Sunday Reflections

Giving the Gift of Ourselves

At first glance, Jesus’ words in the Gospel this Sunday seem like a cruel and impossible ideal for any Christian to live. Surely he doesn’t mean for us to hate our fathers and mothers and even life itself, right? However, these words all point to the most central mystery of today’s gospel, that “whoever of you does not give up all their possessions cannot be my disciple.” Now the Lord doesn’t mean to suggest that all of us should have no possessions, but rather to live with a lens that gratefully views all our possessions as gifts from God, that are meant to be used for His glory and the good of the Church. This lens is at the very core of what it means to live as a steward.

Cardinal Collins, in his Pastoral Letter on Stewardship* states that good stewards are “meant to use God’s gift fruitfully and creatively, so that with true gratitude for what we have received we may return God’s gifts to Him with increase.” These gifts do not involve simply financial goods, but the gifts of our time and talents as well.

As the new school year is beginning and many ministries in the parish are gearing up for a new year, we should ask ourselves, how can we lend our time and gifts to serve others? By taking today`s Gospel message to heart, we can learn to be even more generous with the gift of our lives, as we boldly and joyfully proclaim our identity as Jesus` disciples.

Summary

Jesus says “whoever of you does not give up all their possessions cannot be my disciple.” The Lord doesn’t mean to suggest that all of us should have no possessions but rather to live with a lens that gratefully views everything as gifts from God that are meant to be used for His glory and the good of the Church. As the new school year is beginning and many ministries in the parish are starting up, we should ask ourselves, how can we lend our time and gifts to serve others?

https://www.archtoronto.org/stewardship