While Jesus is at dinner at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, Mary anoints his feet with outrageously expensive perfume. May her lavish gift inspire us to be equally generous as we offer our lives for the Lord.
Mass Readings – Monday of Holy Week (#257)
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Jesus offers a parable, revealing God’s generosity through the example of the landowner toward his workers. Through the gift of life, faith, and learning may we respond to the Lord’s goodness each and every day.
Mass Readings – 25th Sunday of the Year (A)
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Jesus continues to teach at a banquet, this time inviting us to give to others without expecting repayment.
Mass Readings – Monday of the 31st Week of the Year
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Jesus offers a parable to show how God’s generosity far surpasses our notion of justice. May this insight inspire us…no matter what has happened before, God welcomes us with generous grace.
Mass Readings – Wednesday of the 20th Week of the Year
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Jesus comments on the humble yet extravagant offering of the poor widow. She gives all that she has…and inspires us to consider how we will offer our lives for the Lord today.
Mass Readings – Monday of the 34th Week of the Year
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St. Cecilia…pray for us!
Christ nourishes body and soul as he feeds the 5000 following his time teaching and healing. As the crowd’s hunger is satisfied with the Lord’s abundance, we gain spiritual insight into how we generously give and gratefully receive the blessings of life.
Mass Readings – 17th Sunday of the Year
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The parable of the generous landowner reveals a crucial insight about God and an invitation to becoming greathearted toward those around us.
Mass Readings – 25th Sunday of the Year
Study: How have I reacted in the past when someone I know has been particularly blessed or fortunate? Am I supportive or jealous?
Pray: Ask the Lord for the grace and wisdom to celebrate sincerely with others when they have received special gifts or opportunities.
Serve: How can you support others in their moments of blessing? How might you be generous with gratitude for another person’s good fortune?
Mass Readings – 25th Sunday of the Year
Consider the following possible situations and scenarios:
All of these scenes have one thing in common: through an encounter with generosity and/or opportunity another individual benefits and possesses rewards that we do not share.
How do we react? How do our attitudes and actions change toward those who have received unexpected (and sometimes unearned) generosity? While I know that I hope that I would be good natured, polite, friendly, and supportive – a part of me echoes with the sentiments of the workers in today’s Gospel.
There is a sense of justice, a feeling that we should get what we deserve that goes against the grain of the message today. The last workers got the same wage, even though they only worked a fraction of the time. It’s not fair!
In reality, the story went beyond fairness. No worker was cheated. No worker was denied a fair and agreeable wage. The Master simply wanted to be generous out of concern and care for others.
The fact is, God is generous to all of us. There are moments when we have fallen short of the Lord’s justice through sin and temptation. Yet like the workers today, we receive God’s generosity even when we have not earned it. May we live accordingly.
Note: This blog was originally published on September 14, 2014.
As the Lord empowers the Apostles for their work, he gives them some insights into how they are to do it.
Mass Readings – Thursday of the 14th Week of the Year
The Lord’s parable about the landowner who hires workers throughout the day offers us an insight into how God continues to extend grace and mercy to us throughout our lives.
Mass Readings – Wednesday of the 20th Week of the Year
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