Study: Are there situations in life where you find greed present?  Ask yourself what is the source of this excessive hunger for more.

Pray: Call upon the Lord for the grace to use your resources wisely.

Serve:  How can you be generous with your life today?

Mass Readings – 18th Sunday of the Year

The Lord cautions us to “guard against all greed” in the Gospel today, yet another reminder of the timeless power of our faith to speak to the human heart.  Let’s take a moment to break down some common aspects of greed:

• Self-centered, focusing on “what I want”
• Excessive, always wanting more
• Applies to a wide variety of human wants – money, fame, power, food, etc.

Greed disregards the needs of others as the individual focuses entirely on self.  Seeking more and more, it pushes other things aside in a quest to acquire.  And while we often associate greed with money, the Lord’s warning against all forms of greed is apt…we can be greedy about so many things!

So what’s the cure?  How do we combat greed in our lives?  Here are some key ingredients:

• Gratitude – being thankful for what we have
• Contentment – seeing the blessings in our lives
• Stewardship – using wisely the resources in our care
• Generosity – sharing the gifts of life with those in need
• Prayer – fostering our relationship with God, the source of all gifts

By weaving these elements into our lives we cultivate a perspective that sees all resources as gifts from God that are to be used wisely and well.  We have been richly blessed by the Lord!  May we live and share our lives in such a way that Christ’s love shines through all that we do.