Saturday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. Luke 16:11-13
Piety
Father, you know what is in our hearts. Take from us all that keeps us from you. Fully supply whatever we need in accord with the glorious riches of Jesus, to lead us to you. Set us free from the distractions and desires in our lives so that we may live our life, like St. Paul, dedicated to knowing what is in your heart. Amen.
Study
What is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God. If you have any doubt about that, take a look at the television programming which was served up on Friday night. I offer Exhibit 1:
Wife Swap (ABC) Thou shall not covet thy neighbors wife.
Deal or No Deal (NBC). Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s silver briefcase.
Everybody Hates Chris (CW) Love your neighbor.
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (FOX) Who will trust you with true wealth?
Ghost Whisperer (CBS) God will fully supply what you need.
We do not require some fictitious intermediary helping us to communicate with the dead when the Lord already has provided the Holy Spirit.
Frankly what is of network programming executive esteem should be considered an abomination in the sight of non-comatose adults. If the plots and premises underlying each of these programs were not sketchy enough, each half hour also is filled with 8-10 minutes of commercials hawking cars, consumption and capitalism.
God knows what seeds of temptation this entertainment plants in our hearts and minds. Resistance is imperative.
Action
St. Paul tried to live self-sufficiently. However, like missionaries today, he needed the kindness and sacrifice of others to support his works. Fortunately, Paul had friends even in far away places like Philippi who made sacrifices to support his work.
While Jesus today gives a strong rebuke of money, he specifically admonishes against dishonest wealth. Earning a just wage and using that to support yourself and others is important. He condemns those “who loved money” and made it play too great a price in their lives.
As we come up on Advent and Christmas, take a look at your support of missionaries domestically and internationally. Can you find a place in your heart to find and add another worthy cause to your list of charities? Deal?
PS: Considering my little rant above about television, if you turn it off one night this week, it will give you the time needed to research another charity or mission. Good resources for charity research are www.guidestar.org and www.charitynavigator.org. Charity Navigator has links to ratings of 86 Catholic charitable organizations here.
Happy Birthday, Dorothy!
Today is the anniversary of the birth of Dorothy Day founder of the Catholic Worker movement. She was born in
Prayer for the Intercession of Servant of God Dorothy Day
(from the Dorothy Day Guild)
God our Creator, your servant Dorothy Day exemplified the Catholic faith by her conversion,
life of prayer and voluntary poverty, works of mercy, and witness to the justice and peace
of the Gospel.
May her life inspire people to turn to Christ as their Savior and guide,
to see his face in the world’s poor and
to raise their voices for the justice
of God’s kingdom.
We pray that you grant the favors we ask
through her intercession so that her goodness
and holiness my be more widely recognized
and one day the Church may
proclaim her Saint.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Study
Thanks to Jim Forrest and Frank Codero for this reminder quote from Dorothy Day about the need to serve the poor:
“People say, 'What good can one person do? What is the sense of our small effort?' They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time. We can be responsible only for the one action of the present moment. But we can beg for an increase of love in our hearts that will vitalize and transform all our individual actions, and know that God will take them and multiply them, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes.”
Action
Learn a little more about the cause for her sainthood. In March of 2000, the late John Cardinal O’Connor, announced the approval of the Holy See for the Archdiocese of New York to open the Cause for the Beatification and Canonization of Dorothy Day. With this approval, Dorothy Day was given the title of Servant of God. Edward Cardinal Egan is continuing the efforts for her canonization.
The next step toward sainthood is beatification. Beatification allows a person to be honored by a particular group or region. In order to beatify a candidate, it must be shown that the person is responsible for a posthumous miracle. To be considered a saint, there must be proof of a second posthumous miracle.
For more information, visit the pages of the Catholic Worker movement and the Dorothy Day Guild.
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