The O Antiphons

In the Gospel today, once again
we hear the proclamation of the incarnation.

During Advent we hear this proclamation quite frequently
Because the Church wants to remind us of WHO is coming.

Not just a cute baby born of a holy family
but the Son of the Most High.

Born when Mary accepted the Message of an Angel of God
Born by the Power of the Holy Spirit,

Who overshadowed Mary,
like the Lord God overshadowed Mount Sinai

And who dwelt in her womb like the Word of God
Dwelt in the Ark of the Covenant.

He is Emmanuel, God with us,
and the Church doesn’t want us to forget that.

On December 17th, each year the Church begins to remind us
Each day of this reality,
the reality of WHO comes to us each Christmas
with its famous O Antiphons.

The O Antiphons are Short songs
that precede the singing of the Magnificat
each evening in the Vespertime prayer of the Church.

The Church reminds us with these seven titles,
these seven songs of who Jesus is
Yesterday the Church sang O Sapientia:

O Wisdom, who came from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly:
come, and teach us the way of prudence

This song of praise and expectation reminds us
that Christ is the Word of God, Wisdom made flesh,
and all true wisdom comes from Him.

Today the Church will sing O Adonai:

O Lord and Ruler of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: come, and redeem us with outstretched arms.

Reminding us that God is the Lord and Judge, not us,
and that His birth is an invitation to us to judge not
ourselves or others, but to trust in the judgement of God.

Jesus is the Radix Jesse:

O Root of Jesse, that stands for an ensign of the people, before whom the kings keep silence and unto whom the Gentiles shall make supplication: come, to deliver us, and tarry not.

Jesus is both the beginning and the end,
a new beginning from the root of humanity,
the new beginning that all of creation longs for.

O Clavis David begins the antiphon for Tuesday as we sing:

O Key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel, who opens and no man shuts, who shuts and no man opens: come, and lead forth the captive who sits in the shadows from his prison.

Showing us that as John says “I am the way the truth and the light, NO ONE can come to the Father except through me.”
Jesus is the key that sets us free
to obtain the deepest desire of our heart,
seeing God face to face,
if only we allow that key to unlock our hearts.

Four days before Christmas we sing O Oriens:

O dawn of the east, brightness of light eternal, and sun of justice: come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Jesus is the light of the world, the light which He desires to kindle in our hearts and homes and communities.

On Thursday we praise Christ as the King of Kings
singing O Rex Gentium:

O King of the gentiles and their desired One, the cornerstone that makes both one: come, and deliver man, whom you formed out of the dust of the earth.

Proclaiming Christ the King of Kings the one who must rule in our hearts if we have any hope of attaining true peace.

Finally on the day before Christmas Eve we proclaim
Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us, recalling His central mission.

O Emmanuel, God with us, our King and lawgiver, the expected of the nations and their Savior: come to save us, O Lord our God.

Reminding us of the central fact of our Faith that God, the rightful ruler of all creation, loves us so much to become man and dwell among us.

Taken together these antiphon’s spell out the central message of Advent, and the challenge for how every Christian must live their lives.

Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai,Sapientia –
The first letter of these seven titles of the Baby Jesus
Spells out in Latin ero cras meaning,

“Tomorrow, I will come.”

WHO will come? Our God will come to us.

You see there are lots of people who want to say
That Jesus was just a nice man
And that the Christmas story is just a nice fable.

But everything that Jesus said about Himself,
And that was written about Him in sacred Scriptures
And that the Church has taught us about Him for 2000 years
Refutes this view of Christ and Christmas.

Did anyone catch its purpose of what St. Paul calls
in the letter to the Romans
“the mystery kept secret for long ages”?

He says the mystery of Christmas is meant:
“to bring about the obedience of faith.”

It’s meant to change us by showing the world
“that God so loved the world..”

but it’s a message not meant for the world but for me and for you,

“God so loved [ME] that in the fullness of time
He sent His only begotten Son,
that [I] may not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

If we truly believe that He loves you and me that much,
That he was willing to give us His Son
Then this fact must bring about change in the way we live.

