Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
What images come to mind when you think of 'belonging'? Is it family and friends? Social groups, neighborhood, or geographical location? Church community? We can all identify with these (and countless others) in varying degrees. However, today's Scriptures tell us, in several ways, to Whom we truly belong…and it is God.
Today's Responsorial Psalm (100) simply says, "The Lord made us, we belong to him." And how often does that cross our minds in a day? Read it once again. The mere simplicity of this verse can diminish its profundity! The truth is, many (if not most) of our waking hours are spent unconscious of this fact of our existence. St. Paul, in the passage from Ephesians, tells us: "God…brought us to life…with Christ and raised us up with him" and "we are his handiwork". And in the Gospel, Jesus tells the crowd, parabolically, to become rich in what matters to God rather than store up treasures for oneself.
In other words, maybe Jesus is saying we belong to God, not the earthly goods we spend so much time gathering.
It is simple and straightforward, but it is not easy. Every waking moment may seem filled with the demands we make of ourselves or those made by others. Even the time we set aside for prayer can feel chock-full of distractions—not even coming close to conversing with God. But remember: "The Lord made us, we belong to him." Say this Word over and over again. We can carry this Word, allow this Word to become part of us and infuse us and transform us. May God grant us a deeper awareness of the fact that God made us and we do—truly—belong to him.
--Gail Lyman