1 Thessalonians 4:9-12: Mt 25:14-30
Paul encourages the people; Make even greater progress.
The British poet and novelist William Dunkerley also wrote under the name John Oxenham. One of his poems is especially provocative. A paraphrase of it reads: “To everyone there opens a way a high way and a low. The high soul takes the high way; the low soul takes the low. And in between on the misty flats, the rest drift to and fro. But to everyone there opens a way, a high way and a low. And everyone decides the way his soul shall go.”Paul viewed Christian life in the same way. The only valid choice Christians have is to shoot for the stars. Anything else is unworthy of their calling. What keeps us from shooting for the stars? “Some men die by shrapnel and some go down in flames, But most men perish inch by inch Playing at little games.” Author unknown
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Paul gives his Thessalonians two recommendation to promote mutual love: work for your livelihood and do not over depend on others. Then, remain calm, wait for the Lord’s coming in faith and hope, without fear.
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August 28 (Augustine)
Jesus teaches his disciples; The greatest is he who serves the others.
In 1901 a world’s statesman attended the coronation of King Edward VII in England. The statesman went to the coronation ceremony. He danced at the coronation ball. He met and shook hands with royalty. When he got home, his family asked him what was the most memorable thing of all. He said it was something he saw one night as he was returning to his hotel. Sitting in a doorway was a boy of about twelve. With him was his four-year-old sister. The boy had taken off his own coat and wrapped it around the tiny child to keep her warm. Meanwhile, he himself was shivering visibly. The sight of unselfish service to another is one of the most beautiful of all sights.
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How generously do we serve others? Service is the stairway by which we mount to the throne of God.
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Today we remember the great saint, St. Augustine, who lived during the 4th century. He wrote many theological and spiritual works and to this present day, 2 of his works, The City of God and Confessions are still widely read. In fact, the book "Confessions" is a sort of a spiritual journal for catechumens but it was more his own spiritual journey in discovering God. In his younger days, St. Augustine was a wild and rebellious man. But he was also very intelligent and he studied philosophy and he taught rhetoric. Of course, his mother, St Monica had an influential part in his conversion, especially through her prayers. She prayed for him for 30 years before he was converted and baptized. The turning point of his life came when he heard a homily preached by St. Ambrose.
He went off to a lonely place to do some soul-searching and there he seem to hear a child singing: take and read. He opened the bible at random and he read Rom 13:13-14, which essentially is about living in the day and not in the darkness. That was enough for him and he made preparations to be baptized.
In his book "Confessions" he talked about his experiences of God. And here are two quotes that reflect St. Augustine's journey of discovering God, which in many ways reflect our own journey of discovering and loving God.
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A talent would have the value of about five lakhs of rupees (half a million rupees or about $6,500). Here it means anything over and above natural ability. It is all those gifts which are opportunities to draw profit from. It is God who distributes these gifts. Such talents are: The Church, God's chosen guide to lead men closer to him by its teaching. Its guidance is the means of sanctification. The Bible is such a talent: my work through which I can serve and add my share to the welfare of all, my home, my relatives and friends who help me by their good and perhaps even their bad example to find the right path. The library is another talent holding books that contain the knowledge to
make me a finer person. The poor are a talent of great value. What I do to them is done to Christ and has his reward. My time with its insecurity that makes me trust in God, my ordinary fellow men who are at every moment of the day an opportunity to practice love: all these are opportunities to draw profit from.
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In today’s parable of the talents, Jesus speaks of what we do for the kingdom of God with the gifts we have received from him. For the kingdom, that means, to animate the Church and the world with a faith, a hope, a love that transforms us, the Church and the world. For this purpose, we invest ourselves, take risks, are involved. If we seek a deceptive security in our little practices, in immobility, we bury a hole in the ground, we bury ourselves, we opt for death, we are devalued. Do we use our God-given talents as a capital not merely to be proud of, but to bear interest for God’s plans with us and the world?
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Augustine’s Prayer:
Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you, and upon the shapely things you have made I rushed headlong – I, misshapen. You were with me, but I was not with you. They held me back far from you, those things which would have no being, were they not in you. You called, shouted, broke through my deafness; you flared, blazed, banished my blindness; you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you; I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst; you touched me, and I burned for your peace. Amen
