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| Mark 12:38-44 |
Less
than two weeks ago Catholics across the world gathered to remember the lives of
the Saints in our Faith family for the Feast of All Saints on November 1st.
Saints are ordinary people who did extraordinary things, who acted with great
love. How ordinary are the saints? Well, all Christians are called ‘saints’ in
our Catholic Tradition. We are already blessed as God’s beloved daughters and
sons and are called to live up to that identity as ‘saints’ or ‘holy ones’. Being
a saint is not about living someone else’s life, but about being open to what
God is calling you to in your own life. God has placed us in a specific place in
a specific time to make thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God has a plan for each of us
that He has never had for anyone else in history!
Jesus
reminds His Apostles of the need to serve God in our own specific way of life
in today’s Gospel. We do not need to make the news, quit school or our job or
leave the country to be a saint or to serve God. We tend to notice or be
attracted to the biggest, loudest and brightest gestures or actions instead of
looking inward to see how God is calling us to serve Him in our own rooted
lives. The poor widow in today’s Gospel is a model for this way. She gave all
that she had from her meager means, but
she gave all. As Jesus teaches, her gift of a few cents is far more
significant than the wealthy people who gave more money from what they had
leftover. The Saints too gave of their whole heart to God through their prayer
and service to others.
Being
a Saint, living as God is calling us to live, means being fully open to the voice
of God in our lives and responding to God’s call with courage by serving God in
both big and little ways, taking time for prayer and reflection, and serving
others with a radical love that oftentimes requires sacrifice. How is God
calling you to serve others in your own live with a radical love?
This Week:
-Reflect
on who God has placed in your life for you to love and serve with the heart of
Jesus. Think especially of the people you live with, those who are lonely or the
people who sometimes frustrate or annoy you!
-Donate
money, goods or time to someone in need or to a non-profit in a way that requires
you to sacrifice, NOT simply out of excess.
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