Lk 12:39-48 Even MoreMuch will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.
What? I thought the more you had the more you could relax. I have no interest in getting myself into a political debate with anyone, but the Lord appears to be a Democrat at heart. He taxes those who work more and gives more to those who work less!
Did you ever wonder why the Lord gave certain talents to some and not to others? Was it so that I could win a trophy and another couldn’t? Is it because the Lord loves me more? Or maybe it’s because He wished that I would help others?
I will never forget the lesson I gave to my kids at The Highlands School in Irving. It was right before our annual Boy School/Girl School Spelling Bee competition. The winner from the Boys’ School was competing against the winner from the Girls’ School. The Highlands School is gender separate, but on one campus. Of course I wanted my boy, my student, to win. But I reminded him, along with all his classmates that if he were to win, I didn’t want him or the class to make a big deal out of it. I wanted him to win gracefully, tactfully, gentlemanly. In other words, I didn’t want him or them to boast in themselves or make a big show about it. I simply wanted the boys to applaud and my student to acknowledge his victory in a humble way and shake hands with his opponent. They all nodded and agreed. I thought to myself. “Great…this will look like Wimbledon.”
Well, the moment arrived and unfortunately the competition was over very quickly. In the second round, the young lady misspelled the word and my student spelled her word and his word correctly. The competition was over. As soon as he won, instead of going over to his opponent and shaking her hand, he pulled his sweater over his face and danced all over the place! The kids in the audience yelled, screamed and shouted “We’re the best! We’re the best! We’re the best!” I don’t even remember the rest of the incident. I put my head down in shame!
The Lord will not judge us according to our successes; he will judge us according to the way we loved, and the way we loved will be measured by how we used our talents and gifts – how we handled our successes!
Today is the feast day of the North American martyrs St. Isaac Jogues and St. John De Brebeuf. They were very, very successful in converting the Huron Indians. How? By accepting torture and death by and for the people they loved. Sound very familiar. Because of the way these two martyrs handled themselves and their enemies they were respected, admired and imitated by countless of other missionaries that went to the New World and conquered the hearts and minds of the natives.
The saints are happy in heaven because they followed Christ. They rejoice with him for ever because they shed their blood for love of him.
