Pastor’s Pen
Dear Church Family,
I think I’m living a very comfortable life and I think most of the time we are blessed by being so fortunate and thankful. So, the emphasis today is to observe, be aware and act.
Listen to Amos speaking of the rich people who don’t even care and are stuck in their complacency. There’s a little bit of these people in all of us. That is the challenge of the Word today. Don’t be complacent, observe, notice, really feel for others and then respond and act.
As we listen to Paul’s words today from 1 Timothy 6:11-16, it tells us those same things. He says, “…pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith and lay hold of eternal life.” He further charges us to “keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We observe well off people like ourselves and we notice and observe that we could do better at feeling out how other people are doing. Mother Teresa challenged us to ”involve yourself in people’s lives and do your charity so that your heart is in it.!”
Such as, something that happened to me last Sunday. I was down in Earth City and I observed a young lady who was walking down the side street like a highway with a baby carriage. I observed that I could have acted and maybe given her a ride somewhere—but I didn’t. Maybe it was because I thought I couldn’t get her baby carriage in the car and that would have been an excuse for me not acting. The long and short of it is, most people just like you and me, would like to avoid that kind of situation where I am supposed to help another but don’t.
In the gospel, we have the rich man living a sumptuous life and Lazarus begging for crumbs from his table. He was even complacent about helping poor Lazarus until he needed help himself. Then he was seeking just a little mercy and even began to think about his brothers who were living the same type of life. When we see situations (observe), we have to be aware (involved), and act—Do something from the heart!
In thinking about the lady with the baby carriage that was something that I just didn’t do for a lot of reasons but in my heart, I know I should have done something!
Love,
Father Bob
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