Today I come to the end of my retreat. I have been blessed and renewed as I wrestled with my own sense of loss. Inner healing takes time, I am patient for God to work at me at his pace. I return to you strengthen by God and the ministrations of two wise priests who offered guidance. I have been able to refocus.
The Gospel reading for Friday morning’s Eucharist is so helpful in refocusing upon where we are going.
Therefore, I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” Matthew 21:42
I am excited that as a benefice, we are among those to whom God has invited us to grow the Kingdom of God by producing good fruit.
This is an important offering to us by God for us to engage in its endeavour.
If you read this parable in Matthew 21, we see that the first group are those who will have the Kingdom of God taken away from them, represented by the tenants of the vineyard. One of their greatest problems is greed. They are selfish. They see the vineyard as a place where can enrich themselves and not the needs of others. We are therefore reminding ourselves not to take the easy route by adopting this mindset in our lives.
The world encourages us to “get ahead.” It’s easy to approach life in a way that we are constantly looking out for ourselves. God calls us and commands us to seek the good of others.
The second grouping of people, those to whom the Kingdom of God will be given so that it will produce good fruit. This us us! Together we seek to understand that our collective purpose of life is to share the love of God with others. Therefore, let us look for ways that we can be a blessing to others. In a nutshell it the difference between selfishness and generosity.
We are call to a specific for of generosity, one which builds up the Kingdom of God. We achieve this through works of charity motivated by the Gospel and has the Gospel as its ultimate end. Caring for the needy, teaching, serving and the like are all good only when Christ is the motivation and end goal.
As we continue through Lent try to make Jesus more known and loved, through your life of witness. In doing so we produce good fruit for building up the Kingdom of Heaven. That is what mission is about.
Every blessing
Father Paul