At our grad
student Bible study last Monday night, I asked the group what does it mean to
do what Jesus says in tonight's Gospel, "give to God what belongs to
God". One of the students pensively answered, it means give God your
life. Wow, I thought, good answer! Yes, in general terms, give God your
life. But, what does it mean specifically?
Give God your time. By coming here tonight, you are giving God your time...on His day. Other students have seen that you give God an hour every Sunday, and they now do the same. You give God time every Wednesday during ten hours of Eucharistic Adoration at Newman, some for thirty minutes and some for just a few minutes. Dozens of you give God time every week for FOCUS Bible studies and discipleship. Almost twenty of you gave early time last Saturday morning to serve breakfast to the homeless. You are the busiest people I've ever met, and yet you give time to God each week.
Give your money to God....ten percent. The biblical formula of tithing is based on Abraham giving ten percent of what he had to the priest, Melchizedek. As students, you don't have income, so give ten percent of what you spend every week. If you can drop $50 at dinner or shopping, you can drop $5 in the basket here.
Give your anxiety, stress, burdens, hurts, and wounds to God. Jesus basically says this in Matthew 11:28 - "Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest". He wants us to give him what's on our hearts...like, it belongs to Him. I give you permission to give all of your crud to Him. He wants it. You have been open to this with our healing ministry, giving your wounds from relationships or family to Jesus the Divine Physician. We will have a Healing Mass next month, a great opportunity to give Christ your burdens.
Give your life to God. We normally think of this in regards to vocations. Several GW Catholics have given God their lives after graduation by entering the seminary, convent, or marriage.
Give God your sins...in Confession / Reconciliation. He gave His life for your sins, so He definitely wants them! GW Catholics regularly go to Confession whether before or after this Mass, or during the week to me or Father Zack on Tuesday or Thursday evenings. Keep giving your sins to Christ!
Give the sins of others to God. Forgiveness is so huge in our relationships and families. Trust me, if you forgive others throughout your lives, you will save a lot of money on counseling. So many problems result from a lack of forgiveness, especially in marriages. Small things that aren't forgiven can become big things. Forgive! Just as recently as last week, a student came to talk to me about the rough break-up with her ex...and was open to forgiving. Give God the sins of others...He wants them.
Give God your heart. Caesar was inscribed on the Roman coin. Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Christ is inscribed on your heart. Give to God what belongs to God.
Finally, give God the credit. For everything good in our lives, the credit belongs to God. Give Him thanks every day. I have encouraged you to give thanks for a moment or two after Mass, in imitation of the saints: give thanks to God for all your blessings, especially Jesus in the Eucharist and on the Cross. So, now at Tuesday night Mass before dinner, I finish Mass and then have to wait a moment or two to greet the 30-40 students. They are all making their thanksgiving! You do give thanks to God, for you see that all that you have is from Him.
Give God your time. By coming here tonight, you are giving God your time...on His day. Other students have seen that you give God an hour every Sunday, and they now do the same. You give God time every Wednesday during ten hours of Eucharistic Adoration at Newman, some for thirty minutes and some for just a few minutes. Dozens of you give God time every week for FOCUS Bible studies and discipleship. Almost twenty of you gave early time last Saturday morning to serve breakfast to the homeless. You are the busiest people I've ever met, and yet you give time to God each week.
Give your money to God....ten percent. The biblical formula of tithing is based on Abraham giving ten percent of what he had to the priest, Melchizedek. As students, you don't have income, so give ten percent of what you spend every week. If you can drop $50 at dinner or shopping, you can drop $5 in the basket here.
Give your anxiety, stress, burdens, hurts, and wounds to God. Jesus basically says this in Matthew 11:28 - "Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest". He wants us to give him what's on our hearts...like, it belongs to Him. I give you permission to give all of your crud to Him. He wants it. You have been open to this with our healing ministry, giving your wounds from relationships or family to Jesus the Divine Physician. We will have a Healing Mass next month, a great opportunity to give Christ your burdens.
Give your life to God. We normally think of this in regards to vocations. Several GW Catholics have given God their lives after graduation by entering the seminary, convent, or marriage.
Give God your sins...in Confession / Reconciliation. He gave His life for your sins, so He definitely wants them! GW Catholics regularly go to Confession whether before or after this Mass, or during the week to me or Father Zack on Tuesday or Thursday evenings. Keep giving your sins to Christ!
Give the sins of others to God. Forgiveness is so huge in our relationships and families. Trust me, if you forgive others throughout your lives, you will save a lot of money on counseling. So many problems result from a lack of forgiveness, especially in marriages. Small things that aren't forgiven can become big things. Forgive! Just as recently as last week, a student came to talk to me about the rough break-up with her ex...and was open to forgiving. Give God the sins of others...He wants them.
Give God your heart. Caesar was inscribed on the Roman coin. Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Christ is inscribed on your heart. Give to God what belongs to God.
Finally, give God the credit. For everything good in our lives, the credit belongs to God. Give Him thanks every day. I have encouraged you to give thanks for a moment or two after Mass, in imitation of the saints: give thanks to God for all your blessings, especially Jesus in the Eucharist and on the Cross. So, now at Tuesday night Mass before dinner, I finish Mass and then have to wait a moment or two to greet the 30-40 students. They are all making their thanksgiving! You do give thanks to God, for you see that all that you have is from Him.
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