How do we do life? At what level of consciousness do we operate or live? Do we practice what we preach or speak? Do we filter what we think or blurt it out? Matthew has put a lot to thought about that in today’s gospel reading. Do we practice religion and have a relationship with the living God, or is it just an empty practice?
In my life, I experienced a transformation from just a ritualistic practice of religion to a religion that touched my heart. In middle age, God knocked me down, humbled me, and I realized my life was like a Pharisee’s. I was good at telling others how to live but not living the life Jesus had intended for me.
God’s economy is different than the human economy: Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Now that I am in the 4th quarter of my life; on the exit ramp; or at the 30-inch mark on a yardstick; however you choose to say it. I realize that Jesus is everything and that this life is not the dress rehearsal but the wedding. Starting today, let us give God our very best – everyone else, for that matter.
It bears quoting Saint Peter Julian Eymard often: May Jesus be adored, loved, and served; the rest is nothing.
Let Us Pray:
Dear heavenly Father, please continue to draw our hearts nearer to your heart and the same for our family members and all those we love. In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
