Sunday Blessings

One year ago today, we were preparing to meet our 4th baby and celebrating and praying with friends at my baby shower.  I never would have imagined that a year down the road we'd be here in a new state, preparing to bring home our 5th baby in a completely different way.  We are so incredibly blessed to be on this journey to bring home "Abraham," and to be on this journey with four wonderful children already in our family.  Some days I can barely wrap my mind around how very blessed we are.  Four awesome little ones, and still we get to bring another one home from Eastern Europe.  God is SO good!

We went to Mass this morning as a family and got to sit in one of the front pews.  Our two littler boys lately have been having a... loud... time at Mass, so we've been sitting at the back for the last month or two.  But today we were a few minutes late and the only place where we could find 5 consecutive empty seats was right in the front.  Praise God for a nice, full church!  And what do you know, the kids all behaved so well, and the littlest members of the family did not need to be taken out once!  Not even the baby!  I don't remember the last time he made it through Mass without at least needing to be walked a little at the back of the church.  What a pleasant surprise!

Our priest, Fr. Andrew Trapp, gave a fantastic homily as usual.  His column in our bulletin today summarized the message pretty well, and I thought I would share it here.  What a clever analogy, don't you think? 

Imagine parents coming home from an afternoon

together to find their teenagers out on the front lawn,

conducting an unauthorized lawn sale. With fistfuls of

twenty-dollar bills in their hands, they are gleefully

selling their family’s electronics, furniture, and other

valuables to the neighbors at rock-bottom prices.

 

The parents would, of course, be furious... the

children have no right to do whatever they want with

these objects! The parents own all of the family

belongings, and not the kids. The parents have entrusted 

many of these things to the care of their teenagers,

and allow their children to use them, and they have the

responsibility to use them wisely. 

 

This is somewhat analogous to the Biblical approach

to worldly things: that of being a steward. In the

Lord’s time, it was common for a rich person to

entrust their property to a manager who would act in

that person’s name and best interests. The master

expects the steward to fulfill his tasks honestly and 

wisely.

 

We are always tempted to think, “This is my time.

These are my talents. This is my money. This is my

stuff.” But this is a selfish way of approaching the

world, which will always lead us to disappointment and

lack of peace. When we see ourselves as stewards, our

perspective changes, and the questions change.

 

For example, as you plan a free weekend: “What should

I do with God’s time this afternoon? Besides legitimate

relaxation, how can I use this gift of time to develop my

daily prayer life, to learn about my faith, or to serve

others?”

 

Likewise, when standing in a department store or listen-

ing to a salesman: “How should I use God’s money?”

Or when deciding on extracurricular activities: “How

does God want me to use these talents and abilities

which he has given me?”

 

Let’s ask the Lord for help to see the world with His

perspective, as stewards entrusted with great responsibility.

 

—Father Andrew