Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Saturday, 30 August 2014 Catholic Meditations

Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Saturday, 30 August 2014 Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Matthew 25: The Story About Investment
14-18 “It’s also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master’s investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master’s money.
19-21 “After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’
22-23 “The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master’s investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’
24-25 “The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’
26-27 “The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.
28-30 “‘Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.’
Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. (Matthew 25:25)
More often than not, our fears are based on false expectations. That’s definitely true of this unfaithful servant. Notice his words to the master: “I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter.” Somehow, he got the idea that his master was a hard-hearted man who expected him to magically produce vast amounts of wealth from his one talent. So instead of taking a chance, he did nothing.
Unfortunately, this fellow got it all wrong. If his master were that exacting, he wouldn’t have been satisfied with the gains of the other two. But instead, he told them, “Because you have been faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities.” He didn’t add up their returns; he just wanted to know if they had put his wealth to good use. He wanted to know if he could trust them because he had bigger things in mind for them.
That’s the way it is with our relationship to God. While he expects us to bear fruit, he doesn’t play a numbers game. He just wants us to understand the basic principle of spiritual investment: it is only as we give away what he has given to us that we will grow into his likeness. Only then will he give us more of his gifts.
The unfaithful servant feared that he could never please his master, so he didn’t even try. We do something similar when we wait for God to assign us some really important task but then ignore the small ones he gives us every day or when we turn aside from his prompting because we think we’re not good enough. The reality is, God is already delighted with us! If we take our eyes off ourselves and start doing his will, he will multiply our efforts with an abundant harvest. But he cannot use our talents if they are buried in a hole marked “When I’m Ready.”
“Lord, open my eyes to the great gifts you’ve given me and the many opportunities I have to use them. Show me how I can be a vessel of your grace and peace!” Amen!
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”
Psalm 33:10-12 God takes the wind out of Babel pretense,
    he shoots down the world’s power-schemes.
God’s plan for the world stands up,
    all his designs are made to last.
Blessed is the country with God for God;
    blessed are the people he’s put in his will.
13-15 From high in the skies God looks around,
    he sees all Adam’s brood.
From where he sits
    he overlooks all us earth-dwellers.
He has shaped each person in turn;
    now he watches everything we do.
18-19 Watch this: God’s eye is on those who respect him,
    the ones who are looking for his love.
He’s ready to come to their rescue in bad times;
    in lean times he keeps body and soul together.
20-22 We’re depending on God;
    he’s everything we need.
What’s more, our hearts brim with joy
    since we’ve taken for our own his holy name.
Love us, God, with all you’ve got—
    that’s what we’re depending on.
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