Podcasts

You are the Temple of God

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

St. Paul asks us, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God?” You, me, all of us are the resulting legacy of the building that Paul started on the foundation of Jesus Christ. He goes on to tell us that he laid the foundation. That foundation is Jesus. And others are building on it. 

Who are those others? The church and the saints who came before us. Their work and influence, their ministry is their legacy. Their legacy tells us who we are. We are God’s temple. We are holy. We are loved. We know how important we are by Jesus’s zealous cleansing of the temple. Jesus drove out the money changers so that the temple would be clean. He wants our building sites to be clean and strong so that we can continue to build on His foundation.

How is your building coming along? Do you have zeal for creating your legacy and building the kingdom of God right where you are? Are you building with pride and complacency, or with faith and obedience? Are you zealous to acquire more stuff, or zealous in caring for the needs of the poor? Are you building and creating a legacy of zeal for the temples of God near to you–your family and community, as Jesus, Paul, and the Saints did?

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What Will Your Legacy Be?

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

What will your legacy be? We just celebrated All Souls Day, a day when we pause to pray for the souls of the faithful departed. It is a great opportunity to reflect on our life, how we live, and what’s truly important. Because we know that our time on this earth is short.

St. John Henry Newman reminds us in one of his sermons, “Each of us must come to the evening of life. Each of us must enter on eternity. Each of us must come to that quiet, awful time when we will appear before the Lord and answer for the deeds done, whether they be good or bad…It will be that dread moment of expectation when your fate for eternity is in the balance.”

Fr. Larry Richards is much more direct. The first sentence in his book Be A Man says, “You are going to die.” To which I add, and you will leave a legacy. So again, what will your legacy be?

Can it be a life lived in accord with God’s will? We know from John 6:40 that God’s will is for everyone who believes in His son Jesus to have eternal life. Can our life be one of faithfulness to His commandments, growth in virtue, perseverance in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, repentance, frequent participation in the sacraments, and doing the works of mercy?

Because living this way, believing in Jesus, having faith in His overwhelmingly gracious saving act of dying on the cross, is our way emulate His life. It shows our love of God above all else and our love for our neighbor as ourselves. Living this way creates a legacy that honors God just as Jesus and the saints did.

                                                                                                                                                                                               Photo Credit: Robert Davis

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All Good People Go To Heaven

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

All good people go to heaven – right? Do you think that if you are a good person, if you’re nice to people and don’t litter, then you can go to heaven? The Pharisee in Luke 18 thought that his good behavior and his obedience to the law qualified him for heaven. He thought his strict adherence to the rules for tithing and fasting made him holy, and so, deserving of God’s blessings. The audacity!

But don’t we think that way, too sometimes. That prideful thinking gets turned on its head in today’s parable. It is clear that God prefers humility. The tax collector gives us a good model to follow. 

Pope Francis told us that our life’s mission is to be holy. Holiness is discerning and doing God’s will. Holiness is our humble acceptance of our brokenness and need for God’s mercy. Holiness is forgiving imperfections in ourselves and others. In that, we gain empathy and compassion for others and so strive to show mercy to them as Jesus shows mercy to us. 

Holiness is a call to be different from the world, to stand out, to make a noticeable difference. Living a holy life of love becomes our goal. This is what stewardship is all about! We are to be generous with the gifts God gives us in service to those in need. We grow in our discipleship by being humble, other-centered, and self-sacrificing, attentive to the needs of the poor, giving alms and taking action, doing what we can to help them. This is the challenge and the privilege of those who would repay the Lord for all His great goodness. 

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It Isn’t Always Easy

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

It isn’t always easy or convenient to be a good disciple. But, Saint Paul exhorts us in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient.”

Discipleship is not always convenient. It isn’t always easy to be generous. The busyness of everyday family and work life demands our attention. On top of that, our world offers many enticements that act as siren calls to distract us from truly putting God first. But, we are to persist, to persevere, to remain faithful. 

What do we get if we do? In my experience of trusting God and stepping out in faith to give courageously, I get the joy and contentment of having more meaning in my life by being a part of something big, something majestic – the mission of the church. I gain a sense of satisfaction about my life by my generosity making an impact for the good of others. And I get peace – the peace that comes by being faithful and obedient to the word of God. 

Be intentional and courageous in making stewardship the Ideal for your life. Get this same sense of joy and peace by your persistence in putting God first in your Time management, first in the use of your Talents, and first in how you spend your Treasure. St John of the Cross said, ”Joy is the appropriate attitude with which to give to others because acts of generosity are a source of blessing to the giver as well as the receiver.” 

Photo Credit: Robert Davis

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The Big ‘E’

Published on: by Joe Galloway Comment

In 2 Timothy 1:8 we hear Paul tell us, “ So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.” I don’t know about you, but that sounds a bit like the big ‘E’ word, Evangelizing. 

Evangelization. That sounds scary to most of us–especially if you think of evangelization as having to scream out on a corner like a street preacher. Then I can understand why you’d shy away from it. And I’d agree with you. I wouldn’t want to do that, either. Besides, we know that fear of public speaking is the most common of phobias, ranking ahead of death, spiders, or heights. 

But, what is evangelization at its core? It is simply helping others to become disciples by sharing the Good News about how much God loves you and them. We certainly should not be ashamed of telling people of God’s love and how it is the source of joy and awe that overwhelms us.  

Being joyful attracts others as we express our gratefulness for God’s love and provision for us. Our joy radiates the transformative power of our faith in God through our actions and words. Blessed Columba Marmion said, “Joy is the echo of God’s life in us.” Our enthusiasm inspires others to embark on their own faith journey, guiding them with love and understanding, helping them to discover the truth of God’s love for them. This approach to evangelizing acknowledges the unique journey of everyone around us, encouraging their growth in faith while deepening our own.

One way to show people how God’s love transforms you is by living a stewardship life. His abundant generosity and lavish love moves you to have so much faith and trust in Him that you put Him first in every area of your life, including with your money. Being bold enough to live generously will do the big ‘E’ for you. Giving generously and joyfully will be your street preaching . 

Giving to the needs of others out of love for God brings you the greatest sense of joy. Giving sacrificially is the strongest statement you can make of your faith and trust in God to provide. Let your joyful giving be the way you share your testimony.

Photo Credit: Robert Davis

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