Reading 1
1 Pt 1:18-25
Beloved:
Realize that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,
handed on by your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious Blood of Christ
as of a spotless unblemished Lamb.
He was known before the foundation of the world
but revealed in the final time for you,
who through him believe in God
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in God.
Since you have purified yourselves
by obedience to the truth for sincere brotherly love,
love one another intensely from a pure heart.
You have been born anew,
not from perishable but from imperishable seed,
through the living and abiding word of God, for:
“All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like the flower of the field;
the grass withers,
and the flower wilts;
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.
Gospel
Mk 10:32-45
All flesh is like grass… . The grass withers, and the flower wilts. (1 Peter 1:24)
How depressing! Is this all our earthly existence is about? Nothing but a long, slow march to the grave? Not at all! God didn’t create us to die but to live with him for all eternity. As Peter wrote, we have been “born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed” (1 Peter 1:23). It’s true that in the grand scheme of things, our time on earth is fleeting. But during this tiny sliver of eternity, God has work for us to do: “Love one another intensely from a pure heart” (1:22).
The daily challenge that we all face is not to allow ourselves to become so wrapped up in our daily lives that we focus our vision only on this fleeting world. It’s always a good idea to stop ourselves a few times each day and ask: “What am I doing to give glory to God? How have I been his hands and feet today?”
Jesus has a plan for each of us and has given us all the gifts and talents we need to fulfill that plan. All we have to do is to carve out time each day to reflect on his calling and ask how we can best accomplish it. It doesn’t have to be a grandiose plan in which we perform countless miracles and lead thousands to Christ. It could be something as (seemingly) commonplace as raising a family. The key is in asking the Holy Spirit to give us his wisdom and his grace in whatever our calling is. That’s when we rise above the everyday and become instruments of heaven on earth!
You don’t have to be like the grass that withers and wilts. Your life can be suffused with God’s presence as you bring his love into this world. If you seek after the Lord, you will discover your calling with greater and greater clarity. And you will end up glorifying God and singing his praise—both here on earth and for all eternity in heaven.
“Lord Jesus, in this fleeting time I have, keep me from wilting into meaninglessness. I want to bear fruit for you to my very last breath.”
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