Give Good Gifts

October 9, 2008

Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

O stupid Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? I want to learn only this from you: did you receive the Spirit from works of the law, or from faith in what you heard? Galatians 3:1-2

[I]f he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Luke 11:8-9

Piety

Lord, help us to realize that life is not about what material gifts we get in the fog of a Hallmark-induced, Madison Avenue inspired daze. Instead, help us to trust our body and soul to you.

Study

Paul, how do you really feel about the Galatians? O stupid Galatians!

What in the world would St. Paul say in a letter to us today?

Jesus has entered our world, our lives and our hearts. He has taken up residence within our very being yet we continue to seek comfort elsewhere. Just look at the ads in any magazine on your coffee table or bookshelf. Here is just a list of the companies pandering to our egos and desires on the first 15 pages of a magazine I picked up randomly.

Grand Marnier.

Gucci.

Alfa Romeo.

Pierre Cardin.

Cartier.

Perry Ellis.

Sony.

Banana Republic.

Clinique.

Movado.

Yikes. Are these companies really going to help us learn the “art of being unique?” Do they really provide the “proven standard” that is the basis for our pursuits in life?

In what proven standard do you want to put your life? The “gold” standard of merchants who will promise you anything in order to separate you from your gold? Or would you be better off to put your trust in the “love” standard exemplified by Jesus who sacrificed his very body and blood in order to separate us from our love – so we are free to share it with others?

To be fair, St. Paul does not take issue with the economic order of the day in ancient area near what we know today as Ankara, Turkey. Instead, he challenges the individual’s adherence to the law and preoccupation with the “flesh.”

Jesus then asks us to take the trust in God one step further. Through St. Luke, he asks us to rely upon God because God can provide better rewards for us than anyone on earth. If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him? Luke 11:13

Action

Take an inventory of the magazines and newspapers that you get – the ones delivered to your home and the ones you pick up at the store, newsstand or elsewhere. Cancel one subscription and replace it with a publication which will enlighten your spiritual life.

Every day is an election day filled with choices. What choices do you make?

GQ?

YM?

DKNY?

Or the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

(Remember, St. Paul is watching. We don’t really want him to write “Oh you stupid Virginians! Who has bewitched you?”)