"Weekly Challenge" September 2023
Week Beginning September 24, 2023
Time for God
His Eminence Antonio Cardinal Bacci presents a compelling reflection on the stewardship of time:
“Reflect on the infinite generosity of God, Who created us, redeemed us from sin by shedding the Blood of His Divine Son, and enriched our souls with grace and supernatural gifts. How can we remain indifferent and fail to correspond willingly with such goodness? Virtue cannot be achieved without diligence, and we cannot be true Christians without virtue. Let us consider the example given us by the Saints. They lived in a continual and prayerful union with God; they never refused any task or any sacrifice, in order to show their love for Jesus and their total dedication to His will; they made every effort to attract others towards holiness and to bring about the triumph of the Kingdom of Christ in the world. What are we doing? What are we prepared to do in future? Are we carelessly wiling away our days in indolence and pleasure?”
Looking toward the saints, we learn that spending time in prayer is not only an important way to devote our time to God but also the key to nourishing our eternal souls. “God is a spring of living water which flows unceasingly into the hearts of those who pray,” teaches Saint Louis de Montfort. “Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself,” says Saint John Vianney. He notes: “The soul should move toward prayer the way a fish should move toward water; they are both a purely natural state.” Saint Josemaria Escriva observes that “Prayer is the foundation of the spiritual edifice. Prayer is all powerful.” Saint John of the Cross advises: “Try to be continuous in prayer, and in the midst of bodily exercises do not leave it. Whether you eat, drink, talk with others, or do anything, always go to God and attach your heart to him.” Saint Robert Bellarmine states that “Whoever finds God finds everything, whoever loses God loses everything.”
Our Gospel reading this Sunday reveals good news for sinners and saints alike: it is never too late to find God. The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16a) tells the story of divine generosity and compassion when we view God as the true owner of the land. Are the first workers the Israelites and the last workers the Gentiles? Perhaps the “firsts” are the Pharisees and the “lasts” are the tax collectors and sinners. Or possibly, the first-called are cradle Christians and the last-called are those who repent on their deathbeds. It really does not matter. We are all workers in the vineyard of the Lord, and we all reap the reward of God’s love and mercy once we answer His call. The fact that eternal salvation is just as possible for someone who comes into faith late in life as for someone who has lived a life of faith does not diminish the reward for any of the recipients. God is love, and He loves each of us fully and completely.
It is easy to read only this parable and think that faith alone is sufficient for redemption. Certainly, it is a necessary component that requires our cooperation. Saint Augustine offers us a practical approach to balancing our spiritual and corporal efforts: “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” Following Christ means carrying our crosses, trusting in God, and living our lives in loving service. “See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).
It is also easy to compare ourselves to others and feel that those who come last have a better deal than those who come first. True, those of us who spend our lives as disciples of Christ may labor longer in the vineyard of the Lord than those who find God in their final days. Yet a life lived in the grace of God is also blessed with a lifetime of divine love, incomparable mercy, and lasting peace. To dismiss that benefit diminishes the value of our faith. Our contributions can never equal the sacrifice Christ makes for us by freely and willingly giving his life in reparation for our sins. For that, we should be eternally grateful. And for that, we should look upon service as our privileged role within God’s plan of salvation.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta explains: “The fruit of silence is prayer. The fruit of prayer is faith. The fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service. The fruit of service is peace.” Pope Francis summarizes: “Our life is made of time and time is God’s gift, and it is therefore important to make use of it by performing good and fruitful actions. … Among the many things to do in our daily routine, one of the priorities should be reminding ourselves of our Creator who allows us to live, who loves us, who accompanies us on our journey.”
This week, nourish your soul through prayer, challenge yourself to imitate God’s generosity when you give your time, talent, and treasure, and share this message of hope with everyone. For those who have strayed, Saint Peter Chrysologus persuades us: “So let us turn back to Him, brethren, not fearing that time is running short. The time that belongs to time’s Author cannot be shortened. The proof of it lies in the criminal in the Gospel, who, at the moment of dying on the cross, got away with his pardon, grabbed hold of life and, breaking into paradise like a burglar, managed to make his way into the Kingdom (cf. Lk 23:43)!”
