“In God We Trust” - Are these just words? - Or do we believe them?

Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel of St Matthew Jesus tells us something most people do not want to accept…..“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be”…How we all (myself included) like to “hedge our bets”…..We trust in our bank accounts and jobs and do not fully trust God will provide…..Yes - We all have to work…..Yes - Money is required to buy the necessities of life - All that is one hundred percent true!…But do we trust God will provide the necessities of life for us?….And when we lack trust - Human nature “kicks in” - And we take matters into our own hands - And God is quickly forgotten…….Jesus tells us something in Scripture - Do you believe him? - “If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear? All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides”…….Our actions will tell the world if we believe these words of Jesus or not - How we live - What we prioritize - How we spend our time and money….This tells the world around us if we believe in these words or not…..Being Catholic boils down to this - We either strive to build a “kingdom” in one of two places…If our “kingdom” is here on earth - All our choices will be geared towards that choice….But if our Kingdom is in heaven - Our life will look completely different…We can not have it both ways! - And many people today “tell themself” that they can - That is a self-rationalization…..”No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon”……God did not create us to be “comfortable” - He created us to become a Holy People….Was John the Baptist “comfortable”?……Was St Joseph and Mary “comfortable”?….Was Jesus “comfortable”?....”Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to rest his head” - Why do we “think” our life should be any different?

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be”

When Mother Teresa was coming towards the end of her life she was asked by a reporter if she thought the Missionaries of Charity would continue after her death - This is what she said…”If the sisters do two things, the society will continue on…..”Center their life upon the Blessed Sacrament and hold fast to their vow of poverty”……In hearing that statement one may understand why she said the part about the Blessed Sacrament but why is living their vow of poverty so important? - A very interesting statement…Mother Teresa understood human nature and because she did, she knew that money corrupts just as power corrupts……When we become “too comfortable”, we easily forget God - But when we “feel” our mortality as a result of “lacking something material” - We cling to God…..This trend can be seen in history as well as in the lives of people we know today….And if you ask me, this is one of the driving problems with the Church today - Particularly in America - We are FAR TOO comfortable and as a result, the Church in some circles has become “lukewarm”…Conversely, look at the Catholic Church in Africa - Just the opposite is happening…The African Catholic Church is very poor - But it is thriving!…..This is just one example, and there are many, which proves the point Mother Teresa made to that reporter……Before Pope Benedict XVI became the Pope, he made a prediction about the future of the Church…….”From the crisis of today the Church of tomorrow will emerge -- a Church that has lost much. She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes, so it will lose many of her social privileges........But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. Men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. If they have completely lost sight of God, they will feel the whole horror of their poverty. Then they will discover the little flock of believers as something wholly new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them, an answer for which they have always been searching in secret.”…….The same “crisis” that Pope Benedict speaks of in the Church has also affected American Catholic families - We are far too comfortable! - And because of that, we have become “lukewarm”…..It’s simply human nature - And being keenly aware of our human nature is the first step to overcoming it with the help of God’s grace.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven”

Today in the Gospel, Jesus tells us all another “hard truth”….”For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be”……We cannot have it both ways!…..And if we try to have it both ways - The only people we are fooling is ourself!…At the root of this choice we ALL must make is a lack of trust…We ALL want to be in control of our present and our future but we fail to realize that “control” is a fallacy!…..When we learn to give up control and allow God to lead our life - Our trust in him will grow as we see how God ALWAYS provides for our needs….We have to stop “hedging our bets”…Its time to “burn the boats” and live radical lives of trust in the Lord……”Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides”…Do you believe that? - I mean REALLY believe that?!?…Because if you do and if you live those words - Your life will radiate Christ the world….And if you do not - Your life will not - Its that simple….When we ALL stand before God to be judged after we die, our money is no good! - The “currency of God” is an all together different currency then the US dollar - And God does not “negotiate” - He is perfectly merciful and perfectly just…….Printed on the US dollar are these words - “In God We Trust” - Are these just words? - Or do we believe them?…..JMJ