Investing for the heavenly reward

The WORD in Other Words by Fr Alex Vitualla SVD (Philippines) for Wednesday Week 33 in Ordinary Time

Gospel
Lk 19:11-28

Death. End—time. Judgment day. The day of reckoning will surely come. This is the usual theme as we approach the end of the ordinary time in the Church calendar.   The parable today speaks of a master entrusting different amounts of money to his servants for them to engage in trade or any life-giving activities. 

Like the servants,   we too have been given much: life, faith, time, talents and skills. What shall we do with these abundant resources? Life is short. Fear, as the cause of inactivity and pain-avoidance, is the worst choice. Time has its limits. What we do with our life will earn either a heavenly reward or an eternal punishment.   

In 1875, in Germany, a diocesan priest, Arnold Janssen, was discerning to start a mission congregation. One bishop commented: “He is planning to found a mission congregation but he has no money. He is either a fool or a saint.” 

Arnold Janssen had no money   but he had a big heart for the mission and a firm resolve to follow the will of God.   On October 5, 2003, Arnold Janssen was canonized a saint of the Catholic Church.   Today, the “sons and daughters of St Arnold Janssen — the SVD, the SSpS (the blue   sisters) and the SSpSAP (the pink sisters) — continuously engage in mission work in 70 countries around the world.   

St Paul reminds us: “He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.” (2 Cor 9:6).