Our actions have consequences – and sometimes they’re not immediate! That’s what came to mind when I prayed with Isaiah Chapter 39 today. Actually the first thing that came to mind was: sometimes being an open book is not the best thing. Hezekiah showed everything he possessed to the son of the king of Babylon. In this chapter, Isaiah warns him that one day this would come back to “bite him.” Isaiah reveals that one day Hezekiah’s descendants will be taken and made attendants in the palace of the king of Babylon. Hezekiah didn’t seem too concerned. His response was: “there will be peace and stability in my lifetime.” His lifetime is all that seemed to concern him.

Is that how we operate? We work so hard in our lifetime to gain peace and happiness and stability but how often do we think about what we’re doing to get it? Have we given much thought to how our actions will effect those who come after us? The little white lies, the gossip, the cheating that “doesn’t hurt anyone.” The environment isn’t the only thing we should be thinking about when we think about the legacy we’re leaving our descendants.

Today, let’s commit to be people of integrity and intention. Let’s consider what it means to live in complete alignment with our Christian values – digging deep even if it hurts. Let’s consider doing things differently by shutting off the “autopilot” in our brains and do things on purpose, approaching every thing in our lives with a clear “why?” Most importantly, let’s not forget to invite Jesus into all these considerations because He is the only one who can give us clarity. Follow His lead, you will never be disappointed -astonished maybe but NEVER disappointed! God bless you!

Offer it up is something we hear often. It usually means offer up your suffering – whatever difficulty you’re experiencing at the moment, offer it up and unite it to the suffering of Christ. But this past weekend, it took on a whole new meaning as I meditated on Sunday’s Gospel reading about the loaves and fishes.

I’ve read and heard it read many times and heard many homilies on it before this weekend. But what stood out to me this time around were the words of the disciples “all we have here” and Jesus’ response “bring them here to me.” The disciples were concerned about feeding the crowd. What they saw in the five loaves and two fish available to them was scarcity. They didn’t think it was enough and Jesus basically said – do your part – trust me! Trust that I can work with you and give you enough. Trust that I can turn your scarcity into abundance.

Brick upside the head! God continues to speak to my self reliance! Is He speaking to yours? This Gospel spoke to me about giving Jesus my scarcity. Those places in my life where I feel I’m not enough or I don’t have enough to give – enough time, energy, experience. Today Jesus speaks to us too. He says “bring them here to me.” Gives me goosebumps to think all I have to do is offer it to Jesus and what I beleive to be a scarcity, He will turn into abundance. All I have to do is trust that He can and He will. After all He is faithful! God bless you!