Pastor's Pen - October 25, 2015

The gospel reading from Monday, October 19, was Luke 12:13-21. This reading has always frustrated me and even saddens me because it continues to happen today. “Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.’” When did things and money get to be more important than a relationship? I understand that sentimentality of things can be very important and that when someone dies some people grasp for whatever they can in order to hold on to what was. When my mom died there was very little to be had, but I had what I needed. I had an amazing relationship that will last for eternity with my mother and I have a relationship with my family that will last just as long. There is no amount of money or a single trinket that could ever stand in that way of that. It saddens me when I hear about people who have not lived this and now have a broken relationship, do not and will not speak to the other because of this. At the end of the reading it speaks about what is important as the riches of God. For me it comes down to relationships (with God, with other, with self) that should endure forever and not things of this world that will ultimately decay.

A couple quotes from “A message from God”  
Forgiving others who have wronged you isn't a one
time thing; it's an ongoing process. So when you find yourself angry again, forgive them again. And forgive yourself for getting angry again. If you need inspiration, remember: YOU can't be free until you set THEM free. Amen! You don't have to love someone to pray for them. You don't even have to like them. Your enemies need your prayers, too. After all, how long can you pray for your enemies & still think of them as enemies?
Fr Chuck