Tuesday of Holy Week

Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, Yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God. For now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, That Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength! It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Sometimes in life we feel like we aren’t making any progress. We feel like we are treading water or worse sinking. We wonder if we have toiled in vain, for nothing, spending our time, talents, and treasures on things that aren’t bearing fruit. However, God doesn’t judge us on the outcome of our endeavors. He judges us by the intentions and reasons behind our thoughts, words, and works. We might not experience worldly success in any of our endeavors and yet still be successful in the eyes of the Lord because we did the right thing or made God the center of our lives. We are all called to be lights to the nations and if we do God’s Will to the best of our abilities, then we shall succeed in the greatest task before us... being good and faithful servants to our Heavenly Father.

Are all our thoughts, words, and works grounded in our love of God? How can we make Him the source, center, and summit of our whole lives? What can we do to remain faithful and trusting in God even when our dreams, plans, and actions don’t come to fruition as we imagined?

O Lord, our recompense is with you and not in worldly success.

Amen.

Twelfth Thursday of Ordinary Time

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’

Our faith isn't superficial. Sure, we can fool others and fake being good and faithful people, but the truth is seen by God. He knows when our seemingly good acts have evil or impure intentions. He knows when we are being truly faithful and when we are just going through the motions. He knows when we are doing good things, not for His sake, but for the praise of others. Nothing we do is secret from Him. This is why it is so important to be truly faithful in our souls and do the God's Will in everything. Yes, this requires a great deal of sacrifice from us. We have to give up our selfishness, our impure passions, and all those things that may tempt us to sin. However, this is a path that will lead us to life everlasting and graces beyond counting.

Are we being truly faithful or just faking it out of a sense of obligation or desire to be admired by others? Are we truly repentant of our sins and genuinely seeking to amend our ways? How can we become more faithful to God so that He will know us as His own?

O Lord, help us to be truly faithful to you in all things.

Amen.