2346AFC111723 – Use It or Lose It
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Proverbs 31:10-31
10 A capable wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 – 1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!
Psalm 128:3 – (Click →HERE← for a (↔ Music Link)
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
Matthew 25:29-30 – 29 For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. We have arrived at the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, the last Sunday of that Liturgical season. The next Sunday is The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. After that as the Season of Advent, a time of reflection, anticipation, and JOY. This final Sunday in Ordinary Time in Cycle A reminds us that there is much good in God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan for families that have the Love of God as a foundation and the service of others as a
framework. The First Reading is from the Book of Proverbs. The link above is often titled “Ode to a Capable Wife.” That passage is also referred to as a description of “The Proverbs-31 Woman.” I can tell you there really are women who truly are that remarkable. If you would please read the entire passage – not just the three verses I supplied – you may perhaps have someone come to mind that is represented by the characteristics there. We must also realize that not all women are like that capable wife; some are a bit better, some are a bit worse. When we encounter them, they light up every life and locale they enter with the golden glow of graciousness. We looked into that a few years back in 1145AFC111111 – Virtuous Woman. I have known more than one in my life, and God blessed me with one for my wife.
You might have noticed that all the Key Verses for today mention women. Please bear with me when I repeat my statement that women are simply better than men because they are made better and chosen better. “Men are made of dirt. Women are made of flesh and bone. Women bring forth life. Men support life.” Isha – Woman – became Hawwah (חַוָּ֑ה) – Eve – mother of the Living who was the helpmeet of Adam (הָֽאָדָ֛ם) man of Earth. The Apostle Paul tells us the coming of Christ again will come suddenly like labor for a pregnant woman. This is a very instructive simile. A pregnant woman carries new life beginning at conception and culminating in labor and birth. There is a long period of waiting and anticipation. There are visible and invisible signs that the pregnancy is progressing. There are varying degrees of discomfort throughout the pregnancy. Sometimes there are unforeseen consequences that endanger mother and/or child. Sometimes everything goes so well that the experience of pregnancy is more easily borne. Then, on some unpredicted day at some unexpected hour, suddenly there is a gush of water, a series of painful waves inside her, the effort of pushing that new life out of her and into the world, and finally the JOY that only a mother can know, remember, and understand. It is one of the most amazing things that can be seen! And so, too, will be the return of the Lord. (↔ Music Link)
There will be (has been) a very long period of waiting as more and more signs visible and invisible come into place. There will be a sudden change, and rather than a gush of water there will be a whirl of Angels and Saints in the sky. Then the New Heavens and New Earth will be formed. The Bride of Christ and her Groom will meet together at God’s Great wedding Feast. The hazards, trials, even pains for all the world will also point toward that moment of sudden, albeit long-expected, change. To me, it is significant that the process is more like birth than death. Everything that is born into existence at HIS return will be New Life. And if being present at the birth of a child is completely amazing, how much more so will be the birth of a New Heavens and New Earth! There will be absolute elation for all the Faithful Departed. Conversely, there will be absolute misery for all the unfaithful and unrepentant. Those who see themselves as the deliverers of Peace and Security claiming all is well because they say so will fall prey to their own deceptions and perish forever. YOLO-F. There will be no escape from either of these destinies when the Lord calls his family home!
Family life is the life God intended for all earthlings since Adam and Eve. Family is the basis and the epitome of community. We say so often here that God is community – “The Father loves the Son and The Son loves The Father with such power that their shared Love becomes the Person of the Holy Spirit.” God is a community of Love. A family is an image of the Community of God. Remember, Love is the Core of the APP. In Psalm 128:3, the Psalmist’s description of family comes to us as an image of a family seated at table for a meal – a prefiguring of the Heavenly Wedding Feast – and at the table the prudent man sees his “Proverbs-31 Woman” to be like a fruitful vine, bringing their household stability and the prosperity provided only in covenantal Love between husband, wife, and Creator. Their offspring are like olive sprigs holding the promise of extended productivity and prosperity. The entire family is blessed in their devotion to the Lord by the fruits of their handiwork. All those who live and Love in the Lord will know the generous, unfailing, awesome Goodness of God. There is more, though, because all those who do not live and Love in the Lord will reap what they have sowed. The rejection they give to the Lord will be returned to them.
