I honor my wife. Since the start of 2023, she has been attending daily Mass. She usually goes to the 6 a.m. Mass and it’s a sacrifice for her since she is not a morning person. It’s not her usual routine to be intimate with God and spend time with Him. If you ask her what drove her to hear Mass daily, she’d honestly say, “I wanted to get to know God deeper and listen to His words.” 

Her commitment reminds me of the gifts that God has given all of us. It could be our time, talent, or treasure. What we do with these gifts takes us to where we want our relationship with God to be. 

My wife chooses to spend time with God, so I know that more will be given, as much as more is expected from her. With her actions, I know that she’s giving back to God what He deserves as He blesses us with more than we could imagine. I know in my heart that God is pleased. Mike Ybiernas (mvybiernas@gmail.com)

Reflect:

Do you give back to God through your time, talent, and treasure?

Lord, teach me to give back to You what You deserve, with the use of my time, talent, and treasure.

St. Edmund Rich, pray for us.

John’s vision is symbolic. It indicates a time of glory when the Lord will reign over all creation. The vision is an assurance to John that all the trials that he and Christians may undergo will be worth the glory in the end. It gives hope and encouragement to those undergoing persecution. It is not meant to hold any hidden predictions about the future. After all, the future is already determined, where we will stand before God and give an account of our lives when we die. What more do we need to know other than this?

¹ I, John, had a vision of an open door to heaven, and I heard the trumpetlike voice that had spoken to me before, saying, “Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards.” ² At once I was caught up in spirit. A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat ³ one whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian. Around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald. ⁴ Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other thrones on which twenty-four elders sat, dressed in white garments and with gold crowns on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. 6 In front of the throne was something that resembled a sea of glass like crystal. In the center and around the throne, there were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back. ⁷ The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like that of a man, and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight. ⁸ The four living creatures, each of them with six wings, were covered with eyes inside and out. Day and night they do not stop exclaiming: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before the one who sits on the throne and worship him, who lives forever and ever. They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming: ¹¹ “Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created.” 

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 150:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R: Holy, holy, holy Lord, mighty God!

¹ Praise the Lord in his sanctuary, praise him in the firmament of his strength. ² Praise him for his mighty deeds, praise him for his sovereign majesty. (R) ³ Praise him with the blast of the trumpet, praise him with lyre and harp, ⁴ praise him with timbrel and dance, praise him with strings and pipe. (R) ⁵ Praise him with sounding cymbals, praise him with clanging cymbals. ⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Alleluia. (R)

Gospel | Luke 19:11-28

The third servant lacks faith because he allowed fear to govern what he does with the money. In the Kingdom of God, we never have to be afraid of anything except our tendency to sin. Perfect love and true faith drive away all fear, and thus, we should never stand in fear of God. Yes, He is a just God but His justice is always full of mercy and understanding. 

Gospel Acclamation

I chose you from the world, to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.

¹¹ While people were listening to Jesus speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God would appear there immediately. ¹² So he said, “A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. ¹³ He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’ ¹⁴ His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’ ¹⁵ But when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading. ¹⁶ The first came forward and said, ‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’ ¹⁷ He replied, ‘Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities.’ ¹⁸ Then the second came and reported, ‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’ ¹⁹ And to this servant too he said, ‘You, take charge of five cities.’ ²⁰ Then the other servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief, ²¹ for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding person; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.’ ²² He said to him, ‘With your own words I shall condemn you, you wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding man, taking up what I did not lay down and harvesting what I did not plant; ²³ why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’ ²⁴ And to those standing by he said, ‘Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten.’ ²⁵ But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’ ²⁶ He replied, ‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ²⁷ Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.’” ²⁸ After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.

Reflect:

What talents has Jesus given you? How have you "invested" them? How can you be more prudent in the way you invest?

Read the Bible in one year! Read ACTS 25 - 28 today.

God gave gifts to each of us. Those gifts are meant to be used and not hidden. Further, they should be used for the service of others and not solely for personal benefits. Yes, through them we can have a living and acquire a lot of riches, prestige, power, and fame, but God’s purpose is more than giving us those things for worldly gains. He meant those gifts to be used for the benefit of other people’s material and spiritual gains. In other words, ultimately, they must be used for His greater glory.

We know it is not that easy to see things that way. It is unfortunate for us to not see our gifts as God-given. When we attribute them to ourselves, selfishness and pride creep in. Too much power, fame, and riches gained from them may make us believe that we can live by ourselves and have no need for God. In that case, our gifts have become our curse. They are supposed to bring us great blessings, but instead they bring us curses. Tragic! Thus, it is very important for us to never lose track of the true origin and source of everything we have. Furthermore, we must never forget their intentions.

Stewardship involves recognizing who is the owner of the gifts we possess. God is the owner of everything. He created everything. There is nothing we can purely call our own. Even our intelligence, strength, skills, and whatever we use to produce things are from God. Next, it requires accountability. We have to answer to God for what we have done with our gifts. Responsibility comes immediately. Entrusted with talents, we owe them to God and we use them according to His will. Lastly, it involves reward. When we are good stewards, God will entrust us with more gifts and commend us for being good stewards. 

Determine your gifts. Use them for the greater glory of God. Turn them into blessings—for you and for others—the way they are meant to be. Fr. Benny Tuazon

Reflection Question:

Do you know your gifts? How have you used them?

Thank You for reminding me today to use the gifts You have given me to serve Your people. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _________________________________