Rejoice, for it is not too late to make time for God.
For more information, please refer to our previous post:
Communicate with God through Prayer.
Week Beginning September 17, 2023
Time to Love
The importance of love is a recurring theme in our readings this month. Saint John reveals that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” so that believers can be saved through him (John 3:16). He also teaches us that Jesus commands us to live in love. “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (John 13:34). Saint Paul explains to us in Romans 13:8-10 that all of the previous commandments can be summed up with this one underlying rule: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love, which “does no evil…is the fulfillment of the law.” Finally, Saint John discloses that our love for Jesus is demonstrated by keeping his word. “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him’” (John 14:23).
Saint Catherine of Siena observes that “Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind.” She notes, “Charity is the sweet and holy bond which links the soul with its Creator: it binds God with man and man with God.” We are able to love because God loves us first. His grace makes genuine love possible. Saint Vincent de Paul remarks that “We must love our neighbor as being made in the image of God and as an object of His love.” Saint Bede the Venerable states: “He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbor.”
Saint Basil the Great ponders: “What is the mark of love for your neighbor? Not to seek what is for your own benefit, but what is for the benefit of the one loved, both in body and in soul.” Saint Thomas Aquinas defines love simply as “to will the good of the other.” Pope Saint John Paul II elaborates: “Love demands effort and a personal commitment to the will of God. It means discipline and sacrifice, but it also means joy and human fulfillment.” Saint Teresa of Avila asserts: “It is love alone that gives worth to all things.”
“If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor well, we must manifest our joy in the service we render to Him and them,” comments Saint Katherine Drexel. Saint Josemaria Escriva encourages us, “Everything that is done out of Love acquires greatness and beauty.” Saint Thérèse of Lisieux declares: “You know well enough that our Lord does not look so much on the greatness of our actions nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.”
We should live our lives in love and allow that love to motivate how we spend our time. Saint Clare of Assisi shares: “We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather it means becoming the image of the beloved, an image disclosed through transformation. This means we are to become vessels of God’s compassionate love for others.”
We practice loving on earth so that our love can be perfected in heaven. “You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working, and just so, you learn to love by loving,” says Saint Francis de Sales.
We can start loving others by being present to the people God places before us. When we put our selfish tendencies aside and shift our focus outward, we are able to see what God shows us and hear what He tells us. Then we can act with His heart to serve those He entrusts to our care. Distractions waste our time by taking us away from His will. Similarly, resentment and grudges do the same.
The Reverend Henri Nouwen instructs us: “Forgiveness stands in the center of God’s love for us and also in the center of our love for each other. Loving one another means forgiving one another over and over again.” Saint Teresa of Calcutta expresses the value of forgiveness with respect to love. “We know that if we really want to love, we must learn to forgive. Forgive and ask to be forgiven, excuse rather than accuse. Reconciliation begins first, not with others but ourselves. It starts with having a clean heart within. A clean heart is able to see God in others. We must radiate God’s love.”
Our readings this Sunday open with a beautiful passage about forgiveness and neighborly love from the Book of Sirach (Sirach 27:30–28:7) and continue that message through our Gospel reading from Saint Matthew (Matthew 18:21-35). C.S. Lewis writes, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” Saint John Vianney reminds us that “Our errors are grains of sand beside the great mountain of God’s mercy.”
In the center of the word “forgiveness,” we find the word “give.” Forgiveness is a gift given to us that we give to others as well as to ourselves. It allows us to place the past behind us, and it sets us free to spend our time loving others and loving God. For this reason, Pope Francis refers to forgiveness as “the highest expression of giving.”
