I went to church by myself yesterday. Jerry went to 9 o'clock mass and I stayed with the kids and went to 11 o'clock by myself. It was the first time in quite a while I was able to pay attention to what was happening. I missed the kids and every time a baby made a noise or a little kid was misbehaving, I noticed...and missed them more. I will say, however, that I was able to pay attention to the Gospel reading and the homily much more than I would have with my kids there...and what a Gospel reading it was this week.
I'd heard it before...it's the one about the rich guy and the poor guy. The poor guy hangs out around the rich guy's house and he doesn't help him. They both die and the poor guy goes to heaven and the rich guy goes to hell. From hell, the rich guy can see St. Peter sitting with the poor guy. He asks St. Peter to send the poor guy down and have him dip his finger in the cool water and put some on his tongue to help him quench his thirst. St. Peter says no. Then the rich guy asks St. Peter to send the poor guy to his father's house...because he has 5 brothers and he wants them to be warned of what will happen to them if they don't change their ways. (This could very well be where Charles Dickens got his Christmas Carole idea from!) St. Peter says no ~ he says that the brothers have Moses and the Prophets to listen to...and that should be enough.
The homily was a lot about how it isn't enough to just not do anything wrong ~ we must also do good. So of course, as any good homily does, it got me to thinking. I think I lead a pretty good life. In a way, I always thought that we were doing well and pretty happy because we tried to live a good life. My biggest "sin" is probably that I gossip a bit more than I should ~ considering you aren't suppose to gossip at all...anyway, I got to thinking and now I'm trying to think of what I can do that would be "extra" or giving something back. I don't have any money to start throwing around at charity or anything. So...any ideas? I want to be a good example for my kids, too. If they see me and my husband doing good...they will probably follow suit some day. I know a lot of people who could use help ~ but there isn't a lot I can do with two kids as small as mine are right now. They take a lot of time an energy...I don't have a whole lot left after a day with them. :) But I don't really want to put it off...because you never know what might happen. I'd hate to get to heaven and be told I waited too long to start doing good.
So ~ in short, anyone got any ideas how I can do good and make a difference that doesn't involve money or a lot of energy and extra time? Does that sound selfish or what? Argh...
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4 comments:
Janene, you are a good person. I'm sure if you think about it, you will find you already do good things for people. It isn't all about charities, or giving money to the less fortunate, esp when there isn't any to give! Its taking the few seconds to say thank you, smile at someone, or return a favor. But you already knew that! Have a nice day!
It's not doing the good things that gets you into heaven, but your faith in Christ as your savior. What gets you a better reward once you are there is your good works, and I think in the season that you are in, as a wife and mother, modeling the love of Christ to them is your best opportunity. As the previous commenter said, "please and thank you" go a long way - especially when your little ones are watching. I try to live by this motto: "Never miss an opportunity to do the right thing." Whether it's putting the shopping cart back in the corral thing in the parking lot, picking up a piece of trash that you notice on the ground, or holding the door open for the person behind you - every little things counts. Everything matters - because God sees it all.
God bless.
Janene,
Annie has it exactly right. Just as your relationship with your husband will have a much bigger affect on how your kids turn out than all the other stuff you do, so to will your relationship with Jesus Christ. i used to sit n those same pews and listen to the homily and think that those people who talked about Jesus all the time were ignoring the big picture--that God should be the focus and how weird they were. but you know, it is the relationship with Christ that gets us to heaven and it is that which will do the most for those around you. If you are in a great relationship with Christ you will naturally do those things which are really good because you will know Him that well and will just want to do them without trying to sit there and think something up. It is amazing how far a kind word goes to someone who is struggling or how far a smile will go to someone who is lonely.
"The greatest cause in the world is joyfully rescuing people from hell, meeting their earthly needs, making them glad in God, and doing it with a kind, serious pleasure that makes Christ look like the Treasure he is."
--John Piper
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