Yes - Enough already - stop it - stop! In today's Holy Scriptures all three scriptures point to one thing - look at what is above - what is important - not what is below. In the first scripture vanities refers to all the things that we tend to focus our attention on - both good and bad - how many good things - how many bad things - that we have in our lives - things that may vanish in an instant - in God's mind not of true value. The second scripture and third continues this exact theme - do not worry about possessions - how many you have - where to store them - what you might do with them in the future. For - as in the Gospel - we never know when God will call us from this place - and to whom will those possessions go? In the Gospel ther farmer wanted to build ;larger buildings - in the midwest we love silos - big silos - lots of silos - to store the abundance of our crops. Some to store - to dry - to prepare before moving to sell. Others to store our grains - holding for a time when the value of those grains may be maximized. Farmer or not we all have treasure - treasure stored in various places. Banks - stocks - bonds - buildings - vehicles - all stored in our personal "silo" where we can sit and admire the physical wealth they represent. But all of that - no matter how much - has no value in our life as spiritual creatures - as children of God - who cares less about what we have - compared to what we have not. To God our most important possession is our relationship with Him - with His Son - Jesus. He wants us to know HIM - to know His LOVE - PEACE - FORGIVENESS - ACCEPTANCE. If our personal silos are not filled with these things - then we are the poorest of the poor - a sad lot to be sure. I love it when I am in Arizona. So many days after being so busy - God paints the sky with such beautiful sunsets - a gift for all to see - a painting - saying job well done - enjoy my sky. These are the things that I put in my silo.
Our parish is currently part of the Divine Renovation Project to recreate the Church - through targeted evangelization via personal contact - through use of the Alpha Program - by getting parishioners to stop and refocus their attention on getting to completely understand their relationship with God - and forming a personal relationship with Jesus. Once accomplished - renewed through the power of the Holy Spirit - better educated - fully understanding what it means to be a disciple in this day and age - all are empowered to take the mission of Jesus into the streets - to anyone who will listen. In our parish we have seen the fruits of our labors as new people come to join our parish - as neighboring parishes come to see what the excitement is all about - asking us to help them renovate their own parishes to move from a maintenance model of a status quo - to a revitalized model of active evangelization. Becoming a true disciple of ChrIst is very easy - as long as one focuses their yes on what is above rather than what is of Earth. Yes - some possessions are expected and fine - they only become a problem when they take our attention away from the One who made them available in the first place.
We all have a "silo" where we store our special possessions - how big is Your silo - and what does it hold?
Deacon Dale
Our parish is currently part of the Divine Renovation Project to recreate the Church - through targeted evangelization via personal contact - through use of the Alpha Program - by getting parishioners to stop and refocus their attention on getting to completely understand their relationship with God - and forming a personal relationship with Jesus. Once accomplished - renewed through the power of the Holy Spirit - better educated - fully understanding what it means to be a disciple in this day and age - all are empowered to take the mission of Jesus into the streets - to anyone who will listen. In our parish we have seen the fruits of our labors as new people come to join our parish - as neighboring parishes come to see what the excitement is all about - asking us to help them renovate their own parishes to move from a maintenance model of a status quo - to a revitalized model of active evangelization. Becoming a true disciple of ChrIst is very easy - as long as one focuses their yes on what is above rather than what is of Earth. Yes - some possessions are expected and fine - they only become a problem when they take our attention away from the One who made them available in the first place.
We all have a "silo" where we store our special possessions - how big is Your silo - and what does it hold?
Deacon Dale
