Saturday, August 10, 2013 18th Week in Ordinary Time St. Lawrence
1st Reading:
2 Cor 9:6-10 Gospel:
John 12:24-26
Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
“Those who love their life destroy it, and those who despise their life in this world keep it for everlasting life.
“Whoever wants to serve me, let him follow me and wherever I am, there shall my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
An old lady goes to a bank bringing a lot of old wrist watches. “What’s with all these wrist watches?” the guard asks. The old lady replies: “I’m submitting them to the bank for time deposit.”
The banks’ time deposit scheme is all about the power of time to make money. Since upon birth we all have received equal apportionment of time per day, we have equal opportunities to earn. Admittedly we can differ in terms of capital and skill. Nonetheless, where capital is scarce and skill wanting, we can still remain productive if we use time well. What constitutes wise use of time?
To businessmen wise use of time means wasting no time in making money grow. A Philanthropist does more. He makes money grow to amass capital in order to raise society’s standard of living. A disciple does even more. He helps others not just because he wants to raise their standard of living but because he sees Jesus in them. His guiding verse is: “Where I am there my servant will also be” (Jn. 12:26). Since Jesus is in the poor, he serves Jesus in them.
For God, whether it is for philanthropy or for Christian charity, time spent to help the poor is time spent wisely. Few people follow this line of thinking because of their difficulty in parting with hard-earned money. The famous devotions to the Santo Nino and Jesus in the Sepulcher can hint at the preference of many for less demanding forms of devotion. A child (Santo Nino) and a corpse (Jesus in the Sepulcher) are not as intimidating as the Master who makes difficult demands like selling everything and giving the proceeds to the poor (Mk. 10:21).
But in the long run, time spent for others earns triple interest that cannot be quantified. We experience joy no money can buy and at the same time store up for ourselves treasures in heaven (Mt. 6:20) deserving reward in good measure, pressed down and flowing over (Lk. 6:38). What triples the interest is the meritorious service we render to the master who prefers that we attend to him in the least of our brothers and sisters (Mt. 25:40). – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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