Persons, not things...

Today is the feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr.

From A Year with the Saints:

After the martrydom of Pope Sixtus II and four deacons at the catacombs of St. Callistus, Lawrence sold the sacred vessels and distributed all the money in his hands to the poor. The Prefect of Rome, informed about this generous charities, ordered him to surrender to the emperor the treasures of the Church to be used to strengthen the army.
Lawrence came back and presented all the poor of the Prefect, saying: These are the treasures of the Church. The Prefect was maddened by his words and decided to have him killed.

Lawrence sent the Prefect a clear message - the things of this world are ordained for the genuine good of all, especially those most in need, and the real treasures are not things, but people.

He sends us the same reminder.

(other links to St. Lawrence: 1; audio: 2)

18th Sunday in OT

Greed leads to a lot of evils. One who wants more, will do everything to have more, regardless of whoever he tramples on, whatever it takes, however he could take more. And he will never be satisfied.

A lot of pain, a lot of conflict, a lot of division, a lot of violence, a lot of evils could be removed from our lives, our families, our society, our world, if only we seek to give and share, not covet and hoard.

Greed blinds us from the needs of others, and blurs our vision of our true nature and goal.

An old story illustrates this:

A rabbi, concerned over the growing worldliness and materialism of his friend, invited him over to his study and led him to the window.
"What do you see?", he asked. There was a playground next door.
"I see children playing."
Then the rabbi took a little hand mirror out of his pocket and held it before the visitor's face. "Tell me, what do you see now?"
"I see myself," he said, wondering what was going on.
"Isn't it strange," the rabbi asked, "that when a little silver gets between yourself and others, you see only yourself?"

In the Gospel, Jesus cautions us: beware of greed. The illustration is rather blunt, although not lacking in good humor. The man kept everything of his riches to himself. Well, he has a claim on them, since he may have worked well and hard to acquire them. Note however, that the man in planning for his future was concerned only of himself. He had only himself in mind. And his security he pinned on himself and his riches.

Irony of ironies, he was not alone, and security does not lie in his possessions. His riches could not save him. The illusion of greed is immortality. But that is just about what riches, material possessions can give - the illusion of immortality. So much cost for so little gain - actually, no gain at all. "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?"

Join me in prayer:
Lord, teach me to see beyond the glitter of this world, to train my eyes towards the true glory of being with you, now and forever.

Shepherd's Staff

Some would say that our work in the Chancery is not pastoral, unlike that of those in the parish. Maybe that is true, but I think, only partially. While we in the Chancery are not in one parish, we work for all parishes. While we do not serve a particular section of the People of God in Nueva Segovia, we are for each and all of the People of God in Nueva Segovia. We do not shepherd a particular flock, but we serve with the Archbishop’s shepherding of the Archdiocese.

I prayed during my ordination that I may be a "shepherd after the heart of God." Right now, I am not a shepherd of a particular flock. And I am struggling to be "after the heart of God". But I find meaning in my present ministry as being a staff of a shepherd.

The staff is an instrument of the shepherd – to strike and drive away wolves attempting to ravish the flock, to guide the sheep towards the sheep gate, to pull back and draw to himself any sheep when it strays from the fold, and also to lean onto when the tediousness of shepherding takes its toll on him.

The rough surface of the staff many times bruises the sheep as the bend is used to pull the sheep back by the neck. The same surface, often uneven, sometimes serrated, bruises even the shepherd as he grips the staff.

The staff may be useful to the shepherd, but it may be disliked by the sheep, and abhorred by the wolves.

Although tough and sturdy, the staff could also be cracked with striking, even bitten by the wolves, trampled on by the sheep, or broken to pieces.

At the end of the day, the shepherd may put it aside. After all, it is not indispensable. The joy of the staff is that it has been of use to the shepherd.