Weekly Message 2-5-12

WHAT IS YOUR PREFERENCE?
Father Ron Longero

In the February issue of the Magnificat Father Richard Veras describes how when he was teaching a morality class a student reacted angrily about Fr. Veras’ certainty regarding God’s existence.  Fr. Veras was to meditate upon how best to express the truth of Christianity even to those who were offended by that truth.  What he came up with was a preference test.  The only thing a person had to do was to react to one of two preferences for life based upon what their heart told them.  One such example is as follows:

Which would you prefer? Choose A or B and give a reason for your choice.

A) Your value depends on your abilities.  The greater your abilities are, the more important you are.  You are more important than people who can’t do as much or as well as you.  People who have greater abilities than you are more valuable and more important than you.  When you lose your abilities, your value will diminish.

B)  Your value comes from the fact that there is a God who wants you to exist.  So even when your abilities are not the best and when other people don’t think you are important, he still loves and values you.  Thus, you are always of infinite value.

Which would you prefer? 

If I were to choose ‘A’ I would have to think about which abilities I possessed which were valuable and to whom.  How would those abilities be helpful to myself?  Would those abilities dictate a small sphere of influence in life or a big one?  What about the places where my abilities were of little consequence?  What then about the effects of age and diminishing ability?  Would that mean I was to be shelved, relegated to living only in the past?  Would people even have time for me?

If I were to choose ‘B’ would I even have to answer the above questions?

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?
By: Jim Brandmueller

In the mid 1990's it was popular among some church groups to wear jewelry, rubber bracelets and assorted clothing with the letters WWJD on them.  This stood for "What Would Jesus Do?". It was an ethical challenge to people to think about this question before taking action in our daily lives.  In the end, the idea faded as the slogan became co-opted by various other groups to further their specific causes, i.e. What Would Jesus Drive? by a group advocating against the use of SUVs.

The idea, at it's base, is a great one.  Perhaps we need to consider how the early Christians formed fellowships and communities to work toward a common goal and ensure that the needs of each were handled.  Recently, a Church leader was promoting an outreach center where people were directed to the right location to receive government benefits.  Did Jesus direct the needy to Caesar or anyone else?  No, the Christians filled the needs of their fellow men without any questions.  Imagine how it would have been if Jesus had referred the blind or crippled to the proper Roman authorities.  

Think about how we can help meet the needs of others.

"Lord, we ask your help and guidance to serve your people as you would have us do."