Every day we Catholics must live this reality,
Humbling our hearts in the obedience of Faith
Because He will come every tomorrow of our lives
To walk with us if only we allow him in.

Will the Child Jesus, who is Wisdom, the Lord, The Root of Our Humanity, the Key to our Desires, the Orientation of our Hopes, the King of all the World, God with us,

find a place in your home and heart this year?

Do Over

A Homily for the First Sunday of Advent
Given at St. Patrick's Church in Wareham
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL

Do you remember the carefree days of your childhood.

I was reminded of today one of the things that I love about childhood:
the “do over.”

Back then when you were playing a game or taking a test
And the outcome wasn’t what you were expecting
or what you desired all you had to do is say: “do over”
and strangely enough your parents, friends, family and teachers
were ok with that.

I suppose it was a function of their love for you,
and of your childlike humility in being able to admit frankly
that you screwed up and needed another chance!

Today, we get a “do over,”
in fact all of life is a do over,
in which our God challenges us to love
and over and over again gives us the opportunity to succeed.

Though we may fail so many times,
God loves us enough to let us fail,
and for forgive us our failures,
and to give us a “do over”
so that we can become the children he made us to be!

Maybe you have sin against God:
your parents, your best friend, or your spouse.

But that was then and this is now,
now is a gift, because each moment is an opportunity:
to seek out the Lord
to find forgiveness
to change your life and modify your behaviors
and to love, where in the past you failed to love.

Advent is the season of “do over” for the world.
We screwed up…and if you watch TV
you will notice that we continue to screw up.

And don’t get me wrong,
people will continue to screw up until the end of time!

But what’s really important is the realization that
“I have screwed up.”

We can’t control other people, we can’t control the world,
But so long as we ourselves are not perfect
We ought not cast stones at others
Because we have a share in the world’s brokenness.

Advent is a “do over” for the world,
Or rather it is a reminder
that God offers each of us a personal “do over,”
not just now but every moment of every day He gave us.

Will we take this opportunity, with hearts like those of children
and accept our responsibility in the screwed upness of the world
by asking God for a “do over?”

This Advent as we await the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord
why not give the world, and our family, and our friends
the gift of mercy, by first accepting it in your heart.

God wants to give us a “do over,”
so that we can give others this gift of mercy.
And make this dream a reality,

Why not make advent what it was meant to be
A time of preparation for a new beginning,
in which we prepare for Christ’s coming into the world,
not just 2000 years ago, but right now in our lives.

Imagine a perfect world, without war, or injustice, or hatred
This is the World Christ desires to create.

let Christ, who desires to come into our life
and make all things new
Find welcome in your hearts and homes this Christmas.

All of us need to be renewed through confess,
a renewed prayer life,
and through the Mass.

Because it’s only in preparing our hearts to welcome Him
That He can truly be born IN us.
And that the world can truly be renewed.

Let’s make the prayer of the Psalmist our own this Advent:
Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

What's in the Words?

A Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Given at St. Patrick's Parish

By Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL

What's in a word?

In the bulleting today the insert
about the upcoming translation of the Mass
talks about new words that may be unfamiliar to you
that will appear in the Mass this Advent

Words like Chalice, which will replace "cup,"
or Consubstantial, which "will replace one in being"

What is a Chalice? A cup!

What does it mean to be Consubstantial?
It means you are one in being!

So why not continue to use these much more common and understandable words?

All throughout the world in every religion
one of the commonalities about religion is that
people pray with a unique dialect
or even a completely different sacral language.

In Judaism its ancient Hebrew,
a language that has long been dead
and yet today can still be heard in synagogues
throughout the world.
In Islam the language is Arabic.

In Christianity there are a number of different languages
depending on which branch of the Church you are talking about

Arameic, Greek, Syro-Malbar, Coptic, Ge'ez, Old Church Slavonic are just a few of the ancient tongues that are primarily used today for prayer alone.

In our own Latin rite of the Catholic Church
Latin is our Sacral Language

Latin unites us to the Church of Rome,
which evangelized most of Western Europe,
and gives us a common language to use when praying with
Hispanic Catholics, and Asian Catholics, and German Catholics.

