Time to appreciate
For years I’ve considered including a time for reflection in my morning routine. Usually I hop out of bed and immediately spring into action. After all, there are breakfasts to be made, and children to be clothed and coaxed off to school….

When morning comes, rarely do I stop to recognize the gift of each new day. No wonder life seems to whiz by! Today’s psalm reminds me that, if I don’t take time to reflect, life can quickly pass me by.

I am going to stop for a moment of quiet reflection each morning. The signs of God’s love are present all around me. I hope to learn to savor them—before I gulp down my juice and head out the door.

God, I awake each morning to signs of your love. May I remember to give you thanks.

What will it cost? Can we afford it? These questions surely prey on our minds in these times of recession. So many people have been profoundly disappointed by their financial investments that it seems the words of the first reading were written for our age, The reasoning of mortals is worthless, and our designs are likely to fail.

Today’s liturgy points us to another kind of economy, the economy of salvation. I remember wondering, when I first heard that phrase, what on earth economy had to do with salvation. Economy, from the Greek word oikonomia, means "the management of a household." The economy of salvation points to how God manages the divine household—the world and all that is in it.

Today’s gospel invites us clearly into this divine economy. What does it cost to enter God’s household? Everything, up to and including life itself. Know the cost, Jesus warns, or risk being very foolish, like a builder who doesn’t calculate the cost of a project, or a politician who leads a nation into war without first determining whether the nation can afford it. God sets the example, giving us the fullness of divine life in Jesus, who in turns gives his life completely.

No doubt we squirm at this kind of investment strategy. The opening and closing prayers point to its reward, "The inheritance you promised"—"sharing God’s life for ever." Will we risk everything for this?

Bernadette Gasslein