September 22, 2019: Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

"If, therefore, you are not trustworth with dishonest wealth,
who will trust you with true wealth?"
                                                                                  - Luke 16:11

I remember, when I was sixteen years old, there was a shirt I wanted and so I asked my Mom to buy it for me. Her response was quick and quite simple, “You are now old enough to get a job and buy whatever shirt you want. We will buy your school clothes and some at Christmas and Easter. Anything else, at this point, has to come from you.” My Dad helped me get a job at the local department store as a maintenance person. When I received my first paycheck, I did not buy the shirt that I thought I had to have. It’s kind of funny about what you think you must have when someone else is paying for it, as opposed to when you have to pay for it yourself.

How do we determine what we really need in our life? In many ways that is the most important question we can ask ourselves. And to discern the answer, we must understand what we most treasure. As Jesus tells us, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” How do we determine what we treasure in life? That is really simple: what do you put your biggest effort into achieving, and why do you do it?

For example, you could have two people who work in the same job and make the same money. They both work extremely hard in what they do, and they put in long hours in order to maximize their pay. The time and effort that they expend leads to both realizing that they want to make as much money as possible. But their reasons are very different. Person A is trying simply to make as much money as possible to buy the things he/she considers important, such as a nice car, a big-screen TV, a large home, and so forth. Their entire focus is on what they can own here and now. Person B is trying to earn the money in order to support his/her family, such as getting a home that meets their particular needs, saving for the children’s college, buying clothes and food that are necessary, etc. Person A is concerned simply about what he/she can buy with the money they earn. Person B is concerned about the needs of others. Person A’s treasure is about self. Person B’s treasure is the other people in his/her life.

The most important decisions we make in our lives are highly influenced by what we treasure. Simply look at what is clearly most difficult for people to give to others—their time. How often do we hear people tell us they are multi-tasking to be more efficient? How often do we see people struggling to get done all the things they need to do, simply because they do not have the time they need? Most people are feeling more and more stretched by the various demands placed on them. And when that one more thing is asked of them, they come to feel

overwhelmed—and rightfully so. How we make use of our time tells us what is truly most important to us.

We simply need to look at sports in our culture. Now, I love watching sports. But, at the same time, it and other such activities have taken an overblown importance in our society. How many of our kids play in multiple leagues of the same sport throughout the year? And doctors have made it clear that this is not good or healthy for kids. It can and does lead to repetitive injuries such as stress fractures, ligament strains, or worse. They occur because stress is being put on their young bodies which are not yet done growing. They are in stages of growth and, as such, are more prone to harm when their bodies are used in same way over and over again. And still we, as a society, see nothing wrong with what is happening. Why?

It is about what we have decided that our treasures should be. Many parents have this insane idea that their child will be the next great ‘whatever.’ We put them into sports so they can get into college. We put them into sports to ensure they have something to do—or whatever the choice might be. But the question is, what is the cost that our kids will pay in the long term for what we are doing? It comes back to asking ourselves what is it we are really trying to gain by our decisions? What is it that we want to achieve? And does it make sense based on what we are doing?

As we look at the world around us, we see that people have many different ideas as to what is their most important need in life. As a Christian the most important thing we should want is to get to heaven. As a spouse your primary responsibility is to get your spouse to heaven. As a parent your primary responsibility is to get your child to heaven. As a Christian your most important responsibility is to get another person to heaven. Our greatest need then as a Christian is to live a life that allows us to do just that. How then do we achieve that? We look simply to the life of Christ and see what He did to get us to heaven. And for Jesus it came down to living his life by one simple principle, “Not my will but God’s will.” May we come to do the same and find the only treasure that matters.

If you have any questions about anything, please do not hesitate to ask me directly, or send your questions to me at fr.brian@chelmsfordcatholic.org.

Please keep me in your prayers.

In Christ,

Fr. Brian

Previous Articles

September 15, 2019: I try to get to the gym at least four to five days a week. It is important to me, not simply for the physical health benefits, but also psychologically. It is one of the few places where I generally do not think about what is happening in my life. read full article...