In just a few hours I will be leaving for Spain
on pilgrimage to World Youth Day
where although I do not speak Spanish
I will be able to join with Pope Benedict
in Prayer at Mass in Latin.

However, even in our own venacular language, English,
there is a tradition of Sacral Language
that is a dialect or sub-set of English in general.

The purpose of these sacral dialects and languages
is to make the words hard to understand.

You heard me right--
WE WANT PRAYER TO BE HARD
TO UNDERSTAND!

WHY, you ask?

BECAUSE we are talking to GOD
we are talking to a being completely different from ourselves
or anything we have experienced in creation.

We are ultimately talking to someone who is unknowable
and yet peeking from behind the curtain of creation
desires to make Himself known.

And so it is important that our language
gives us pause, and causes us to ponder
about exactly what the relation is between us
the creator and Him the creator.

Why not use cup, instead of Chalice?
Because a cup is something we drink Mountain Dew out of
while a chalice, reminds us of something elegant,
ornate and beautiful.

It makes us think about the fact that what we are receiving
is not the Wine that is brought up in the cup
but the Blood of our savior poured into the Chalice
from His pierced side as He hung upon the cross for us.

Why consubstantial, instead of one in being?
Because we know what one means;
we know what in means;
and we sort of know what being means,

but we have no REAL idea what it means for the Son to be God and the Father to be God and yet for there to be only one God.

Consubstantial reminds us of the great mystery of the Trinity
three persons in one being, three who's in one what,
a mystery that speaks so much about God's nature
and our vocation to love,
but which we often fail to ponder
each time we hastily cross ourselves
or gallop through that phrase in the Creed.

In the Gospel Jesus always uses language VERY carefully,
in order to emphasize His point
and make us think, so that we might interiorize the Gospel.


In today's Gospel He calls a woman a dog, emphazing the division between the Jews and the Canannites
before praise her Great faith.

He does so to make the Jews, AND I MIGHT ADD
US, God's chosen people
really think about the strenght of our own faith.

If a dog, unworthy of a seat at the table,
in the estimation of the chosen people any way,
can have such great faith, how much greater should me faith be
as the son or daughter of God that I am?

Language has great power if we stop and think about it
and DARE I SAY PRAY ABOUT IT!!!!

Dear Lord grant us the graces we need to enter deeper into the prayers of the Mass through the difficulties we find with the new translation. Amen.

Where do we find God?

Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Offered at St. Patrick's in Wareham

By the Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL

Continuing our meditation on the new translation of the Liturgy
Today we are challenged to ask the question:

Where do we find God?

In the book of Kings Elijah is told by the Lord to go out
To encounter God on the Mountain.

So Elijah goes out to the high place
to encounter the power of nature in wind, and earthquakes, and fire
and yet God was not present in any of these mighty signs.

It’s only in the quiet whispering of the wind did Elijah find God.

The Scriptures we hear today are so important because they speak to us
About the different places we find God.

In the Gospel of Matthew the Apostles are in a boat
in the midst of a storm on the Sea of Galilee.

And in this moment of Crisis,
Jesus appears, walking on the water,

He invites Peter to walk with Him on the Sea
And when He enters the boat He calms the sea.

These two paradigms of encountering God are really important
Because they point out the fact that
while God CAN appear in dramatic ways
most often He does not!


In Scripture we read about God appearing in many and in varied ways
In a booming voice or a burning bushes
In a column of fire, as a giant hand and in the power
that manifests God’s presence in the Arc of the Covenant

These stories of God manifesting Himself at critical times
in very explicit ways can lead us to have
an almost cartoonish understanding of how God reveals himself to us
on an everyday basis.

This can be such a problem for novices in the Faith,
Who come to Mass and hear in the Scriptures
these marvelous theophanies, and then wonder
why they don’t experience God
as a booming voice or a burning bush.

This is why it is so important
to realize that while God can reveal Himself to us in showy ways,
He does this in Scriptures only a handful of the times, at crucial points, during the 7000+ years of History recorded in scriptures,

He usually doesn’t, and when He does, He reveals Himself dramatically
Not to tell us about Himself, but to save us from some danger
That might destroy us.

