The Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 6:19-23)
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.”
Opening Prayer: Lord you are my treasure. As I reflect on your words today, enlighten my mind to contemplate my eternal destiny. May this reflection deepen my desire to spend eternity with you.
Encountering Christ: The last sentence of the opening prayer puts enormous pressure on the writer today. There is an obligation in those words to make sure that proper preparation has been done prior to writing to you today.
We spend so much time in our lives working on various things – that we often lose sight of the “real prize” in our lives. It’s all about eternal life really. We certainly are called along the way of life to help make this earth of ours a better place. We are called to leave this life having made our surroundings better than we found it.
If we think about the gospel today as it relates to our talents, then we have a huge responsibility to share the “gifts” given to us with our families and others. But…. Do we actually do that? Do we even really know the gifts that have been given to us. Do we continually search ourselves and see if God has updated our firmware along the way!!
It seems that we are being summoned to expand our own personal “giveaway program” and share what we have rather than hoard the gifts of life and store them up.
I don’t know about you, but I find myself always perplexed when I clean out the closet or garage and the repeating question time and time again is….why did I buy that OR what am I still doing with that! Worse yet – and this is what applies to our lives…. “I didn’t even know I had this”. Bingo! That is the question we need to look at with our gifts that God has entrusted to us. If we don’t realize the gifts given – or worse yet even know that we have a gift – then how are we going to make a difference and live out God’s plan for us. It is certain that he gives us a gift EXPECTING us to use it!
So perhaps the real message for us today is to think about or – as we say as Deacons – go to prayer to discern our progress in using our talents. Our goal should be that at the end of our earthly lives we should be able to say that we have used up the talent and have shared it with many.
Remember that we are called in today’s gospel to keep our eyes focused on the prize of eternal life. As we walk through life with family and friends take time to re-evaluate and give thanks for life and especially for God’s trust in us to deliver on the talents! We can do it – even in the midst of the world’s problems and distractions.
Stay faithful and faith filled and spend time looking into what God is always calling you to do.
Closing Prayer: Lord, my heart is full of gratitude for the spiritual and temporal gifts that you give me each day. By your grace, may I never make an idol of your gifts. Help me to remember that the Giver is so much more than the sum of all the gifts I have received!
Action for the Day: Pray and discern your gifts and “calling”…… AND….. don’t rush it!
