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November 17, 2014As children of the light, God has carved out a portion of his very own treasure and entrusted it to us. Each receives no more than we can handle and each of us is led by the Holy Spirit to do as we wish.
“Come share your Master’s Joy,” is our invitation to share eternal life with all the angels and saints in heaven. Those five precious words will be spoken to all who are willing to participate in God’s divine plan for salvation.
With so much at stake, I’d like to take a few minutes and reflect on Our Master’s joy – his treasures, and the beauty of his creation.
2. When I reflect on God’s treasures I usually start by visualizing all sorts of people; especially all those who are near and dear to me: family, friends, and those whom I minister to as a Deacon. And I pray that God will remove any obstacle that may prevent them from recognizing the new deed that God is doing in their lives. “For they are the Master’s joy!”
3. Then in my mind’s eye I visualize the United States and pray that God will continue to inspire our great nation. I pray that all men and women will discover and embrace their talents and charisms and use them to renew every corner of our land.
4 . Next I visualize our planet and all the beauty & potential that it possesses. I recall the sacred words written in the book of Genesis: God created the heavens and the earth, he separated the dry land from the seas, he filled the earth with all good things and then in his image and likeness he created you and me, so that we may have the Masters Joy - and all was good.
5. Finally I try to visualize our vast universe and all the galaxies that God created.
I find it impossible to do so. The magnitude of God’s handiwork is beyond anyone’s comprehension.
I am humbled and grateful for the life that Jesus has breathed into us. Out of his infinite wisdom he purposefully chose each one of us. He enabled us with the ability to think and reason, make moral choices, express our artistic creativity, and live in harmony with others.
More importantly, through the waters of baptism he empowered us to be his channel of love. He placed within our deepest being specific charisms. They are gifts of service to others, gifts that must be desired and pray for.
The prayer can be something as simple as: “Lord, My spirit yearns to be set free, but my body hesitates – for it desires to see. Am I called or is it a dream – just who can say?
6. Everything that God gives us flows from his loving kindness. Christianity is a religion of the heart – and it relies on the Holy Spirit to release from within us all the good we are capable of doing. We are asked to discover our charisms, understanding they are works of God with which we are asked to cooperate.
We all know this, but the challenge is - how can we consistently be a channel of God’s love to others when we have to navigate around our own loneliness, sorrows, financial hardships, illness, and pure lack of time?
Well, today’s scripture tell us that we can go down one of two roads. 1) we can do nothing and in effect bury our charisms as the 3 rd servant did in today’s gospel; or 2) we can continue be of service to those in need and trust that the words delivered by Isaiah are true. “For those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on the wings of eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint” (Is 40:28-31)
Remember, God called us by name before he created the universe; while we were in our mothers’ womb he spoke our name. He specifically called us to be a light for the world and by our prayers, actions, and sufferings the unbelieving will come to believe and God will heal them.
7. The world is always in need of those who have discovered their talents and their spiritual gifts. The world depends on the giftedness of all people to build-up the body of Christ and to be a source of nourishment to one another. ‘So receive the gift(s) that God has so generously blessed you with, employ it for one another, And be good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1Peter 4-10)
