we were down to three pictures, and I was thinking, “Is this the end of this part of our blog?” The pictures are beautiful and fit in, like today, with what we are discussing. Take today’s blog; we suggested a change, a flight to a new area of life. Thank you, Jerry, and all of you who have sent pictures, and I pray you notice the Joy Jerry is experiencing by sending photos.
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.