In the book of King’s Elijah encounters all the wonders of nature
that many of us expect to experience God in,

And of course we do encounter God in nature.
Thunder, lightning, earthquakes, fire, tornadoes, storms, and hail all point to the Power of God who created these things,

As does the beauty and goodness of nature,
but God is not nature.

Just like a painting may tell us about the author but is not the author
Nature can tell us about its creator,
and granted God is present everywhere in creation,
but He is not nature.

What the passage from the book of Kings is reminding us is that
It’s important not to imagine God as Zeus
making Himself know by lightning bolts
or as Oden announcing His presence
with the thunderous blows of His hammer.

Rather, USUALLY God reveals Himself in the whispering of the wind
In the silent depths of our heart—through honest prayer.

The reason why God does not usually reveal Himself
In flashy ways is that no matter how flashy He gets
Any show of Power ultimately falls short of truly revealing God
AND God wants us to TRULY know Him!
and be in relationship with Him!

God is the creator of everything that was created,
Think of the power of the atom bomb and then multiply that power
Times infinity—and still you get nowhere near to
the awesome power of the Big Bang.

If we truly believe that God is the cause of existence
Then the awesome power which created all things that are
is by definition less than the power of God.

In theology this realization is called the via negative,
the negative way of approaching God.

Which is simply the realization that
God may be the creator of all things,
and He may reveal Himself through the things He creates,
BUT…
God is always more different than similar
to anything we experience in creation.

Think about the paradigmatic fairy tale about a prince
Who casts aside His royal robes and dresses like a commoner
To win the true love of His beloved.

All the glory of creation are just decorations,
What young people may call “bling:
that point to the True glory of Who God is.

God reveals himself to us intimately, as the Song of Songs suggests
Like a lover whispering in His lovers ear,
Because that intimacy is more authentic and profound
Than all the flashy gifts you could imagine:
roses, gold, diamonds, boats, cars, houses, you name it…

So, how does this relate to the Mass
and the changes in the translation of the Mass
we will be receiving in December?

Well the Mass, and the Sacred Scriptures
that we hear proclaimed at the Mass,
are the most exalted and intimate prayer.

Its Jesus’ prayer, which becomes ours IF we enter into it.

God may not appear to us in the WEAK signs of
a burning bush or thunder or lightning at the Mass,

Rather He reveals Himself in very REAL and POWERFUL,
though not flashy, ways:
Through the people, the body of Christ the Church,
Through Sacred Scripture and the Traditional Prayers of the Church
Through His ordained priests
And most especially through the Most Blessed Sacrament.

When we come to Mass, we are SUPPOSED to be quiet—

I often tell people about my experience of a Ge’ez Catholic Community
In Washington, DC—this community which doesn’t use the Latin Rite like us but the Ge’ez rite a 3rd century Ethiopian for of the Mass.

One of the remarkable things about this community
Is that after praying their version of the Mass,
which lasts about three hours,
they spent the remainder of the day in feasting and fellowship,

Fellowship, enjoying the gift of other people is really KEY
to living the Sabbath obligation, BUT

as the greatest commandment reminds us before loving our neighbor
we must FIRST love God with our whole heart, mind, and soul.

I love the fact that people want to share fellowship
here at Church on Sundays,

but we are falling short of the Greatest commandment
and our Sunday obligation,
if we don’t make some space to listen to the quiet whispering of God.

AND we are failing in our duty to love our neighbor
if after taking our quiet time for prayer
we interrupt their quiet time for prayer.

Coming to Mass we must pray ACTUALLY
This doesn’t just mean saying the words or doing the actions

It means really being quiet and reflective enough to see
in the persons, actions, and words of the Mass
GOD speaking not to us in general but ME in particular.

The new Translation of the Mass will give us
two new opportunities to meet God here at Mass:

First by translating the original prayers more faithfully
We will receive a portion of the Tradition, of Jesus’ self revelation
That to date has been hidden from us.

