Thursday – The Coin
A woman had ten coins, silver drachmas, each representing a day's wages for a laborer. Somehow the woman lost one of the coins. She certainly couldn't afford that, so she lit her lamp and searched the whole house until she found the coin. Then she rejoiced with great relief and called her neighbors to celebrate with her.
God has many more souls than just ten, but like the woman, He cannot bear to lose even one. So when even one soul slips away and gets lost, He turns on the lights and searches diligently for it. Of course, God always knows exactly where we are, but because we can, by our own free will, turn away from Him and remove ourselves from Him spiritually, He does everything possible to entice us back to Him. God wants us infinitely more than the woman wanted her lost coin.
So next time things are going wrong and you wonder where God is in the mess of your life, remember that He wants you, He looks for you, and He turns the bright light of His grace on so you can make your way back to Him.
Friday – Citizenship in Heaven
“Our citizenship is in Heaven...” Think about that for a moment. We may live on earth now, but we are pilgrims. We are passing through on our way home to Heaven.
This means that our perspective should be heavenly. We see the things of this world for what they are, temporary, and we use them to do as much good as we can for as many people as possible. We work to make this world a better place so our fellow pilgrims can travel more securely and easily.
Further, we keep the lines of communication to our homeland open and active through constant prayer. We read the letters our Heavenly Father has sent us (i.e., Sacred Scripture). We accept the guidance of the Church that God has given us to lead us home. We even make little visits in spirit as we partake of the sacraments and receive our Lord in the Eucharist. The Mass, after all, is our earthly participation in Heavenly worship.
So we enjoy our journey, and we do the best we can during our lives here on earth, but more than anything, we look forward to getting home to Heaven.
Saturday – The Secret
St. Paul has learned a secret. It's a secret that allows him to be indifferent about material things. If he eats, well and good. If he goes hungry, he can manage. He can cope equally with abundance and need. Nothing seems to bother him.
What is this secret? Paul is eager to share it: “I have the strength for everything through Him who empowers me.”
The secret is Christ. He is why Paul can go hungry or eat well, live abundantly or be in need, and still keep going in his mission. He can get by very well in any circumstances because his focus is completely on Christ.
There's a lesson for us here. If we imitate Paul, we, too, can cope with any situation that might come up in our lives by keeping our eyes on Christ and making sure that He is the center of our lives. When we do this, we will be better able to draw on the strength that our Jesus is always willing and able to provide.
This is a secret we can share. Through Christ we can do all things, handle everything this life throws at us, maintain our balance, and carry out our mission in this life and all the way to Heaven.
No comments:
Post a Comment