The Catholic Calendar for Monday, October 20, 2003
Twenty-ninth week Ordinary Time
St. Paul of the Cross

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Romans 4:20-25
Luke 1:69-75
Luke 12:13-21

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

Before my conversion and life as a Franciscan, I earned advanced degrees in economics. I spent most of my adult life studying money, its movements through the economies of the world, how it was created and how it was lost. Those years of study were have not been lost because I learned one very important point: money is worth more than its face amount because it brings with it power to the one that holds it.

A turning point in my life happened when a wealthy client died and the day after his death, two days before the funeral, his children were in my office demanding the inheritance. I could not convince them that the law prohibited me from giving the money to them. They were so blind with a desire for the money and its associated power that they had not even thought about the passing of their father.

Wealth and power can be gone as quickly as you can set fire to a dollar bill and burn it to ashes. However, you can use wealth and its power to greater ends. A few dollars can feed many hungry and bring them the word of God. A few dollars can support a missionary and give him the power to convert many to Christ. A few dollars can help an unwed mother and give her the power to make the right decision for her baby. And the list is endless.

Money and its power are temporary. So, use the power that money carries with it to good end before it is gone. You may no longer have it, but you can be assured that there is a savings account waiting for you filled with many times what you give and that will last for eternity.

- Don Claunch, sfo

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posted by joachim at 4:17 AM