For the past 40 years it’s like we have been reading Shakespeare,
in cliff notes, dumb down.

And now for the first time in a long time, we will get to hear Shakespeare
As Shakespeare wrote it, and though the language may be more difficult

If we actually pray the prayers,
thinking about them and what God is telling us through them
we will get so much more out of them.

And secondly, because these prayers are different, new,
and sometimes difficult,
the new translation really challenges us
to enter into that deeper relationship.

The Day of the Lord

Homily for the 18th Sunday of Ordinary time

Given at St. Patrick's in Wareham

By the Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL

Have you ever taken your kids, or grandkids for ice cream
And being good, not gotten an ice cream yourself?

What happened when you asked your kids for a taste?
Well if your kids are anything like my nephews and nieces
it was like pulling teeth, to get some ice cream.

Despite the fact that most likely some ice cream will be wasted
And some will melt and drip to the ground,
Despite the fact that you paid for it.
Kids can be very attached to their ice cream,

But you know, it’s not just kids, all of us can be the same.
All of us have been given ice cream in the form of our life
Our talents, our treasures, our experiences, families, and friends.

And yet when God asks us to give just a little back
How often to we selfishly guard our ice cream, our life,
From the God who gave it to us in the first place.

And the thing about giving God back a little
of what He gave us in the first place is that
whatever we give to God He multiplies and blesses and gives back to us.

In today’s bulletin you will find an insert about the Day of the Lord
It’s the first in a series of inserts that will be in the bulletin
To help us prepare to pray Mass just a little bit differently,
And perhaps more profoundly, next December.

But before we rush to changes in words,
It is important to think about what the Mass and the Sabbath is!!!

The third commandment of God’s law teaches us to:
keep holy the Sabbath

As Catholics we know that going to the Holy Mass
is a key part of keeping Holy the Sabbath.
What Jesus teaches us to do when he makes that perfect prayer to God
The Father from the Cross is what the Sabbath is all about!

God asks us this, as Jesus taught us,
“not because man was made for the Sabbath
but because the Sabbath was made for man.”

Just like the boy in the gospel today offered Jesus fish and loaves
We are asked to give God, 1 day out of 7 and 1 hour out of 168.

How small and insignificant a gift
considering how much God gives us

BUT God does not ask us to keep Holy the Sabbath
because we were made to give God praise,
He asks us to keep it holy because by doing so,
By giving our simply gift to God
God desire to multiply it and give it back to us ten fold.

Like the boys gift of fish and bread,
which seemed so little in comparison to the hunger of the crowd

Our little sacrifice and gift of a day, and particularly this hour each week
Though, when we really think about, it seem so meagar
Is all that the Lord needs to satisfy not human hunger,
But even more important,
the human desire for right relationship with our creator and God.
Pope Benedict writes of the creation of the world,
That for five days God prepared the world,
Making a space, a home, for us.

And on the sixth day He created us,
He created humanity, the pinnacle of creation
So that on the seventh day we could enjoy the world God created
And through that enjoyment know the love of our God
And return that love in thanksgiving.

Thus Pope Benedict writes that man was made for the 7th day
Man was made to rest and enjoy God’s goodness
and thank Him for that Goodness.

When we lost that, because of disobedience
Because we imagined that we could figure out
what makes the human heart happy, without asking its creator,

we were cast out of paradise, into a world where we had to work
to seek a happy life, that God desired to give us as a gift.

God told us in the beginning that what will satisfy our heart
Is enjoying creation and giving Him thanks,

And yet we decided to look for happiness in all the wrong places
In our work, in our pastimes, in our hobbies, in drugs and alcohol and sex and wealth, and in so many other dead end pursuits.

The third commandment was made to remind man
where true happiness lies,
and what we have to look forward to, and hope for,
for all eternity in Heaven.
So how do we live the day of the Lord?
Like the crowds in the Gospel today
we start by placing ourselves in God’s presence,
which really means simply realizing that He is with us always!

We need to stop and smell the roses.

