Check this earlier post for Sunday's readings, background material on them and hints for helping children prepare to hear the Lord's Word. The stories of two women are featured in today's scriptures: one had next to nothing left to eat, the other just two cents. Take a few moments to preview these scriptures - it can make a world of difference for your experience at Mass on the Lord's Day! (Image: ukeeparish)-ConcordPastor
What I find stunningly amazing about the lady with the two cents, who gave everything, is that when we do that, when we give everything, God will not let us suffer. He will make up the delta. I suppose it is hard to have that level of trust, but once it has happened to you -- and more than once -- then there is no more doubt nor fear. The latest example of that in my life was a request from the director of our Franciscan retreat center, which had burned down, for a pledge for three years for the amount I had been regularly donating so that a loan could be taken against the pledges. Well, what I had been donating was my book royalties, which can add up to a small but useful sum, especially if pledged for more than one year. When the paper arrived for pledging, though, there was a list of things still needed: one was $50K for a kitchen. That image gnawed at me so much that I knew that I was supposed to donate this amount. But I don't make that kind of money! I prayed about it, and clearly I was supposed to do this -- so, I made the pledge. I could come with the full amount of the kitchen if I donated my food and gas money, which is all I generally have left after fixed bills (nope, I don't have any "luxury funds" given all the medical problems of our children and grandchildren). I would just have to trust God for food to stay alive and gas to get to work. I would like to report that God is trustworthy. I have not lacked for food or gas since doing that some nine months ago. There has always been an extra assignment here or there or some unexpected income -- in fact, I could use less food money so that I could stick to my diet better! As for the center, it has been re-built, and on First Friday/Day of Recollection which I attended yesterday, we all got to eat in the cafeteria food that had been prepared in a wonderful new kitchen. The best part? The donation has remained anonymous as I requested, a secret between God, me, and the center's board of directors. (I think people would react to me differently if they knew.) So, I can enjoy the new "digs" with quiet gratitude to God for allowing me to be part of the re-birth of a larger, very modern center, which now has a greater outreach than ever before. (The fire that destroyed the old, dated building appears to have been a good thing, not a bad thing, in the long run.)
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, what a beautiful expression of faith! Sometimes, I think of the lilies of the field, neither do they toil nor spin, but God takes care of them. This helps me feel secure that God will also take care of me. And he does!
ReplyDeleteRosemary