Religion & Spirituality
Lord, I want your joy, your generosity and your freedom. That love that just emanates, it radiates from you. Jesus I want that life; Lord, do I want the lifestyle that goes hand-in-hand with the life you give? -Fr. Brian Larkin Readings for 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time "If you want to experience the life of Jesus, you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus." (John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry) "'Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'" (Mark 10:17) Lord, I want your joy, your generosity and your freedom. That love that just emanates, it radiates from you. Jesus I want that life; Lord, do I want the lifestyle that goes hand-in-hand with the life you give? -Fr. Brian "I want that life. But then I think about the lifestyle behind it. While I was up watching The Man in the High Castle and drinking red wine until midnight (hypothetical scenario, I promise...), they ate celery and water for dinner and went to bed at 9 p.m..... The reality is, I want the life, but I'm not willing to adopt the lifestyle behind it." (John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry) He is the Son of God, that He is the creator of the universe, the Savior of the world.... But in the midst of that, one of the things that we miss is that Jesus also is a teacher. He is not simply a teacher, He is much more than that. But, brothers and sisters, our savior is also a teacher. And sometimes we forget that He has teachings for how you and I are supposed to live. -Fr. Brian About 25 percent of Jesus' teachings in the New Testament are about money. -(Matthew 6:1-2) "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." (Matthew 6:19-21) "No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24) "But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’" (Luke 12:20) "Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit." (Mark 4:18-19) If you and I are not intentional about our relationship to money, if you do not think about your money and think about the teachings of Jesus Christ around it, I promise you it will cause you anxiety. It will cause you to worship mammon, and it will lessen your relationship with God. It will cause you to be just like the rest of the world. -Fr. Brian We do not need more professionals. We do not need more people who know everything that is happening in the news. We don't need more politicians. Desperately today we need men and women who will offer up their lives for Jesus Christ in a radical way. -Fr. Brian Some of you are called like the rich young man today, Jesus is going to put His finger on your heart and he will say to you, "Go sell everything that you have, give it to the poor, and come follow me." Some of us are called to that. Most of you are not called to that form of it, but every single Christian is called to live according to the mind of Jesus in regard to wealth. -Fr. Brian pe'ah (Hebrew) - corner, edge, or border "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not be so thorough that you reap the field to its very edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest." -(Leviticus 19:9-10) What are you doing with your corner? What are you doing with your pe'ah? -Fr. Brian