Podcasts

The One Thing We Must Do

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

Wouldn’t it be great to have a straight-forward plan to follow Jesus right into heaven? I think that is what the scribe was asking for in chapter 12 of Mark’s Gospel when he asked Jesus which was the first of all the commandments. Considering that by Jesus’ time, the Jewish leaders had hundreds of laws on the books, the scribe’s question was probably his seeking overarching instructions on how to simplify everyday life. He just wanted to know the one thing he must do. Isn’t that how we are, too? Don’t we want a simple plan? “Jesus, just tell me what I have to do.” So, He does. He gives us the one thing we must do to enter heaven. Love. That’s it. Love. Love God and love your neighbor.

We know that love is a verb. It is action. It is the one thing we must do. To love God, we go to Mass, we participate in the Sacraments, we spend time in adoration, we read the scriptures, we pray, and we do for others. Jesus tells us in Mt. 25 that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we do for Him.

Living stewardship gives us the perfect action plan. Stewardship is faith in action. It is doing for others in love and thanksgiving to God. As stewards, we receive God’s gifts gratefully, manage them to the best of our abilities, and return them with increase to the Lord. This returning them is our love in action. It is taking the gifts and blessings that God gives us and turning them into something beautiful by serving others, giving alms to help the poor, and helping our most vulnerable neighbors. Give time to the elderly. Give help to the young pregnant woman so that she can confidently choose life. Give money to  supplement tuition for children in families of limited means. How else can you give? 

Giving is loving. Give in love to your neighbors in need. Give in humble gratitude for God’s blessings.

Mark 12:28-31    One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

He’s Calling You

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

Mark 10:49   Take courage; get up, he is calling you.

He’s calling you…

To what is Jesus calling you? To love more actively. To pray more persistently. To praise more enthusiastically. To give more generously. To a deeper and closer relationship with Him. In other words, to holiness. Here are a handful of Bible verses that tell us what God’s call is to us:

  • 1 Cor. 1:2   Called to be holy.
  • 2 Tim. 1:9   He saved us and called us to a holy life.
  • 1 Pet. 1:15   As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct.
  • 1 Thes. 4:7   For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness.

Pope Francis, in his apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exultate, says that holiness is the mission of every Christian. To walk the path of holiness requires prayer and contemplation alongside action. Prayer is talking to, and maybe more important, listening to God. The actions of holiness are the works of mercy we find in Matthew 25: feeding, clothing, housing, educating, and helping those most in need, the least of our brothers and sisters. 

Pope Francis goes on to say, “Be holy by living your lives with love…the path to holiness is almost always gradual, made up of small steps in prayer, in sacrifice, and in service to others. Jesus explained with great simplicity what it means to be holy – living simply, and putting God first, trusting in Him and not earthly power or wealth, being humble, mourning and consoling others, being merciful and forgiving, working for justice, and seeking peace with all.”  (see footnote 17 in the book INYM)

So take courage. Be stouthearted (Ps. 27:14). Like Bartimaeus, call out to Jesus. Have faith that He knows you, hears you, and loves you. Then, step out in that faith and give and serve. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Photo Credit: Robert Davis

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Biblical Truth is a Paradox

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

Biblical truth often sounds paradoxical. Teachings in the Bible can seem at odds with what we see around us. The Gospel in Mark 10: 42-45 gives us a good example, “Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The greatest and wealthiest in our culture don’t seem to be servants; they have servants. And we certainly don’t want to be slaves, always being told what to do and when we can do it. We want to be in control and master of our own destiny. And in His lavish love for us, God gives us the freedom to make our own choices. But if we want things to go well, we’ll let Him be in control. And so, Living stewardship also seems paradoxical.

 

We know we are to put God first ahead of everyone and everything else, but is that practical, and how would we do it? We know we are to put the needs and interests of others ahead of our own. But if we put the meeting of others’ needs before our own, we fear our own needs might be jeopardized. How do we embrace stewardship, then?

Faith. Trust. Fortitude. Psalm 27:14 exhorts us, “Take courage, be stouthearted!” Fortitude is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations, to overcome obstacles, and to conquer fear – fear of not having enough.

Stewardship requires that we trust God to provide. That trust demands faith. Faith is a gift. We need only a mustard seed amount of it. Pray for the gift of faith and the fortitude to live the best life of discipleship that you can with stouthearted courage!

                                                                                                                                                                  Photo Credit: Robert Davis

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Sell Everything!

