Is. 45:1, 4-6; Ps. 96: 3-5, 7-10; 1 Thes. 1:1-5; Mt. 22:15-21
“Grace to you…to his anointed…I have called you by your name” to come into this world with a purpose a “title” as servant of the Lord to fulfill your “work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ”. “It is I who arm you…in power and in the Holy Spirit” to respond to your calling. In summary these excerpts from today’s reading capture the message of this Sunday leaving us to ask ourselves “what is our title?”
“Grace to you” and what is “grace”? Grace represents God’s freely given gift to us of himself to be with us in each and every moment as we respond to our call with truth, goodness, beauty and unity to him as a “labor of love”. Grace is God himself “opening doors before him and leaving gates unbarred”. We can do all things through Christ who strengthen us. Be not afraid to welcome grace and allow God to be the force to be great saints.
Grace is the gift to speak truth to power as the Pharisees claim “not concerned with anyone’s opinion” “chosen” for this time and in these circumstances to stand for Godly truth. These are our times to bear the cross of truth to the world as the early apostle went forth knowing there would be persecution. We stand for truth when we allow God into the public square as the guiding principle of our actions. We stand for truth as “one nation under God”.
Grace to you with the gift of goodness “in holy attire” dressed with the goodness of giving of ourselves for others. Wear the coat of righteousness seeking justice in our everyday relationships. Others see the world as politics, a “dog eat dog” world of oppression, suppression, and hunger for power. Grace is the greater good of hunger for righteousness in serving God through others. Goodness is in the heart for right action. Take the next right step and allow God to open doors trusting him in his goodness.
Grace to you with the gift of beauty with a “new song”. The song we sing gives honor and glory to the Lord with the sound of praise in joyful exultation of the wonders our God has done. “How awesome is he” as we sing “thanks be to God”. In the popular show America’s Got Talent, the judges separate those with a good voice from those who sing from the heart showing their identity and connecting to the audience. We can let our song be a routine melody of tradition or a “new song” of conversion praising who God is in our lives.
Grace to you with the gift of unity as “families of nations” seek peace and equity among our resources. In a world where hunger and poverty are an epidemic in some nations with limited resources our grace is a gift of giving to meet the needs of others in generosity. Unity is the feast of sharing our gifts for a greater good, not hidden, not stored away, but exposed in service that the grace of God may multiply them in our lives.
We give honor and glory to God in the practice of the graces received for a greater good and purpose. As Spinoza the philosopher states “if love is the goal then generosity is the road to it”. The human capacity to love is essential to life and to happiness thus if love is the goal and God is love then God is the fulfillment of our happiness.
We thus return to the initial question “what is our title”? We wear many titles through life, titles that bond us members of our family, titles that are given in our work environment, titles bestowed as honors for personal achievement, all good in which we may honor God with our lives. Is that it or is there another title destined by God for us to achieve a greater purpose, a saintly purpose? Let us consider our purpose in life as a calling to be apostle, apologist, healer, teacher, martyr, servant, religious, deacon, priest, and a witness to give testimony to our faith. God is listening for a response from our heart to his grace. We are his anointed by title.
Recent Comments