"And he said to his disciples, 'Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O men of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of anxious mind. For all the nations of the world seek these things; and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things shall be yours as well.
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." (Ps 22:1).
"Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way where I am going." (Jn 14:1-3)
"And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.'" (Job 1:21)
"Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? ... All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun. ... 14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind." (Eccles 1:2-3,8-9,14)
"And he said to them, 'Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.'
And he told them a parable, saying, 'The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.' (Lk 12:15-21)
"Magis valet homo propter id quod est, quam propter id quod habet." "A man is worth more for what he is, than for what he has." (Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, 35)
"Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica." (II Tim 4:10)
"Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is 'finding his place in it', while really it is finding its place in him." (CS Lewis, Screwtape Letters)
"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have killed the righteous man; he does not resist you." (James 5:1-5)
"No one is justified in keeping for his exclusive use what he does not need, when others lack necessities." (Paul VI, Populorum progressio)
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. " (Mt 6:19-21)
Where is my heart?
(Said of St Josemaria) "It would not be right to say that he does not have. It would be more accurate to say that he does not possess. (P Urbano, Hombre de Villa Tevere, p 316)
"Peter began to say to him, 'Lo, we have left everything and followed you.' Jesus said, 'Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.'" (Mk 10:28-30)
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:3).
"1. Heart of Jesus, rich to all who invoke you!
"2. This is the generous heart, because fullness abides in it: in Christ, true man, lives the fullness of the divinity; and God is Love. ...
"3. Heart of Jesus rich to all who invoke you!
"'Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.'" (Lk 12:22-34)
Striving After the Wind
Buying Heaven
Where does it go if I let it wander?
What occupies my time?
What gets first priority?
What thing is so important that I would get upset if I don't obtain it?
What is it I consider precious?
What is it that I would not exchange for anything?
"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." (Lk 16:13)
Giving All
We gather today during the Angelus prayer, to recall, O Mother of Christ, the event that took place at Cana of Galilee.
This took place at the beginning of the messianic activity. Jesus, along with you and his first disciples, was invited to the marriage at Cana. And when the wine ran out, you, Mary, said to Jesus, Son, "they have no wine" (Jn 2:3).
You knew his Heart. You knew that it was rich to all who invoke it.
With your prayer at Cana of Galilee you caused the Heart of Jesus to reveal his generosity.
Love will never be depleted through this generosity, but will grow. It grows continuously. That is the mysterious nature of love. And thus is the mystery of the Heart of Jesus who is rich to all. ..."
(John Paul II, Angelus Message, Castelgandolfo, 3 August 1986)