Wednesday of Week 29 in Ordinary Time
Eph 3:2-12
Lk 12:39-48
“You may be quite sure of this, that is the householder had known at what hour when the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house.”
This passage from Luke’s gospel is really about the Day of the Lord, or Judgement Day; or simply put, when death comes knocking unexpectedly, are you ready to leave and would you be going to heaven or hell? However, this time, I saw another way to understand this verse 39. I had been struggling with all the things a ‘stay at home’ parent struggles with during the exam period, when I realised that I had failed to guard my heart with gratitude and had let resentment break in to steal my joy and happiness. In a way, this is similar to not guarding your soul and letting death catch you unawares. And similarly, when we begin to guard our hearts, we can begin to guard our souls.
Comparison is the thief of joy. And in this time and age, we compare all the time, relentlessly. Even if we make a concerted effort not to compare, others will do it for us. We all live with a fear of missing out, we think we are not good enough, we are never truly satisfied. But what, if we can be honest with ourselves, do we really want out of this comparing and competing? And why is being at the top (or close to the top) so important to us? Why must we have all of everything, and why do we feel entitled to them? Is this desire a result of being too steeped in the world? St Paul exhorted the Colossians to “let your thoughts be on things above, not on the things that are on the earth” (Col 3:2). We should set our sights on Eternal Life with God, which goes beyond this life here on earth. Eternal Joy, that goes beyond mere satisfaction of desires by earthly possessions.
It is hard to focus on the eternal when we still have to slog away in the here and now. It is tempting to want to enjoy every moment we have on earth and to live as comfortably as we can. Life can get overwhelming and resentment can sneak in quietly, especially with all the doomscrolling and looking enviously at other people’s seemingly perfect lives on social media. However, there are moments everywhere that can remind us of all the things we are blessed with. Basically, all the things that we tend to complain about are, in fact, blessings that we had prayed for but are now taking for granted — our job, our spouse, our children, chores, etc. Forgetting gratitude can end up with us seeing our blessings as burdens. Now, as part of my prayer before meals, I also thank the Lord for the opportunity to be able to prepare healthy meals for my family. I thank the Lord that my daughters are in school and are willing to learn. I thank the Lord that my husband has a job to support all of us. I thank the Lord that we have a roof over our heads.
With a heart full of gratitude, we will not forget our blessings, and we will not forget that our blessings come from God. More critically, we do not let resentment and anger and sin creep in and fester in our souls. The author of the book of Ecclesiastes told us to remember our Creator in our youth (Chapter 12). What he meant was that while young and feeling invincible, it is easy to forget about God, on whom we rely. As it is easy to turn away from God and be tempted by what the world has to offer, the advice to us is to remain close to God, to remember God as our Creator and source of life. We can do this by calling to mind all the little joys and moments of happiness we have experienced. This can be done by actually thanking someone else if they have been a gift or blessing to us. We should be disciplined enough to do a reflection every day in order to become used to seeing blessings instead of burdens.
Gratitude requires discipline, and discipline is also important for living in accordance with God’s will and plan for us. After all, we are not made for this world, and while we are in this world, we have to navigate its failures and brokenness. At many junctures in our lives, we will be made to choose. Do we choose the Godly way, or the worldly way? Will we be able to choose righteousness over evil, discipline over comfort, grace over bitterness? If we do not make a conscious effort to choose correctly, we are letting down our guard and letting sin take root. Over time, we will become desensitised to it, and when the thief arrives, and our homes are unsecured, our eternal joy will be lost.
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, in the coming week, let us see our lives as a series of blessings. Let us also pray for God’s strength and grace to carry us through. Let us take steps to thank at least one other person for their presence, for being a gift and blessing to us. Affirm them, and perhaps they will affirm you as well, and remind you how beloved by God you are for all that you are. As long as we can keep gratitude in our hearts and remember our God who made us and lavished his love upon us, we can remain true to his commands, and live our lives in accordance to his will, and draw ever closer to him. We can be prepared and strengthen our house against thieves so we will not be caught off guard, and have our Eternal Joy stolen from us.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Felicia Zou)
Prayer: Almighty and Ever-loving God, we thank you for all the blessings you have gifted to us. We are sorry for the times we have taken these gifts for granted, and for the times we failed to show love, and for the times we turned away from you. We pray that with your grace, we will have the courage to do what is right and loving in your eyes.
Thanksgiving: Dear Lord, we thank You for Your unending love and patience for us, even when we fall so many times.
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