Month: November 2018

LOTTERY LOSER

In our news we hear stories of the Mega-Million lottery winners and we get carried away dreaming of all the things we would do if we picked the right numbers. But we easily forget the millions of folks that spent their three dollars and lose week after week. Now for the most part, folks could afford to lose three dollars but some people have become addicted to the possible thrill of winning. Take a chance and it will forever change their lives, just one quick moment and a shortcut to financial security and a brief feeling of happiness. Winning the lottery, one can afford everything the world can offer and still be a big loser!

 

The doctor in the Gospel reading today may be asking for a shortcut as well as he asks a direct question and is hoping for a quick remedy for salvation, the treasure of everlasting life. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”(Luke 10:25) And the answer Jesus gives him is a life-long struggle against our selfish lottery. We easily spend our eternal wealth on things of this world instead of investing wisely in our everlasting life. After all, don’t we have plenty of time to cozy up to Christ when we get closer to our death? But since we know not when our time is near we are taking a chance on salvation.

 

Salvation cannot be bought with a three dollar ticket; no, salvation will cost you everything but yet you will live in abundance. God wants more than your tithe, your attendance or your time, He wants your heart! And once you surrender that vital life-sustaining organ He will transform you into a Good Samaritan, one who just like in the Gospel today, was not blinded or deafened by the evil one. He seized the opportunity to help someone in need. He loved more than himself or his family!

 

And we read this Gospel in St. Luke now, about forty days before the Holy Nativity. We read this Gospel now in hope of reminding us to open our hearts and let God reign. We read this Gospel now instructing us that Christmas is not about how much money we can spend but it is about how much can we love? If the world was filled with love there would be no demand for a Mega-Million lottery!

 

The Fathers of the church see the Good Samaritan as an image of Christ. His actions originated purely from love. And just like the Samaritan, He was hated and rejected. He was beaten and hung on the cross in humiliation and yet He gave us all a place to rest and to heal, His inn, the church. He has paid for all of your needs and will stand here beside you, nursing your wounds and your brokenness. If you had not been wounded and broken by the world, would you still need Him? Will you surrender your life of lottery and embrace His loving care?

 

I pray that during this Advent as we approach the Holy Nativity of Christ you will find time to surrender everything that you are for everything that He is, and you will indeed be a Mega-Million winner. Glory to Thee!

Fr. Gabriel Weller 11-25-18

FOLLOW THE BREADCRUMBS

I think I have always been attracted to things that glitter and are brand-spanking new. These were things I did not have in my younger years since I grew up dirt-poor. We made do and fixed the unrepairable to last another day. From that foundation I gained a vantage point that those glimmering things seemed to mean stability, since the absence of wealth proved to be quite an eager struggle. I was determined that while I was young and healthy I needed to secure my retirement years by working hard and taking risks. After all, I had little to lose and the world to gain! I bet on the one thing I knew I could trust; me!

 

I didn’t really know we were poor until I begin to embrace my independence and wanted a car, insurance and money for upkeep. I viewed the car as a means to get on my feet and pounce on the world and all it had to offer. I liked to work hard so I was on my way to stability and freedom! Look out World, here I come!

 

No doubt, we are supposed to work hard and save for our future, but we cannot be selfishly hoarding and not helping the poor and hungry. And please don’t forget your tithe to the church. With everything, we first submit to God, our hearts, families, time, talent and wealth. Blessed Theophylact writes about the Gospel reading this morning: “The Lord, then, fashioned this story to teach those who show no mercy and give no alms what punishments await them, and to teach those who are suffering what good things they will enjoy on account of the sufferings they patiently endure in this life.” (Bl Theophylact, commentary on Luke 16:19-31)

 

In this Gospel reading the rich man thought he had it all but yet God refuses to call his name. God does not know him, or as St. Gregory of Rome says: “Now our Lord mentions the name of the poor, but not the name of the rich, because God knows and approves the humble, but not the proud.” The rich owned the world but failed to know the One who created it and therefore lost everything!

 

It is easy to find the world and lose yourself. It is so easy to get caught up in things that glimmer and miss the life-sustaining crumbs in life. Our Lord has given us a path to follow which offers us wealth not of this world but a richness that cannot be stolen or decay. We just need to follow the path the church has to offer: prayer, fasting, almsgiving, loving our neighbor, forgiveness, humility, tithing, suffering, repentance, attendance, and mercy.

 

As we age we come to realize as our health begins to fail that we must trust in the Creator and not the created. Follow the salvific bread crumbs He has placed for you on your path to salvation and in all things praise the Lord. And I pray that one day you and I will be carried away by the angels into the bosom of Abraham.

Fr. Gabriel Weller 11-4-2018