March 4, 2016 Friday: 3rd Week of Lent
March 4, 2016 Friday: 3rd Week of Lent
All Our Heart
“To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself” is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. –Mark 12: 33
A teenager was sitting in church when the collection plate was passed around, and he quickly pulled a dollar bill from his pocket and dropped it in. Just then the person behind him tapped him on his shoulder and handed him a $ 20 bill. The boy smiled, placed the $ 20 in the plate and passed it on, admiring the man for being generous. Then the boy felt another tap from behind and had heard a whisper. “Son,” the man said, “that was your $ 20 bill that had fallen out of your pocket.”
What does God want from us? How much do we have to give? I am not speaking of dollars and cents, but the inward disposition of our hearts. God does not want only our gifts, he wants us. He wants all of us. God does not want to compete against money, person or pastime. God wants us to love him with all our heart, soul and strength. Anything else would be like giving him a measly dollar bill. God wants all of us.
Prayer
Father, I hold back from totally loving you. I fear that I will lose out in the enjoyment of life. I fear that you may demand too much from me. I love you, but I am not quite ready to surrender everything to you. Perhaps this Lent I can grow in loving you with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. With your grace, may it be so. Amen.
What is holding me back from loving God with all my heart, soul and strength?
-Fr. Thomas Connery, Lent Little by Little
All Our Heart
“To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself” is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. –Mark 12: 33
A teenager was sitting in church when the collection plate was passed around, and he quickly pulled a dollar bill from his pocket and dropped it in. Just then the person behind him tapped him on his shoulder and handed him a $ 20 bill. The boy smiled, placed the $ 20 in the plate and passed it on, admiring the man for being generous. Then the boy felt another tap from behind and had heard a whisper. “Son,” the man said, “that was your $ 20 bill that had fallen out of your pocket.”
What does God want from us? How much do we have to give? I am not speaking of dollars and cents, but the inward disposition of our hearts. God does not want only our gifts, he wants us. He wants all of us. God does not want to compete against money, person or pastime. God wants us to love him with all our heart, soul and strength. Anything else would be like giving him a measly dollar bill. God wants all of us.
Prayer
Father, I hold back from totally loving you. I fear that I will lose out in the enjoyment of life. I fear that you may demand too much from me. I love you, but I am not quite ready to surrender everything to you. Perhaps this Lent I can grow in loving you with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. With your grace, may it be so. Amen.
What is holding me back from loving God with all my heart, soul and strength?
-Fr. Thomas Connery, Lent Little by Little
