Homily for Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
This passage from the First Book of Kings is one of my favorite stories in scripture. It is a story that reminds us of how much we receive from the Lord when we are faithful to what He is asking us to do for Him. Whenever we give to Him – especially out of our poverty – He returns that to us in abundance.
Each of us has experienced a time when the Lord has been calling us to love and serve Him when we seem to have nothing left to give. For those of us in ministry, that can happen quite often. The Lord might be inviting us to give of ourselves just a little more when we are simply exhausted. And sometimes the temptation is to say: “I’m so tired, I’ll get to that tomorrow.” When we give into that temptation, it often results in us missing the Lord in some way.
The same can be said of parents or spouses. You’ve just gotten home from working 8, 10, or 12 hours and you have to cook dinner, clean the house, help the kids with homework, do laundry, or some other chore around the house. All you want to do is put your feet up, decompress, and simply breathe for a minute. And yet, the Lord calls you to give of yourself just a little bit more.
Loving and serving the Lord and others whenever we seemingly have nothing left to give always brings us an abundance of grace. Even if we don’t see that return of grace in the moment, the Lord is still giving it to us. So today, whenever you feel like you’ve given enough, or whenever you feel like you have nothing else to give, look for one more way to give to the Lord or to someone you love. Take one more step toward loving the Lord. You might be surprised at how the Lord responds.
Photo: Jackson David on Unsplash. Used under Unsplash License.
Fr. Tom Pringle 