God is able

"God is perfectly able to enrich you with every grace, so that you always have enough for every conceivable need, and your resources overflow in every kind of good work." (2 Corinthians 9: 8)

Every good gift comes from God. Our time, talent and treasure all come from Him. Whenever God asks us to do something or give something, He wants us to remember the above promise. God is able to enrich us with every grace. He is able to provide all the resources we need for every kind of good work. Therefore let us respond to God with open and generous spirit. Can we ever outdo God in generosity? Never!

Release the shekel

"Go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that rises, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give it to them for me and for yourself." (Matthew 17: 27)

Jesus has shown before that He knows where all the fish are hiding. In the above scripture, He shows that He knows the particular fish that had swallowed a shekel. Now He commands the fish to release the shekel.

All things serve God. All things are possible for God. To know that my destiny is safely in the hands of God gives me a lot of comfort.

Fear God alone

"The Lord, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve; hold fast to him and swear by his name." (Deuteronomy 10: 20)

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom do I fear?" (Psalm 27: 1)

What we fear:

• People in authority
  
• Disease
  
• Poverty
  
• Death
  

The Lord wants us to fear Him alone. If we have fear of God in our hearts, we fear nothing. If we do not have the fear of God, we tend to fear everything.

 

 

 

All gifts come from God

"God of power, giver of the gifts we bring, accept the offering of your Church and make it the sacrament of our salvation……." (Offertory Prayer at Mass)

God is the giver of every gift. The offering we bring to Mass comes from Him. He inspires the work and gives the power that earns the money. Therefore, we should not be mean in offering Him our first fruits. We should remember that we can never outdo God in generosity.

The Eucharist is a great exchange of gifts. We bring our offering. God accepts it and in exchange gives us the Body and Blood of His Son, Jesus.

Taking the eyes off Jesus

"Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was, he became frightened; and beginning to sink, he cried out, 'Lord, save me!" (Matthew 14: 29 – 30)

How we become frightened in projects when we take our eyes off Jesus to focus on strong wind, earthquake and fire. But all is not lost, if we recover our senses and cry out like Peter, 'Lord, save me!"    

"When I am afraid, I put my trust in you, in God, whose word I praise, in God I put my trust and have no fear, what power has human strength over me?" (Psalm 56: 3 – 4)

A tiny whispering sound

"After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave." (1 Kings 19: 12 – 13)

Notice how God chose to reveal Himself to Elijah – "a tiny whispering sound."

"Be still and know that I am God."

"My salvation is in tranquility, my strength in confidence."

"My ways are not your ways."

Elijah first perceived loud wind, earthquake and fire. But when he heard the tiny whispering sound, he knew the difference. He probably knew the difference by the application of the gift of discernment. The servant of God knew the attributes of his Master.

Our Promised Inheritance

"Almighty and ever-living God, your Spirit made us your children, confident to call you Father. Increase your Spirit within us and bring us to our promised inheritance….." (Opening Prayer at Sunday Mass)

The Spirit makes us God's children. We rejoice to call God Father. We are confident that God is our Father. God our Father is not inferior to our human father in any way. If our human father can provide us bread when we ask for it, God our Father can provide us much more.

We also pray that God increase His Spirit within us. Jesus promises that this is a prayer that the Father will grant as a matter of priority and urgency. How do we recognize n increase in the Holy Spirit within us? If we notice an increase in faith, patience, humility, wisdom, courage, we know the source is the Holy Spirit. By His fruits, we shall know Him.