This week, take time to love. Seek the image of God in everyone you encounter and try to treat them with due reverence and mercy. Strive to overcome the distractions that prevent you from fully giving yourself in love to others. Follow the advice of Saint Teresa of Calcutta and with a clean heart “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
For additional insights, please refer to our previous posts:
Week Beginning February 26, 2023: Forgive Offenses Willingly
Week Beginning November 20, 2022: Charity
June 2022: Forgiveness
Weekly Challenges June 2022: Forgive Yourself, Ask for Forgiveness, Forgive Others, Forgiveness in Our World
January 2022: Resolve to Love.
Week Beginning September 10, 2023
Time of Our Lives
As we contrast our changing and temporal human existence with the unchanging, infinite nature of the divine, we realize that our lives are short…but eternity is long. Even the longest of our earthly lives are merely fleeting moments compared to our afterlives. Once we truly comprehend this concept, we can keep everything in perspective and properly steward the time we are given.
Saint Francis de Sales reveals that “By giving yourself to God, you not only receive Himself in exchange but, eternal life as well!” Saint Ambrose of Milan observes, “what is seen belongs to time, but what is not seen belongs to eternity.” The saints have great appreciation for this notion and share with us their insights on the topic.
When it comes to suffering, we are taught to take up our crosses, unite our struggles with the Lord, and cooperate with God in our own redemption and the redemption of others. Saint Catherine of Siena explains: “We must therefore bear this little trial willingly. Little, we may call it, like all our sorrows, because of the brevity of time; since no trial can last longer than our time in this life. How much time have we? It is like the point of a needle.” Saint Thérèse of Lisieux elaborates: “Life is passing. Eternity draws closer; soon we will live the very life of God. After having drunk deep at the fountain of bitterness, our thirst will be quenched at the very source of all sweetness.” Saint Augustine notes: “From now on, regard this life as a desert through which you pass until you come to the Promised Land, the Jerusalem which is above, the land of the living.” When we hand our troubles over to Jesus, our temporary adversity takes on an infinite purpose.
The same principle applies to our efforts and pastimes. “The root of every good work is the hope of the resurrection, for the expectation of a reward nerves the soul to good work. Every laborer is prepared to endure the toils if he looks forward to the reward of these toils,” explains Saint Cyril of Jerusalem. “We have only short moments of this life to work for God’s glory. The devil knows this and that is why he tries to make us waste time in useless things. Oh, let us not waste our time! Let us save souls!” exclaims Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
Of course, we can only reap our eternal rewards and help to save souls through the grace of God. Saint Augustine expounds: “We are commanded to live righteously, and the reward is set before us of our meriting to live happily in eternity. But who is able to live righteously and do good works unless he has been justified by faith?”
Our meritorious acts are not performed to earn or buy our way into heaven. Rather, they are executed out of love. We are moved by our faith to follow Christ. When we spend our time with Jesus, we conform to his ways. With Christ alive in us, we become like him. We begin to love like he loves. That love compels us to spend our time willing the good of others. In the words of Saint Gregory the Great: “The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.”
“See, my children, we must reflect that we have a soul to save, and an eternity that awaits us. The world, its riches, pleasures, and honors will pass away; heaven and hell will never pass away,” remarks Saint John Vianney. Right now, we have the opportunity to forego worldly distractions for an eternity of bliss. It is not too late to start directing our lives toward becoming saints. Saint John Vianney continues his statement with words of encouragement: “Let us take care, then. The saints did not all begin well; but they all ended well. We have begun badly; let us end well, and we shall go one day and meet them in heaven.” Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer says, “A saint is a sinner that keeps trying.”
This week, honestly and objectively examine how you allocate your time. Does it accurately align with your values and your faith? Pray for the love of Christ to grow within you. The Venerable Fulton Sheen breaks it down for us: “It is never true to say that we have no time to meditate; the less one thinks of God, the less time there will always be for God. The time we have for anything depends on how much we value it. Thinking determines the use of time; time does not rule over thinking. The problem of spirituality is never, then, a question of time. For it does not require much time to make us saints; it requires only much love.”
