March 5, 2019: Week 2 - Divine Mercy
March 5, 2019: Week 2 - Divine Mercy
From the time we get up in the morning, drink our cup of coffee, get the kids fed, drop them off at school, and arrive at work early, would you characterize your motivation to act as, “What’s in it for me?” You may have had many options on this Mardi Gras night, yet you chose to come to this Mass and pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. And tomorrow, with the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday, you may be making a commitment to deny yourself a normal pleasure or to take on an extra spiritual exercise. Would you also characterize the motivation to do so as, “What’s in it for me?” Or instead, are all these actions based on a desire to please and to glorify God?
In today’s Gospel, Peter comes off as self-serving when he told Jesus, “'We have given up everything and followed you." We may want to complete Peter’s sentence by saying, “So Jesus since we have given up everything, what’s in it for us?” Yet what Peter was really asking was, if it is impossible for a rich man attached to his wealth to enter heaven, what chances would someone have to enter into heaven if they gave up everything to follow Christ? Jesus responded answered that those who have given up much will be rewarded. However he also added, “many that are first will be last, and the last will be first,” which revealed his warning against anyone who prides themselves that they have found the shortcut to heaven. Ultimately it is the Heavenly Father who alone knows the intentions of our hearts.
We are accustomed to getting something in return for paying a price. Sometimes we expect our spiritual lives to work that way as well. We may expect something in return when we give up something or deny ourselves pleasure. While we may imagine that God has a ledger sheet where He adds or subtracts graces or blessings based on our performance, God’s way is not our way. God said in today’s Psalms, “Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you… Offer to God praise as your sacrifice… He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me.” (Psalm 50) God forgives, heals, and redeems us simply because we are His children and He loved us into being. How can we not be grateful to such a God? So the Psalmist wrote, “O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love endures for ever.” (Psalm 136). The very reason why we are here tonight, why we enter Lent with all of our commitments, is because we are grateful to God.
From the time we get up in the morning, drink our cup of coffee, get the kids fed, drop them off at school, and arrive at work early, would you characterize your motivation to act as, “What’s in it for me?” You may have had many options on this Mardi Gras night, yet you chose to come to this Mass and pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. And tomorrow, with the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday, you may be making a commitment to deny yourself a normal pleasure or to take on an extra spiritual exercise. Would you also characterize the motivation to do so as, “What’s in it for me?” Or instead, are all these actions based on a desire to please and to glorify God?
In today’s Gospel, Peter comes off as self-serving when he told Jesus, “'We have given up everything and followed you." We may want to complete Peter’s sentence by saying, “So Jesus since we have given up everything, what’s in it for us?” Yet what Peter was really asking was, if it is impossible for a rich man attached to his wealth to enter heaven, what chances would someone have to enter into heaven if they gave up everything to follow Christ? Jesus responded answered that those who have given up much will be rewarded. However he also added, “many that are first will be last, and the last will be first,” which revealed his warning against anyone who prides themselves that they have found the shortcut to heaven. Ultimately it is the Heavenly Father who alone knows the intentions of our hearts.
We are accustomed to getting something in return for paying a price. Sometimes we expect our spiritual lives to work that way as well. We may expect something in return when we give up something or deny ourselves pleasure. While we may imagine that God has a ledger sheet where He adds or subtracts graces or blessings based on our performance, God’s way is not our way. God said in today’s Psalms, “Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you… Offer to God praise as your sacrifice… He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me.” (Psalm 50) God forgives, heals, and redeems us simply because we are His children and He loved us into being. How can we not be grateful to such a God? So the Psalmist wrote, “O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love endures for ever.” (Psalm 136). The very reason why we are here tonight, why we enter Lent with all of our commitments, is because we are grateful to God.
