“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.  So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.  The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ‘Take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For those who have will be given more, and they will have an abundance. As for those who do not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'”

—Matthew 25:14-30 (TNIV)

More of “gentle Jesus, meek and mild”—NOT! Here our Lord reminds us to live life with urgency each day and to use his gifts for the benefit of the Kingdom. Why? Because we do not know when our life will end and we must give an account of what we have done (or not done) with God’s gifts. One thing is clear, we are not given gifts to tuck away for a rainy day. We must use them and use them properly. We won’t get a second chance. We must be ready NOW. God has given gifts to us generously. Let us reciprocate and use his gifts generously each day for the benefit of his kingdom.

What gifts has God given you and how are you using them to bring honor and glory to God?

Here we have a fight on our hands and God is watching from the stands. Our fight is with all our vices and Satan, the prince of vices. He challenges our soul to a single combat. Whatever evil or unlawful thing may be suggested to your thoughts, whatever dark, unwholesome desire wells up from your flesh against your mind, these are the weapons of the enemy who is challenging you to combat. Your foe and your protector are both invisible. You cannot see the Satan with whom you are locked in combat but you can know through faith the God who protects you.

—Augustine, Sermon 335K.3

Love to pray. Feel often during the day the need for prayer, and take trouble to pray. Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of himself. Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive him and keep him as your own.

—Mother Teresa, A Gift for God

Jesus was himself the carrier of the message; he was at the same time the Supreme Intelligence, capable of devising the best way of making himself understood, and of carrying out the divine plans. Well, what did he do? He did not open hospitals or found orphanages. He became flesh and lived among people and he embodied the Gospel message in its entirety. He began to act.

He lived his message before he spoke it. He preached it by his life before explaining it in words. This was Jesus’ method and we too easily forget it. In many cases the catechesis is reduced to words rather than to “life,” to discussions rather than to the pursuit of Christian living. And here, perhaps, is the reason for the poor results, and still more, the reason for so much of the apathy and indifference among Christians today. Teaching is ineffective because it is not life-centered; there is no life because there is no example; there is no example because empty words have taken the place of faith and charity.

—Letters from the Desert

When the Storms of Life Are Raging

When the storms of life are raging,
Stand by me;
When the storms of life are raging;
Stand by me.
When the world is tossing me
Like a ship upon the sea,
Thou who rules wind and water,
Stand by me.

In the midst of tribulation,
Stand by me;
In the midst of tribulation,
Stand by me.
When the host of hell assail,
And my strength begins to fail,
Thou who never lost a battle,
Stand by me.

In the midst of persecution,
Stand by me;
In the midst of persecution,
Stand by me.
When my foes in war array,
Undertake to stop my way,
Thou who saved Paul and Silas,
Stand by me.

When I’m growing old and feeble,
Stand by me;
When I’m growing old and feeble,
Stand by me.
When my life becomes a burden,
And I’m nearing chilly Jordan,
O thou Lily of the Valley,
Stand by me.

—Charles Albert Tindley 512

Consider Christ.  ‘The death he died he died to sin, once for all’ (Rom. 6: 1 0). What does this mean?  It can mean only one thing; that Christ died to sin in the sense that he bore sin’s penalty.  He died for our sins, bearing them in his own innocent and sacred person. He took upon himself our sins and their just reward. The death that Jesus died was the wages of sin – our sin. He met its claim, he paid its penalty, he accepted its reward, and he did it ‘once’, once and for all. As a result sin has no more claim or demand on him. So he was raised from the dead to prove the satisfactoriness of his sin-bearing, and he now lives for ever to God. If this is the sense in which Christ died to sin, it is equally the sense in which we, by union with Christ, have died to sin. We have died to sin in the sense that in Christ we have borne its penalty. Consequently our old life has finished; a new life has begun.

—Men Made New 43