For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. I confess that for many years, this one baffled me! Now that I am older ( much, much older!), I stopped seeing this as a description of material wealth – like the “money makes money” preachers – and understood it as his Blessings to me. When I heard the Pastor talking about “Time, Talent, and Treasure,” like many others I supposed that he’d soon be asking for more money, or for more volunteers to give their time and talent. All of us have abilities that God has placed in us – some have talents like music, or administration, or prophecy, or other gifts of the Holy Spirit. Some of us have the charism of Time which we can offer in service to God and neighbor. All of us have the Treasure of Love which should be the first Gift we offer of all that we offer. (↔ Music Link). I reiterate, Love is the core of the APP, and God calls on us to make it our top priority, even in worship. Everything we need to know about love is in the B.I.B.L.E. Here are two examples: Deuteronomy 6:5-6 – 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. AND John 14:21 – 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them. Remember? Trust and Obey. (↔ Music Link)
Obedience is an authentic expression of Love, and since Love came before Obedience (and even before disobedience), we truly must make Loving God our priority because when we do that we are blessed with the capacity to Love our neighbors. And it gets even more astonishing when we go through the laborious process of Loving our most irritating neighbors and giving birth to the formation of a new community of love and caring. We can all see and understand that the Absolutely Perfect Plan is exactly that – Absolutely Perfect! All who are faithful in these two things will indeed do the will of their Father, and that is the “more” that will be given to those who have more … but more what?
More faithfulness is the seed for more faithfulness. Those who have little to no faith have nothing valuable to reap because they have not sown much of value. Our spiritual “muscles” are developed and strengthened by vigorous and judicious exercise – working hard on one’s wise choices. Those who are spiritually decadent and impoverished by their refusal of God’s abundant Grace available for the attainment of individual holiness will be all the poorer because they will lose even the Grace to accept Grace. What a sorry state of life that must be! And yet, dearly Belovéd, everywhere we go today we see billions upon billions of persons who flatly reject the Love of God.
We present The Apostle Paul’s list of these squanderers of Grace often (See 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 in 2343AFC102723). Each of us knows persons whose lives are characterized by 1, 2, 3, or more of those characteristics. Those in that list who live in the World already have a reward of sorts – living as Dead before dying. Those in that list who live as brothers and sisters – adelphos – in the Church have an even more “prodigious” reward. Whatever Graces they have received will be stripped away when the Lord tells them, “Depart from me! I never knew you!” Their Great Reward will be Death Everlasting. If we have loved-ones in that category, we will be held accountable if we do not attempt to convert them through conviction in the Word. Selah.
We are given Grace upon Grace, Love upon Love, freedom upon freedom. Every living soul has that treasury consecrated to them as a free, though unmerited, Gift. Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift, then putting it to use as best befits its nature. God is Good, and all, ALL his Gifts are Good! We are called to carefully and lovingly use them, because if we don’t, we lose them. Use’em or lose’em. Our El Shaddai-Olam will certainly honor our choices and repay us in kind. If you love someone who is on the brink of losing everlasting life, hold them tight and tell them “DON’T DIE! REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL!” Remember the Big Blue Button? Here’s another way to look at it, and why you don’t want your loved one to die. Tell them this:
“If that elevator will be going up, the instant you die, you will see an Angel coming up to you to take you by the hand and lead you to the Chariot that will be carrying you home. (↔ Music Link) If the elevator will be going down, in the instant your soul leaves your body, you will see the blackened hand of a demon reaching up from below the Earth to grab you by the heel and drag your soul straight into Hell.” Yes, ʻŌmea, the idea is to simply scare the Hell out of them. That’s a wonderful way to Love and Obey the Lord God and Jesus, the Christ of God and our Faithful Companion, Advocate, and Friend, the Holy Spirit. Use them, and you can’t lose them – nor Heaven either. AMEN.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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