The Giving Paradox
the parable of the rich fool
Announcements for July 30, 2022:
If you need anything at all, please be in touch with me.
In honor of the 175th anniversary of our parish, we have already released the 2022 Christmas tree ornament. This year's ornament is a re-release of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel window, our first ornament in the series, which has been sold out for several years. Now is the time to complete your collection - send me a note to buy one (or more) today!
July’s beyond the tithe opportunity is the diocesan appeal for: 1. Catholic Communications Campaign, 2. Black and Indian Missions, and 3. Catholic University of America. For more information and to give directly online, check out our Monthly Appeals.
Visit the OLMC Parishioner Portal for all of our recent announcements.
Dear Saints,
This weekend's Gospel passage is all about storing up treasure.
What is your treasure? What, in life, will make you happy? What are you investing your life - your time, energy, and attention - in?
More: What goal, when you get closer to achieving it, will make you feel more safe or secure? What, when you are in danger of losing it, makes you unreasonably agitated, angry, or afraid?
That's your treasure.
Jesus presses home the point: One’s life does not consist of possessions. Blunt. True.
But then what does your life consist of? What does it mean to become rich in what matters to God, as Jesus later instructs the crowd?
To begin, if we want to become rich in what matters to God, then we should expect to have to invest time, energy, and attention in what matters to God (and not to the counterfeit treasure we otherwise pursue).
To do this, we have to give ourselves over to God and his purposes. His plan (not mine) is perfect, and his plan for my life (not mine) is the centerpiece of my identity and my life's purpose. It is mine, simply, to trust and follow Jesus. When I do - living, by the power of his love, the life he makes possible for us - then I find myself rich beyond my wildest imagining.
When we live not for ourselves but for God and his purposes, we find ourselves fulfilled. When we give ourselves away - loving God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and loving our neighbor as ourself - we gain everything.
I love you, my friends, and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Christ's Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
PS The quote, "He who wants anything other than Christ, does not know what he wants," is attributed to Saint Philip Neri. Can there be any doubt as to what his treasure is?
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Parable of the Rich Fool
Rembrandt, 1627