Daily Thought For September 23, 2014

Sharing The Gift We Have Received

Christians must not sit idly by as the tide of materialism sweeps over our entire culture. Nor should we become entrapped by a purely economic vision of the world. Solidarity is a direct requirement of human and supernatural brotherhood.  This attitude will lead us to live that personal poverty which Jesus called blessed. This poverty consists of detachment, of confidence in God, of temperance and generosity, of a longing for justice, of hunger for the kingdom of heaven, of docility to the word of God and perseverance in the truth. This is quite different from the poverty that oppresses most of our brothers and sisters in this world, impeding their integral development as persons. Before this type of poverty and privation, the Church lifts up her voice to promote the solidarity which is so urgently required. 

We have got to see the people around us as our brothers and sisters. They are brothers and sisters in need of the great treasure of the Faith which we possess. They need our joy, our friendship and sometimes our economic assistance. We can not remain indifferent to conditions in parts of the world when so many are suffering from want of food, lack of education and ignorance of the truth about man and God. 

We should examine ourselves to see whether our detachment is a real detachment. Does it lead to any practical consequences? Our life should be a model of temperance as far as our use of material goods is concerned. Do we have our heart focussed on the treasure that lasts forever, which neither thief can take away nor moth destroy? If we are faithful, we can have Christ for all eternity. St Augustine records the story of his conversion in these words: How lovely I suddenly found it, to be free from the glamour of those vanities, so that now it was a joy to renounce what I had been so much afraid to lose. For you cast them out of me, O true and supreme Loveliness, you cast them out of me and took their place instead, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, yet not to mere flesh and blood; brighter than all light, yet deeper within than any secret; loftier than all honor, but not to those who are high and mighty in their own estimation. What a shame if we should ever fail to appreciate the treasure of divine love! 

from In Conversation with God by Francis Fernandez Volume 5 pp.121-122