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

In Mark 10: 17-30 we read about the rich man who asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus answers that he needs to follow the commandments. The man had done so. A deep relationship with God was obviously important to him. He had diligently kept the commandments since his youth – what his religion required of him. Yet, he knew something was missing. The man must have wondered that there must be more to it. And there is. One thing more. Jesus looked at him with love and told him,“You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me (21).” There it is – sell everything! 

Like the man in this story, don’t we also wonder if there is more we should do to gain eternal life? Out of love, Jesus tells him – and us – what the one thing is that we must do. But, how would we live if we sold everything? How would we eat? Pay bills? And is it a bad thing to have wealth? Not necessarily. But if wealth is our source of trust and confidence about our future, then that confidence is misplaced. God alone has our future in His hands. We tend to think that it is our wealth that allows us to be in control of our future. But we know deep down that this isn’t really so. We see examples almost everyday that we are not in control. 

God is to be first in our lives, in every area of our lives, even first in our wealth. We are to trust God and be confident that He provides. Trusting in wealth, then, becomes a hindrance to our relationship with God and with others. 

Check your attitude toward your possessions. Wealth is bad if you:

  • Believe you’ve attained wealth due entirely to your own efforts.
  • Are preoccupied with obtaining and managing your wealth.
  • Think your wealth makes you independent, needing nothing from anyone.
  • Think your wealth makes you happy and feel secure. 
  • Are not willing to share with those in need because you’re concerned that that will take away from what you need.

Thoughts such as these are an obstacle to having an intimate relationship with God. Consider two Bible passages to help inform a proper mindset:

Deuteronomy 8:11-14,17-18   Be careful not to forget the LORD, your God, by failing to keep his commandments and ordinances and statutes which I enjoin on you today: lest, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built fine houses and lived in them, and your herds and flocks have increased, your silver and gold has increased, and all your property has increased, you then become haughty of heart and forget the LORD, your God. You might say in your heart, “It is my own power and the strength of my own hand that has got me this wealth.” Remember then the LORD, your God, for he is the one who gives you the power to get wealth.

1 Timothy 6:10,17-19   For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains. Tell the rich in the present age not to be proud and not to rely on so uncertain a thing as wealth but rather on God, who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share.

Back to the man in Mark’s Gospel. We know he went away sad after hearing Jesus’s instruction to sell everything. We don’t know what he actually did. I bet that is on purpose. It leaves us to grapple with what we will do. Selling everything – rather giving sacrificially and trusting that God will provide is scary. But, when we embrace the truth that God owns everything and God gives us everything, including the ability to get wealth, then we realize how blessed we truly are. We then, in overwhelming gratefulness and all humility, joyfully answer our call to be courageously generous and give of our Time, Talent, and Treasure – everything.

Trust God. Sell everything. And give. Give because It’s Not Your Money.

                                                                                                                                                                                       Photo Credit: Robert Davis

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

God is Good

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

God is good… All the time… This familiar call-and-response is how Fr. Ajani began his homily. And we dutifully responded. But then he asked us a question that made us think, “Have you ever given that statement its due? Have you pondered deeply how good God truly is?”

We get our first glimpse of just how good God is at the very beginning of the Bible in the story of creation. God gave Adam everything. He provided. Even when Adam chose to go his own way and disobey God, God still provided. He didn’t abandon Adam and Eve as he took them from the garden. He sewed clothes for them. He gave them work. He stayed with them. He does the same for us. Everything we need and have is given to us from God. Everything!

King David confirms this truth in 1 Chron 29: 

  • V.11   For all in heaven and on earth is yours
  • V.12   Riches and glory are from you
  • V.14   For everything is from you

Think about this for a moment. Every single thing you have is a gift from God. Every moment of time; every ounce of talent; every dime of treasure. Add to these gifts God’s unconditional love for you, His mercy and forgiveness. Jesus gives us His real presence in the Eucharist – thank you, Lord. And we have the gift of eternal life with God in heaven because of Jesus’s  suffering and dying on the cross. “Awesome” is an overused term today, but truly – How awesome. When we embrace this truth for our lives, we realize that His generosity is overwhelming! How are we to respond to God for all these gifts, blessings, and benefits? 

 

Humble gratitude – yes. Praise and thanksgiving – of course. And to live boldly by putting God first in every area of our life. To live a stewardship life, a life of prayer, participation, and generosity. A good steward receives God’s gifts gratefully, manages them to the best of his/her ability, and shares them courageously out of love and justice. God is good – all of the time, and so we share His good with our neighbors.  

                                                                                                                                                                Photo Credit: Robert Davis

Podcast: Play in new window | Download