The Happy Priest on Lent, Happiness and the Call to Selfless Love
saved.
The world owes everything to such great people who spend themselves daily for God and for others. If we were to take things easy and do nothing in life, we might exist longer, but we would never know how to live. A famous Christian evangelist once said, "It is better to burn out than to rust out."
Moreover, it is true that those people who give themselves to God and to others unconditionally remain young and vibrant. They go on through life filled with enthusiasm because they are in love with life. They are imbued with a cause that is greater than themselves.
I am amazed at times when I see people who look much older, but in fact are much younger than I am. They seem to live purposeless lives, to vegetate, to do nothing with the talents that God has given to them. I cannot live my life in such a way. I prefer to drag my tired body through life and be of service to God and to others, rather than live an aimless and dreary existence.
"Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life."
I am reminded of a story about an elderly carpenter who was ready to retire. He told his boss of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could survive.
The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.
When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."
What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built so poorly.
Always strive to be more and do more. With service comes greatness. If you are married, set your children on this path. If you are a priest or a religious, save more souls. Never think of yourself. "I" and "me" must always be replaced with "we" and "us." This is what makes us truly happy: to die to self unconditionally so that Jesus may live in us. The grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die.
How can this essential dimension of Christianity either begin or continue to flourish in your life? The answer is this: to center your life on the Eucharist. Bread comes from the crushed wheat that is ground to become flour. Wine comes from the grapes that are crushed together and the seeds are removed. The bread and the wine that becomes Jesus for us have gone through death and destruction. But, it is through death and destruction that we have the presence of eternal life in the tabernacle of every Catholic Church throughout the world.
Acknowledgements: www.inspirationalstories.com and www.sermonillustrations.com
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Elizabeth:
I am sorry to hear about your loss. I am pleased that my Sunday homily article was able to help you. Be assured of my prayers.
Today, I came home to the news that my grandfather had passed away. I came on Catholic online to find a prayer in his honor and came upon this article to read. He was a man of "selfless love" and is in heaven with God. Thank you father for such an uplifting article that brought me to tears and reflected my grandfather.
What a great message.In this world that is so geared to "me,me,me!" All around us people,especially young people,are exposed to the self-centeredness of this world,on television and sadly,even so called christian evangelists preach a message of how great one's life will become if they will follow Jesus.....health and wealth and the best of everything.Please keep teaching the truth in a world that so desperately needs to hear it.
Good, important, and always timely message.
It is sad to know that many Christians either dismiss entirely the notion of sainthood or find it difficult to incorporate into their spiritual life the communion of saints and their value to the universal Christian church. I do not know that you can be Christian and not believe that the human soul is eternal. If it is eternal then its status in life and after death, especially to those who knew and loved the person, becomes an important concern.
We know that this life of ours is but for a season and how we live and share it with others is of eternal consequence for the body and soul which envelops it. This is why it is so important that as parents we honor our obligation to instill deeply within the hearts and minds of our children those very first two rules of the catechism to know and to love God. Children without a true understanding of their heavenly father and why they were created have little hope to perform the third rule of Christian life, to serve Him. Hopefully our little children might develop the perspective that life was a playground where we sinners could train ourselves to become saints. The games or activities did not matter that much, only active loving participation and service at all times and a willingness to assist anyone needing help achieving the goals designed for us by our heavenly Father.
As grown ups we become so entrenched in our often drab day to day existence by the requirements of producing and providing that we forget that we too are children, God’s children. We look at our children playing and think of how worry free they are since we have taken on all their cares for them. We forget that Our Father through the Holy Spirit has lovingly provided our Lord Jesus who invites us to place our cares and worries upon him so that we too enjoy freedom to become children of God, His saints. It has been said that a saint is someone who deep within his heart believes God loves him and offers him eternal life through Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection and desires to use their life to witness, inform and assure others of the same truth about themselves. It’s that simple.
So, who are the saints? They are people like you and me who believe and hope in their Creator and begin their heaven here on earth living Christ’s prayerful request by helping build thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. We all have an invitation to sainthood and can respond according to our own abilities, gifts, and station in life willingly in the name of Jesus who relieves our burdens and has freed our spirits to be among the saints. Hopefully many of us will be among that great number which no man could count spoken of in Revelations which will eternally be the communion of saints.
Father God, we pray that we can rejoice fully in the world as children of light and holiness so men can witness and know the truth of your merciful love and accept Jesus as their personal savior through and within the eternal one body of Christ.
Yes, all are personally welcomed to the community of saints, here, now, and forever
The purpose defines the Martyrdom , to which the greatest has been the Lord Himself to the express purpose of redeeming man & all the other Martyrs in His name, as his Witness, to the purpose of the Kingdom of God on earth, such that where Christ is to man, man in turn is to Christ, both in the unselfish love for each other through Martyrdom, where the purpose be to salvation the aim is to the Kingdom.
I got up this morning to run before school. After I did I came to this website like I have been for the past couple days as I look more and more towards the Catholic Church being the one for me. I saw this article at the top and the part that caught my eye the most was the "and Selfless Love." When I think of love that is what I think it is in its purest form. I always strive to be this way, and I know I'm not always doing the best job at it. I've read and have heard many times before about how to completely give yourself over to Christ in order to reach your full potential. But I never heard it in this way or presented as such with the grain of wheat. Maybe I never understood the passage as well, but the interpretation above, for me, really makes a lot of sense and makes me want to go through life with more fervour and energized strength than before I read it.
Thanks, Father, for making us think, and for challenging us.