Memorial of Saint Monica

His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’

God gives us all exactly what we need to do His Will. He gives us gifts, talents, and opportunities to magnify Him by using these to their fullest potential. Unfortunately, we are often tempted to play it safe or to give up. These temptations lead us to bury our abilities and fail to do the good God wants us to do. Knowing, loving, and serving God and His children is not safe. It requires risking ourselves to do what is right even when the world tells us we are wrong or wasting our time. God will not accept us returning our gifts and talents without some return on His investment in us. He never sets us up to fail, but always to succeed in marvelous ways. However, we cannot succeed if we do not try. And if we do not try, then what little we have will be taken way and given to those who will use their talents to bring people closer to God.

Are we lazy or are we willing to risk ourselves for the love of God and His children? What can we do to multiply the gifts and talents God has given us? How can we become good and faithful servants, never afraid to do God's Will?

O Lord, give us the graces we need to multiply your love and mercy in the lives of all your children.

Amen.

The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.  There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”

The foolishness of the rich man is not so much in the building of bigger barns to store his excess grain, but rather on the reason he builds the bigger barns. He does not build them because we wants to avoid wasting his good harvest, but rather he decides to build them because he wants to “rest, eat, drink, and be merry.” Instead of using the bountiful harvest to better himself, his lands, or his workers, he plans to use it on selfish pursuits and as an excuse to be lazy. God doesn’t give us gifts and talents to hoard them or use them to make our lives easier. He gives them to us to multiply them, to share with others, and thereby give glory to Him. We cannot do that if we store up our gifts and only use them for our personal enjoyment.

Are we storing up treasures for ourselves on earth? Or are we doing everything we can to multiply the bountiful harvests of graces that God has given us? How can we become rich in what matters, namely knowing, loving, and serving God and His children?

O Lord, inspire us to use the graces you’ve given us to store up heavenly merits rather than earthly treasures.

Amen.