Daily Journey Through the Great Fast With the Early ChurchSample

The news station had been reporting on the approaching hurricane for some days now and we lived in an area where hurricanes would come and go, like distant relatives visiting from out of town. A scene of a town, a few hours away, swept away by the hurricane, appeared on the television screen and I was completely breathless. It was horrific. How does one recover from that? That’s what moved me to accept that I needed to get supplies before this storm hit. I drove to the nearest WalMart, passing gas stations with cars lined up out into the street blocking the entire right lane. As I walked to the back to get water jugs I realized it wasn’t as chaotic as I expected, until I got to the aisle and saw all the water was completely gone. No wonder there was no panic - everyone was already prepared! No water, no problem. In a day of using “amazon” as a verb, my brother suggested that I do just that: amazon bottles of water to my home. Crisis averted! But what if I didn’t have a brother who was quick to think on his feet? I hadn’t thought quickly and would have wallowed in my own self-pity.

What’s even scarier than not having enough supplies for the approaching hurricane, was I started to wonder if I was doing this with my spiritual life. Was I neglecting preparation because I was staring at a screen or walking nonchalantly through the empty aisles of resources without a real plan?

The shrewd man’s story in Luke 16 has always been confusing to me. He was clearly guilty of up-charging his master’s vendors so he could skim off the top - he didn’t argue his guilt; he accepted his consequences and yet continued to look out for himself, it seemed. There’s no way that I could ever be like him. Yet, he was much better than me. In his shrewdness, he prepared and resolved.

Through grace, he climbed his way out of his situation and he was accepted. Even PRAISED by his old master, proving that even in our wrongdoings and through His mysterious love, we are somehow accepted. In God’s eyes, we are seen worthy of His love, even when the rest of the world may not kindly afford us the same judgment.

Don’t allow yourself to sulk or give up in the midst of your storm. Resolve and be proactive so that you can proceed through the remainder of your Lenten days to do right and prepare for the greater “eternal dwellings”.

“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” [2 Peter 1:10-11]

"we should understand that if the steward who acted deceitfully, could be praised by his lord, how much more they please God who do their works according to His commandment." [St. Augustine of Hippo, 4th century theologian]