I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord. JN 13:34
1 THESSALONIANS 4:9-11
My Soul's Beloved,
We know You, we love You, and we have experienced Your love for us. Unworthy though we are, You lavish Your love on us, and You have claimed us for Yourself. Our response to this love is to walk gratefully and humbly in the way that You have shown us. It is the Way of the Cross, the way of suffering, the way of obedience, the Way of Love which empties itself for the sake of the beloved. And we are Your beloved.
St. Paul reminds us that we who are baptized into Your Body do not need anyone to prompt us to live holy lives, because Your law of love is inscribed in our hearts. All we need to do is listen to the Holy Spirit abiding in us, and He will guide us and lead us in the way of truth. Each day, grace is made available to us, and we must use this grace to make progress, no matter how small it may be. Every day in every way I must allow grace to work in my life and not squander it by ignoring God's call to grow in His image and likeness more and more, daily.
Your light is poured into my soul, and I am invited to let this light shine so others may see it and glorify You, my Lord and my God.
As for loving our brothers, there is no need for anyone to write to you about that, since you have learnt from God yourselves to love one another, and in fact this is what you are doing with all the brothers throughout the whole of Macedonia. However, we do urge you, brothers, to go on making even greater progress and to make a point of living quietly, attending to your own business and earning your living, just as we told you to.
PSALM 97(98):1,7-9
The Lord comes to rule the people with fairness.
As for loving our brothers, there is no need for anyone to write to you about that, since you have learnt from God yourselves to love one another, and in fact this is what you are doing with all the brothers throughout the whole of Macedonia. However, we do urge you, brothers, to go on making even greater progress and to make a point of living quietly, attending to your own business and earning your living, just as we told you to.
PSALM 97(98):1,7-9
The Lord comes to rule the people with fairness.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
Let the sea and all within it, thunder;
the world, and all its peoples.
Let the rivers clap their hands
and the hills ring out their joy
at the presence of the Lord.
For the Lord comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with fairness.
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
Let the sea and all within it, thunder;
the world, and all its peoples.
Let the rivers clap their hands
and the hills ring out their joy
at the presence of the Lord.
For the Lord comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with fairness.
The Lord comes to rule the people with fairness.
MATTHEW 25:14-30
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
Every one of us is given talents, and when we use them as God intended, those talents multiply. This is why we see those who have given their whole lives to serving You in Your people are excited, joyful, and inspired to share the Good News in such an attractive way that, through grace, many come to know You, love You, and desire to belong to You as members of Your Body.
We see so many Catholic Christians who are on fire with the love of God. They are filled with the Holy Spirit, and everything they do is prompted by their love for You. This is why they can set others on fire with the same fire of love that is alive in them. These are the ones who use God's gifts with abandon, and like the 5 loaves and fish, they never run out but draw continually from God's treasury of graces.
The more we use the gifts given to us, in faith, hope, and love, we will honor God's will to make Him known and loved.
Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of Heaven is like a man on his way abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one; each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out.
‘The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more. The man who had received two made two more in the same way. But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
‘Now a long time after, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made.”
‘His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.”
‘Next the man with the two talents came forward. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.”
‘Last came forward the man who had the one talent. “Sir,” said he “I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered; so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back.” But his master answered him, “You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered? Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have recovered my capital with interest. So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the five talents. For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away. As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”’
‘The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more. The man who had received two made two more in the same way. But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
‘Now a long time after, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made.”
‘His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.”
‘Next the man with the two talents came forward. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.”
‘Last came forward the man who had the one talent. “Sir,” said he “I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered; so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back.” But his master answered him, “You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered? Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have recovered my capital with interest. So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the five talents. For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away. As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”’
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