It Is Enough To Be Faithful

It Is Enough To Be Faithful

Thirty-Third Week of Year II     Wednesday, November 16, 2016

The Responsorial Psalm takes us into the “end time”: “Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God” (Revelation 4:8, Psalm 150). 

In Revelation 4: 1-11: John gives us a preview of the fruits of our stewardship. The hardest thing about working for the kingdom of God is discouragement: we feel so often helpless and hopeless. Is it really possible to bring about change on earth? John moves us ahead in vision to see what will be: “I will show you what must take place in time to come.”

The key image is all those in heaven throwing down their crowns “before the throne,” and singing:

O Lord our God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power! For you have created all things; by your will they came to be and were made.

At the end, no matter how far from it we seem to be right now, all will acknowledge God as God. All will worship and praise him. We need to remember that when it seems like the majority of people on earth have little or no sense of the majesty of God. Appearances can be deceptive; and even if they are not, the end of the story is ours. What we will hear in heaven is the whole human race singing: “Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God” This will be the fruit of our stewardship. Jesus guarantees it:

You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last (John 15:16).

It may seem that people do not listen to the word of God or follow it. And this is frequently true. Jesus gives the reasons for this in the “parable of the sower.” But we need to listen the end of that parable also:

But as for… the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.[1]

Not all the seed falls on bad ground. Jesus says, “Look around you and see! The fields are shining for harvest!”[2]

Luke 19: 11-28 echoes the Sunday Gospel for Year A, taken from Matthew,[3] but with two differences. 1. In Luke the people are hostile and want to depose their lord: “The citizens of his country hated him.”  2. In Luke the servants all receive the same amount to work with: “He summoned ten of his slaves, and gave them ten pounds,” one pound each.

The point is that our situation makes no difference. We may say, “The people where I work (or live or date) are hostile; they don’t want to hear about God.” That is irrelevant.

Or we may think, “If I had the graces the Saints had….” Also irrelevant. All that counts is to be a faithful steward of whatever is entrusted to you in your circumstances. In the end, all that matters is that all who are faithful will be singing together, “Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God.”

Initiative: Be Christ’s steward. Manage prudently the gift of love.

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[1] Luke 8:4-15.

[2] John 4:35.

[3] Matthew 25:14-30.