September 8, 2019: My first assignment in the Air Force was at Lowry Air Force Base in 1991. This particular base had a large hospital, and three prisons for minimum, medium and maximum security. read full article...

September 1, 2019: When I was a kid, Labor Day weekend was about two things: the last weekend of freedom from school and the Jerry Lewis Telethon. The Jerry Lewis Telethon was a must-see event that much of the country watched. read full article...

August 25, 2019:I have no idea why, but the other day I started thinking about these lines. They are the beginning of an epic poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, called Evangeline, a tale of Acadia. read full article...

August 18, 2019: While on vacation I did something really stupid. I wear contact lenses and every so often they will dry out in my eye.  At that point I simply take out the bothersome contact, throw it away, and put in a new one. read full article...

August 11,2019: While using my iPad, a rather disturbing headline came onto my screen from my news feed. It read, “An unprecedented 24 hours: Two mass shootings leave at least 29 dead. There have been 251 mass shootings in the US in the last 216 days.” As I read that line and processed just what it meant, it brought many questions to mind. read full article...

August 4, 2019: While I was on vacation, I saw two interesting quotes that got me thinking. The first one came from Henry Ford. It was on a sign in front of a business, and read, “Don’t find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain.” The second was on a T-shirt, and I do not know whom it is atttributed, but it read, “Attitudes are contagious—is yours worth catching?” read full article...

July 28, 2019: We know that Jesus underwent true suffering in many ways. He knew homelessness: as a child his family went into exile, and during his ministry He spoke about not having anywhere to lay down his head. read full article...

July 21, 2019: Last week’s column got me thinking that people might wonder how we Catholics understand the meaning of suffering? One of the most persistent questions throughout human history has been, “From where does suffering come?” How one answers this question reveals much about a person’s view of the world and God’s role in it. read full article...

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June 16, 2019: My Dad has always been a fascinating man to me. Most of us, if we are honest with ourselves, are a mass of contradictions in how we come to address life in general.. read full article...

June 9, 2019: Last Saturday, I had 3 pm confessions at Saint John’s, and when I finished I went into the sacristy to get ready to celebrate Mass. Just as I entered, I got a phone call on the emergency line and so I left the sacristy, to get to a parish phone to listen to the message. read full article...

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April 7, 2019: About a month ago, I received a call from Tom Moran who asked me to visit his brother Gerry at Sunny Acres Nursing Home. At this point Gerry was very ill, and Tom knew his brother would want to be anointed and receive communion.   read full article...

March 31, 2019: The other day as I was trying to pray, my cat Sally wanted me to pay attention to her.  I use my iPad for prayer and as I began to pray, Sally stood right in front of my iPad.  So, I moved the iPad to the other side, and Sally moved and once again stood right in front of it  read full article...

March 24, 2019: I am writing this column on the Feast of the Solemnity of Saint Joseph. As I was preparing my homily for today, it made me think about just who Saint Joseph was/is as a person. We do not hear much about him in the scriptures, but what we do know is truly fascinating to me.  read full article...

March 17, 2019: Last October, Finn McMaster came to me and asked if it would be possible for the Collaborative to put on Godspell. It seemed, in the moment, a terrific idea, but it was also clear that it would take a lot of planning and work. read full article...

March 10, 2019: As I was getting ready to leave church last Sunday, I saw a mom with her young son at the door of the church getting ready to leave. The son had put his hand in the holy water font and went to bless himself. read full article...

March 3, 2019: Last Sunday, we had our first presentation to the parents of our new faith formation program.  At the end of the presentation a little boy, named Jeremy Bryant, came up to talk to me.  He handed me some sheets of paper and said, “I wrote you a song.”  read full article...

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January 27, 2019: The other day I was back in my hometown to celebrate Mass: Fr. Ren was on vacation and needed help covering a Mass and so I agreed to do it. I must admit there is always a special joy to be in my home church of Saint Michael’s in Hudson, MA. It brings back memories of going to church there and all that it has meant to my life. read full article...