Persevere

19 Sep

Attend to yourself and to your teaching;
persevere in both tasks,
for by doing so you will save 
both yourself and those who listen to you.  (1 Tm 4:16)

Today’s first reading was a reminder to the early Christian community — particularly its leaders — about the spiritual gifts that they had received and about the necessity to remain faithful to their gifts and to the God who bestowed those gifts upon them.

We are all incredibly gifted people.

Truly.  We are.

Sadly, there are many people who do know realize what a gift they have been given.  Oftentimes, it is because they are too busy looking at the gifts of another.  Envy often gets in the way, even envy of another person’s spiritual gifts.

Our gifts were given to us by God for a particular reason.  The gifts of others were given to them by God for particular reasons.  God knows the reasons.

We do not need to know why someone can do something better than us.

All we need to know is that God has granted us a particular gift or collection of gifts and we must utilize those in order to continue our part of bringing the Kingdom into our world.

In remaining faithful to our call, we will work toward our salvation.  Using the gifts that God has given to us, we will invite others to embrace the salvation won for them.  Persevering, then, is a win-win situation.

FAITH ACTION:  You know what needs to be accomplished today.  Do it with a joyful spirit, giving witness by word and deed to all you encounter.