THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2010 - THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
2 SAMUEL
7:18-19,24-29
After Nathan had spoken to David, the king went in and sat before the
Lord and said, “Who am I, Lord God, and who are the members of my house, that
you have brought me to this point? Yet even this you see as too little, Lord
God; you have also spoken of the house of your servant for a long time to come:
this too you have shown to man, Lord God!
“You have established for yourself your people Israel as yours
forever, and you, Lord, have become their God. And now, Lord God, confirm for
all time the prophecy you have made concerning your servant and his house, and
do as you have promised. Your name will be forever great, when men say, ‘The
Lord of hosts is God of Israel,’ and the house of your servant David stands firm
before you. It is you, Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who said in a revelation to
your servant, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Therefore your servant now finds
the courage to make this prayer to you. And now, Lord God, you are God and your
words are truth; you have made this generous promise to your servant. Do, then,
bless the house of your servant that it may be before you forever; for you, Lord
God, have promised, and by your blessing the house of your servant shall be
blessed forever.
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MARK 4:21-25
Jesus said to the crowd, “Is a lamp acquired to be put under a bushel
basket or hidden under a bed? Is it not meant to be put on a stand? Things are
hidden only to be revealed at a later time; they are covered so as to be brought
out into the open. Let him who has ears to hear me, hear!” He said to them
another time, “Listen carefully to what you hear. In the measure you give you
shall receive, and more besides. To those who have, more will be given; from
those who have not, what little they have will be taken away.”
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You hear people often say that a person's faith is a personal thing. It's a
private matter. There is, of course, some truth to this. Each person must
develop his or her own personal relationship with God. However, as Jesus tells
us in today's Gospel reading, our faith is not meant to be a private thing. We
are not to hide our light under a bushel basket. Does this mean that we all
must go into the streets and preach from every street corner? Of course not.
What it does mean is that we are to live our lives in a way that gives glory to
God. It may be that we don't get angry as quickly as others. It may be that
the need for material possessions is not an obsession with us. Perhaps we are
just more caring for others, more giving of ourselves, more loving. Our lives
should reflect the fact that we are Christians. The effects of the redemption
Jesus won for us should be visible in the way we go about our day to day
activities, the way we treat others. Then when people ask why we are different,
why we don't seem caught up in all the craziness that most people are caught up
in, we can tell them that we are Christians. We are loved by Christ and we love
him back and that makes all the difference in the world.
As disciples of Christ we are called to be in the world be not of the world. If
the world seems too filled with darkness it could be because too many Christians
are not letting their light shine. If the world seems too cold and uncaring, it
could very well be because not enough Christians are heeding the words of Jesus,
"in the measure you give you shall receive, and more besides." Our faith can
only grow if we give it away. In the same way, the graces and blessings Jesus
gives us can only increase if we pour ourselves out for others. That is what is
meant by the phrase, "To those who have, more will be given; from those who have
not, what little they have will be taken away.” It is not a matter of the rich
getting richer and the poor getting poorer. It is a matter of the unselfish
receiving back a hundredfold, while the selfish lose what they cling so dearly
to. Someone once said, "The day you no longer burn with love many others will
die of the cold." The world seems full of darkness because those who love the
darkness are more active than those who have seen the light. If we hide our
light, the light of Christ, we have no right to curse the darkness.
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Lord Jesus, fill me with the radiance of your love so that your love may
flow through me to those I meet today.