The Cycle of Love

~~~ Philippians 4:10-19 ~~~ Psalm 112 ~~~ Luke 16:9-15 ~~~

I have the strength for everything through 
him who empowers me.

Paul begins this chapter giving thanks and rejoicing in the Lord.
He acknowledges the kindness of the people
their generosity toward him.
He reminds them that they should make
 their requests known to God.
Finally Paul tells them of the magnificent
peace they will receive from God.

Paul shares a learned life lesson...
the closer we come to God the more generous we become.
We become more generous because we come to realize
 that all that we have comes from God.

The more we return to him the more he bestows upon us.

Giving and receiving are part of the same cycle of love.
Just as the water brought up into the clouds returns
to renew the dry parched lands.

My God will fully supply whatever you need,
in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

That which you send out to others returns to you.
When it returns to you it is greater because it has gone up to God...
remember what you do for the least...is also for God.
Once something returns having been sent up to God
 it is more than enough.

Whatever is given in generosity is saturated
 with God's abundance.
Then and only then
will it be returned to the giver.

God only knows how to give more.

Blessed to have a God
 who wants us to completely rely on him
 for all of our needs.

The peace he has for us correlates
with our trust in him.

~~~Peace~~~

Generous Giving

~~~ Tobit 2:9-14 ~~~ Psalm 112 ~~~ Mark 12:13-17 ~~~

 

The elders approach Jesus like a school of blood thirsty sharks.
 

At first they begin to flatter him...

Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man
and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion.
You do not regard a person’s status
but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.

 

Then they lock in, executing their real purpose in attracting his attention.

Is it lawful to pay taxes to Cesar?
(Matters concerning money...a hot topic, even in present times.)

 

They are too blind to see that there may be more

than one way to look at a dilemma. 

The answer to their question is not  'yes' or 'no' answer.

God is just in all matters,

even when it comes to paying your due taxes.

 

 

Tobit was a good man blinded by cataracts, we are told.

But Tobit is also blind to grasping the possibility

that his wife could be paid for her work with something other than money.

 

The owners were more generous than Tobit expected

in paying his wife for her sewing.

The owners were creative...they paid her what she expected to paid,

but they did not stop they gave her more.

They also gave her a goat...for food.

Nothing she said could convince her husband that

the goat was part of her compensation for her work.

 

He accuses her of stealing the goat, because he himself

would not have been so generous.

How we treat others says more about who we are than

 we might want to believe.

Is this personality trait our greatest hurdle in believing

 that God only wants

what is in our best interest?

He consistently gives so much more than we deserve.

 

The wife of Tobit was given more than was due

for the work she had completed.

The same is true for each of us;

we are given eternal salvation for living a life of love.

 

Is living a good life enough to receive entry into heaven?

We will have to wait and see.

 

Where charity and love prevail God is surely there.

How Do You Measure?

~~~ Daniel 9:4b-10 ~~~ Psalm 79 ~~~ Luke 6:36-38 ~~~

 

 

O LORD, we are shamefaced...
for having sinned against you.

But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!

 

The prophet Daniel writes words appropriate for us today.

We are shamefaced for the many offenses we have committed against God.

We face our weaknesses and short comings.

We must admit where we need to improve for the future.

The main reason we are able to face our sinfulness is because we believe

our God is compassionate and forgiving. 

 

Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

 

In addition to the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God,

Jesus is consistently giving us little kernels of advice.

Keeping the commandments is important, but there is more we can be doing.

He gave us the perfect prayer...the Our Father.

Now he is speaking to us about how we should live our lives.

 

If we live according to these simple phrases

we will find keeping the commandments to be much easier.

 

When I was young there was a children's program called Romper Room.

Mr. 'Do Bee' was regular character.

Today Jesus is giving us some simple 'Do Bees' and 'Don't Bees'.

Jesus knew that that the more often he could give us

 these nuggets of guidance the more likely

we would be to remember them later.

Just as the creators of Romper Room were delivering

little reminders for proper behavior.

 

 

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be merciful...
Stop judging...
Stop condemning...
Forgive...
Give...
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”

How would you characterize your ability to measure goodness out to others?

There is never a time when you have given enough goodness.

You can always extend a greater abundance of goodness to others.

Practice just for today...

challenge yourself to give more goodness to those you meet.

You are Loved beyond measure!

The Widow's Gift

~~~ Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~~~

~~~ 1 Kings 17:10-16 ~~~ Psalm 146 ~~~ Hebrews 9: 24-28 ~~~ Mark12:38-44 ~~~

 

The first reading and the Gospel from Mark use the example of a widow.

In Biblical times a widow within the Jewish community had no status. Without her husband she had literally no one to take care of her. She was left to fend for herself which often ended in poverty.

 

In the first reading we have the desperate widow who barely has enough food to feed both herself and her young son.

 

"...there is only a handful of flour in my jar
and a little oil in my jug."

 

She is resigned herself to the fact that she and her son are in fact doomed.

They are facing imminent death from starvation.

She is scraping together what little she has left to provide for her son.

 

You can imagine how torn she must have been when the prophet, Elijah, asks her to share her last bit of food with him.

Giving water to Elijah was was enough...just go to the source scoop up a cupful and bring it to him. But he asks for more; he wanted some bread as well.

 

Certainly it would not have been unreasonable for her to have ignored his request.

Somehow Elijah's words dispel her fears and she decides to honor his request for some bread. In reality what did she have to lose? She was going to die soon from lack of food. Elijah goes on promising her that neither the flour jar or the oil jar would go empty.

Here she takes a huge leap of faith and puts her trust in his words.

As we know she has the grace to make the right decision and God blessed her with abundance. For the next year the flour and the oil remained constant.

 

God had indeed kept his promise foretold to Elijah.

Some may have accused the widow of acting in a foolish manner,

especially when she also had her son to care for.

 

Sometime trusting in God does make us appear to be foolish

in the eyes of others.

What we give to God is returned to us a hundredfold.

Our giving is never in vain.

 

 

Our second widow has come to the temple to worship. She files into the temple with the crowds and drops in her last two coins for her offering.

Some would say that she too acted foolishly; giving her last couple coins.

The scribes and Pharisees all but despised widows. They often took advantage of their poor financial state insisting that they pay their part.

 

So there she was giving her all along side of those

who were giving from their abundance and wealth.

She was giving from her poverty.

Which is the greater gift?

If we only give from our abundance...is it truly giving?

 

Give yourself fully to God.

He will use you to accomplish great things

on the condition that you believe

much more in His love than in your own weakness.
Mother Teresa

 

These wise words from Mother Teresa

give us much to contemplate in this season of thanks and giving.

 

Jesus gave all that he was for our salvation...

every last drop of blood.

We have never been expected to give at that deep level.

 

May our giving bring us greated cause to trust in God's providential care.

He will take what litle we may have and turn it into so much more.

God will provide!

The jar will never be empty if we trust in him.