Holiness and Generosity (Lv19:1-2 +Mt25:31-46)

"Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am Holy." One of the great deceptions of the Devil today is convincing good men and women that what they will really be judged for is how well they took care of their own. This generation of parents today are indeed obsessed with being parents. Their children rule their lives. Moms role their eyes at me exhausted from running around with the kids all day or all week as they set off yet again to some meeting or practice. Dads have their kids in a diversity of programs from sports to music to educational programs exposing them to many things and thus letting him believe he is a good dad. This is all about taking care of your own. Not at all mentioned in the Gospel today. Yes, you must take care of your family! Yes, in doing so you can and will grow in holiness! But families today are exclusionary. That is to say that men and women today feel as if they are trying to be good parents, and thus believe that that is their sole mission in life. This is simply a lie. It destroys marriages, leads to depression and leaves children malformed and deformed. God is God! Your children or grandchildren cannot be your God! Parenting cannot be your religion! Running from practice to practice cannot be your sacrifice! The Gospel today is clear in its Revelation. We will be judged by how generous we were with those who were not our own, and many will be surprised at how wanting they are. Thus we are called to conversion this Lent. Generosity is the key. First and foremost we are called to be generous with God. We must put God first in our lives, saying our prayers and practicing our faith. Second we are called to be generous with our spouse regardless of patterns we have fallen into or if we have been married a long time. If you work on these two things you will be generous to you children while not making them your God. This is the proper order of of love in the family. Love God. Love each other. Love your children. This allows us then to be generous with others. When we are properly ordered ourselves then we can recognize the needs of others. But not only that, we can also recognize that it is our responsibility to aid others in their need. This is how we grow in holiness. This is how we become generous with those who are not our own. Disorder leads to selfishness, and sin but also to hurt and resentment. God must come first in our lives. That is to say God must come first in our lives based on His terms not our own. During Lent we say repent and believe in the Good News that has been revealed in Christ Jesus! We do not say take it easy your okay with God, your a good guy. Lent calls us to conversion, to recognize how we have kept our own council and taken care of our own, ignoring God and others. The Scriptures tell us today that now is the time to turn away from such folly and allow God to bring order once again to our lives, our marriages, and our families. In following Him then we will be leaven in our society as we generously take care of those in need.