Saturday, November 5, 2016

God And Money

BEADS OF JOY 11-05-16
“God And Money”
©2016 James Dacey, Jr. OFS

My Friends,



Today’s Gospel: Luke 16:9-15 (God And Money)
“And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations. "He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed at him. But he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God."

Reflection:
True generosity does not make you poor, no; rather true generosity makes you rich. I guess the title for today’s blog should have been God or Money. And I’m not asking you to make a choice. I hope and pray that your choice is obvious. You know the blessings do come two ways with the rich and the poor, think about this: The rich who can easily help the poor, do so by being generous and giving of their riches to help those who have nothing (food and drink and place to sleep). And by the poor being poor they make it possible for the rich to be humble and charitable to help them by offering what they have. Does that make sense.

Ambrose, a fourth century Bishop once said, “The bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows, the mouths of children are the barns which last forever. The true treasure which lasts is the treasure stored up for us in heaven. God richly rewards those who give generously from the heart to help those in need.” Well said, something we should seriously think about and remember.

Who is your master? Who governs your life? Alright I’ll just ask: Is it God or Money? What controls our ideas, our desires, our heart, our choices? Yes, whatever it is, unfortunately or fortunately, will take the driver’s seat and it will take full control of many if not most or all the decisions in your life. So, when you choose, choose wisely. Whatever we possess or don’t possess is a gift from God. Yes, even not being wealthy is a gift. Some people may not be blessed with that. Some may become greedy and selfish and the very thought of sharing may never enter their minds; but being poor is a blessing because they never knew that they would be that way. I’m just being hypothetical. Another person could get into gambling or drinking in excess. No one knows, sometimes poverty has a wonderful way of keeping our lives plain and simple and very Christ centered. I am totally speaking for myself. I never fell into any of those categories when we did have money, but poverty has sharpened my faith and I am ever grateful. This is my wealth; I may not have a 401K or any sort of retirement; instead I have a JMJ-EHP!! and it is priceless! Oh, for you non-financial folks: JMJ-EHP is a (Jesus Mary Joseph -Eternity in Heaven Package), it’s available to all Christians, Catholics and believers. Jesus bought one for everybody, yes everybody. He paid for it in full! Just love Him! Believe in Him! And Follow Him! And you can have one to!! I’m praying for y’all. Talk to you tomorrow.




LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!

Your brother in Christ Jesus 
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS

**(NEW DAILY FEATURE)

Today is Saturday: We pray the Joyful Mysteries:

The Joyful Mysteries

1. The Annunciation (Humility) – Luke 1:26-28
2. The Visitation (Love of Neighbor) – Luke 1:39-45
3. The Birth of Jesus (Poverty of Spirit) – Luke 2:1-20
4. The Presentation (Purity of Mind and Spirit) – Luke 2:22-38
5. Finding in The Temple (Obedience) –Luke 2:41-50

I simply love Saturday mornings, because Saturday like every other day of the week -begins with the Rosary.