We often define historical kingdoms as vast amounts of geography ruled by a person who makes decisions based on a perception of truth supportive of what he or she wants and/or needs. This can be either a positive or a negative experience, depending on the benevolent or dictatorial state of mind of the ruler. Today, most royalty are figureheads who represent political leaders who rule kingdoms for better or worse.
“You are my inheritance, O Lord!” is our Psalm 16 refrain today. It seems an apt response also to how we are to assess the end times as portrayed in our first reading from The Book of Daniel and in St. Mark’s Gospel. Despite the doom and gloom shared in these liturgical readings, the responsorial psalm offers a positive sense of hope as we trust in God who has always been with us no matter what the difficulties may be.
Giving is a main stay in our faith. We know this because the greatest gift ever given comes from Jesus, the Son of God, who died on a cross for our sins so we could be forgiven and was resurrected from the dead so we could have everlasting life. No sacrifice in the past or future will ever surpass the meaning of what it is to give to one another as Jesus did for us.
For those of you who have been reading my blog this last year, you may have noticed that I often reference love of God and of one another. It was not just from hearing and reading St. Mark’s Gospel today, but more so from me trying to understand the promise I made as an adult about my childhood Baptism and how to live up to it as a committed disciple.
Earlier this year I became the recipient of retinal migraine headaches. Unlike migraine headaches which bring great pain and can last for hours, the retinal migraine headaches I contracted happened sporadically and primarily affected my right eye which is far sighted. There is no pain associated with it and lasts anywhere from a few seconds to about five minutes usually resulting in temporary blindness. They have a potential to lead toward strokes and death in serious cases. According to my doctor, I currently have a mild case to be watched but unless the frequency picks up I should be okay.
Most of my early life I spent looking for where I belonged. Attending multiple elementary schools due to personal problems between my mom and dad made it difficult to focus on where I was headed in life. I had to adjust to each scenario, not because the classes were so different, but the schools and people in them had specific goals that often conflicted with what I became familiar in prior situations.
What do you give someone who seems to have everything one would want in life? It is a periodic dilemma we often face when dealing with the wealthy. In Solomon’s case from our first reading in the Book of Wisdom, he inherited a wealthy empire at peace after his father, King David, died. There was nothing one could buy that he probably didn’t own. And yet, when God asks him after the completion of building the Temple in Jerusalem what did he want, his response: Prudence along with the spirit of wisdom.
Dear
Friends –
Before presenting my weekend blog for October 2nd and 3rd, I want to thank you for your patience in these last two weeks, especially if you had difficulty in receiving the blog. Due to changes made to the web feed management service, we had to move the blog to a different service, follow.it, or we might have lost you as subscribers. We believe this has been corrected and you should not receive any delays in A Catholic Deacon’s Perspective.
God Bless,
Deacon Jim Merle
Please note that I am not an expert in marriage or divorce counseling as it relates to our Gospel and readings in which both are referenced. My blog this weekend is based on three perspectives: My own marriage of 53 years; Witnessing relative and friends’ marriages; and Meeting and talking with couples as a deacon either prior to a marriage in the Catholic Church or after a divorce of couples married either in or out of the Church.
Being a Catholic Christian doesn’t mean we are automatically saved or know better than others when it comes to doing God’s work. On the contrary, we need to work harder to avoid the sin of being judgmental that ruins a person. Though God welcomes those baptized into the Catholic Church, He also expects that we will live up to the promise we make of loving both Him and all that He is created as Jesus loves us. Without that, we risk loss of the Holy Spirit and the ability to serve those who are in need as defined by Christ.
God and the world strive to be the best. The difference is in their approach.
It is no secret that the world, for the most part, defines “best” as being Number One. Society usually breaks it down into three areas: Wealth, Power and Fame. On an overall scale, the United States, China and Russia lead in all three categories. It is the subjectivity of how one specifies the strength in each category that decides who or what is number One in the past, now and for the future as all three can claim victory for any number of particular times.