Time Is Running Out September 13

I tell you, brothers, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away. 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Luke 6:20-21

Piety

Let us pray: God, source of all that is good in the world, take from us all the obstacles that block your grace from working in our lives. Jesus, give to us the prudence to let go of these material possessions. Holy Spirit, grant us the temperance to moderate our desire for riches in this world so as to enjoy eternal happiness in union with you in the next life. Deliver us from evil and grant us peace today. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/091306.shtml

Did you hear that knock on your door? Imagine it is Jesus, God incarnate. He is visiting you. How will Jesus find you?

Are you, like our neighbors in the richest county in the nation, living comfortably? Too comfortably? Are you surrounded by nice possessions? What gifts has God given you? Are you using them to build the kingdom – His Kingdom, not your own? Are you answering the call and using the gifts God has given to you?

Today, St. Paul advises Christians to go about the ordinary activities of life in a manner different from those who are totally immersed in the world. Being immersed in the world also makes some people unaware of the temporary nature of “temporal” possessions.

It’s mildly interesting that temporal is a synonym for “worldly, secular, earthly.” It has as its root word the same etymology (word history) as the word temporary. The root word is the Latin temporarius which means “of seasonal character, lasting a short time.” This comes from the Latin tempus that means “time or season.”

So are you a temp for Jesus or are you a FTE – full-time employee?

If you are full-time employee, then you should know how Jesus doles out reward. There is an inverse relationship between spiritual rewards and earthly rewards as enumerated in the beatitudes of Luke in the Sermon on the Plain and Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount.

In the sermon, blessed extols the fortunate condition of persons who are favored with the blessings of God; the woes, addressed as they are to the disciples of Jesus, threaten God’s profound displeasure on those so blinded by their present fortunate situation that they do not recognize and appreciate the real values of God’s kingdom. In all the blessings and woes, the present condition of the persons addressed will be reversed in the future.

Action

How you are vs. how you will be: What can you do to reverse your fortunes in this world? What can you do to shed things that you don’t need, live more simply and share your resources with others?

Dr. Michael Sleeth points out in Serve God Save the Planet that the one time Jesus displays anger and indignation concerns shopping (John 2:14-16). This is when Jesus drives the merchants from the porch of his Father’s “house.”

He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there.

He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace.”

Sleeth advises to look around at your stuff and ask, “Will this _________ (fill in the blank) bring me closer to God?” If not, then why do you need it? The more you ask the question, the more you will change your state from how you are to how you will be.