taken last saturday

 

nov 10 2006

Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, pope and doctor of the Church

Phil 3:17—4:1 Join with others in being imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and observe those who thus conduct themselves according to the model you have in us. For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified Body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved.

Ps 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5
R. (1) Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”And now we have set footwithin your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Jerusalem, built as a citywith compact unity.To it the tribes go up,the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel,to give thanks to the name of the LORD.In it are set up judgment seats,seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Lk 16:1-8 Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said,‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that,when I am removed from the stewardship,they may welcome me into their homes.’ He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.”

"For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things.".......There are many who would call themselves holy and call themselves Christian and yet they live a life of indulgence in the worldly goods with their minds on those matreial thinds. I know that I myself at times take great joy in simple earthly pleasures like a good meal or a new well made cotton sweater...Where do I draw the line? When do I know that I have neglected putting God first? Being overly pious with complete denial can be extreme and an over compensation in some ways. Where is the path that is balanced and aligned with God?...One thing that I look at is what time I spend thinking about and attending to an aquiring things...my life in the monastery is simplified but not one of total denial but rather using only what I really need and keeping things simple.

I watch my diet but have come to the conclusion that a total preoccupation with eating the right diet and correct foods has a lack of balance and gives too much time to the earthly. I keep it simple and look at times at the overall amount of portions and cut back on desserts and eat more fruits and vegetables but not all the time. I watch my diet more when my weight has gone up 5-10 pounds and then relax and do not spend much time or thought when it is stable. I try not to overly invest time and energy in my diet but simply make wise choices from what is available.

I am not sure about what St Paul means by "their glory is in their shame." I will need to read more and ponder this to understand it better.

I have known at times attachments to material things and made an effort to give freely of what I have and share with others and release myself from any attachments to the material objects in life.

I was taught from a young age to share my toys and as I grew to give away all of my toys from younger ages to the younger children in my extended family. I thought that was what every family did and was happy to see my younger cousins enjoying toys that I had enjoyed when I was their age. I never regretted it and think it was a wise decision to do this on my parents and my aunts and uncles part. One of my cousins, was sweet enought to years later let me know that one of the dolls that I had given her was a collectible item now and worth hundreds of dollars and she offered after telling me that to give it back to me. I told her thanks but of course she could keep it. I asked if she was going to sell it she said no she really wanted to keep it but had felt she needed to offer it to me if I wanted it. I thought that was really kind of her. The kindness and love of my family has been one of the greatest treasures and sources of joy in my life. I am thankful to God for the blessing of so many truly honest kind and giving people who love me in my family and my extended family. I am also blessed with my friends who have treated my like family and am praying for all of them today with a grateful heart.