Giving: A Result of Gratitude

Having chosen by an act of will to be grateful for our many blessings and having chosen to pray for God to correct our emotions to bring them into line with the fact of our gratitude. We next should consider an appropriate response to this new attitude.  What action should we take? I suggest we look at our blessings, note how we have enough, we have what we need, and can recognize how blessed we are in this. From here we should turn out eyes outward, to the news we hear and read, the Christian martyrs in Syria and surrounding … Continue reading

Parish, not Government

The government is not commanded by the Lord to care for widows and orphans.  It may very well have programs to do so, but the responsibility is not given to the government. Christians were given this commandment.  The pattern is in the New Testament.  Widows and Orphans were to be fed, clothed and cared for, but those able bodies who would not work, Paul wrote, should not eat either. How could that look today? Well, PARISH planners spend a lot of time on this and that but not a lot of time on fulfilling this commandment at the parish level.  … Continue reading