When we place our trust in God entirely we receive everything that we need and more. In today's gospel reading Jesus' instruction to Peter on how to pay the temple tax is an example of receiving from God in an unexpected and miraculous way. Moreover, it shows us, through the sign of the coin in the fish’s mouth, a superabundant meeting of whatever need we may have when we place our trust completely in God. God's help comes from unexpected places!
Jesus’ laying down his life so that we might have salvation is another example of God’s providing for us in a mysterious and abundant manner. It's a rare event that someone will offer his or her life for another. However, treasure from God is found in places that the world does not expect it to be. It is part of the miraculous manner of God’s giving that love comes to us in ways that challenge the values and expectations of the world. Thus, when lived according to the teachings of Christ, our lives and our giving of ourselves to others will challenge the world in the same way.
We see in the actions of St. Maximilian Kolbe an example of love going beyond the manner of the ordinary. We see a rare and true imitation of Christ's offering himself in the place of others. St. Maximilian shows us a way of giving in which we offer ourselves as a substitution for others: it is a way in which we stand in the place of others and take up their cause courageously. In St. Maximilian’s actions he becomes that which we receive from God. St. Maximilian reflects our Lord's giving himself in substitution for us.
I believe that one of the truly magnificent things about being a Christian is how we can imitate the action of our Lord’s sacrificial gift. Thus, we become for others the love and provision that they look for in God. We cooperate as willing partners in God’s gift of his Son. There really is no need to wait on special opportunities to act because the opportunity is lifelong. Each day we have a new chance to show the love of God, which gives freely from abundance.
Certainly, it challenges the values of the world when we depend entirely on God to meet our needs, yet depending in such a manner is exactly what God asks of us. When we begin to look to God as our superabundant provider we will begin to see, as common occurrences, evidence of the holy and miraculous presence of God in our lives. We will grow in the faith and courage needed to be Christ for others. We will enter the mystery that is the gift of self, and we will find abundant treasure in what may prove to be unexpected places.
I have two sons, Massimiliano (20) and Lorenzo (13) Both celebrate their patron saint's days within a few days of each other and they are both special days in Italy. The 14 th is the eve of the Feast of the Assumption, celebrated as a national holiday here. St. Maximilian's life was one of giving from very early on, and it culminated in his heroic act of martyrdom, the act of total giving of himself for the benefit of another. What a wondrous mystery. And it is especially significant that he died on the eve of the feast of Our Lady, to whom he was totally devoted...a sign of how much she loved him and how moved she was by his dedication to her.
Posted by: forget me not | August 14, 2006 at 05:50 AM