We start by stopping all the busyness
And pushing anything that could come between us and God
out of our life for just one day, including:
not just work but also chores,
cooking, cleaning, mowing the lawn, and shopping,
and this includes sports and activities that get in the way.

Doing this we are able to listen to Jesus teach us
about the goodness of life
and enter into conversation with God.

We enter into this conversation, this prayer, most intensly
when we come together with Christ in His Church
to offer our prayer of thanksgiving for all that we have received
together with the our whole Catholic family,
with Christ leading us in prayer from the Cross.

At Mass Jesus teaches us that life is so good that
We should love God enough to give Him everything
EVEN our sufferings and sorrows and our death.

Jesus takes our simply weak gifts and uniting them with our prayers
He turns ordinary bread and life, which is a symbol of our very small gift
Into His total self, body blood soul and divinity.

Jesus gives all of Himself to the Father
so that we might learn to do the same.

And He transforms our simple gifts
Into a food that will satisfy the multitudes His Body and Blood.

It’s important to remember however
that Jesus doesn’t just ask for one hour from us!

He wants the WHOLE SABBATH, the whole Sunday,
So that the gifts we receive and give at Mass,
can be celebrated and enjoyed with our whole family during this day.

Maybe for some, who have gotten into the habit of working on Sunday
Giving up a whole day seems too hard,
Its especially difficult for those whose jobs
require them to work on Sunday,

but I once hear a story of a man who with his wife
decided to take a huge risk and really live Sunday,
refusing to work or travel or shop or be a temptation for others to work
on the day of the Lord.

He was really afraid that he would loose his job because of it.
What happened was a every day miracle.
Athough he struggled with his choice to truly live the Sabbath,
So many opportunities opened up for him, and his business truly thrived.

When we trust the Lord with our fish and loaves,
It might seem like we will lose our lunch and go hungry
But God always repays us a hundred fold for all that He gives us.

Ecce Agnus Dei

Ecce Agnus Dei, originally uploaded by fr.ron_floyd.

The Mass, the way its meant to be.

Be careful what you ask for

Homily for the 17th Sunday throughout the Year
Given at St. Patrick's Church
By Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd

Be careful what you ask for,
I once heard a true story of a lawyer who didn’t believe in God,
(It’s amazing how often those who do not believe in God
Talk about him, isn’t it?)

Anyway the lawyer and two buddies were fishing
on Caddo Lake in Texas when a lightning storm hit.

Most of the other boats immediately headed for the shore,
but not our friend the lawyer.

Alone on the rear of his aluminum bass boat with his buddies, he stood up and mocked God.

Spreading his arms wide, he shouted:
"HERE I AM LORD, LET ME HAVE IT!"

Needless to say, God delivered.

Striking the man dead while leaving the other two passengers on the boat with only minor burns.

In today’s first reading from the book of Kings,
God offers Solomon a wish.
Saying, “ask for anything and I will give it to you.”

What an offer! I mean Solomon has hit the Jackpot
Who here wouldn’t want God to offer us anything we want?

And yet Solomon’s answer however should give us pause,
And should cause us to consider
what exactly it is that we ask God for on a daily basis.

we all know the Greek myth of King Midas,
Who loved gold so much that he was afflicted with
The ability to turn everything he touched into Gold,
Even and most tragically those he loved.

Each of us, at some point in our life
have asked God for something:

[Some of you may know that in a former life
I worked for the US Government
What wou may not know is that
I worked for the Senate Committee on the Budget

I knew it was time for me to leave that job, and that career,
When our economist told me with a straight face
We can never have too much debt.

A lot of people treat the government like God, or Santa Clause,
Expecting that the government will provide for them
everything they need and want—
but the fact of the matter is
as our government is finding out today,
its not necessarily a good idea
to give everyone everything they want

I remember the comedy movie Mr. Deeds
where the main character inherit a whole bunch of money
and bought everyone in his small town a red sports car
at first thought you might think that sounds great,
on second thought however the results were traffic
and a really strange looking town.
today the wisdom of Solomon challenges us to
Think about what we ask for from God’s perspective.

How many of us, offered Solomon’s wish
would ask God to prove Himself?
How many would ask for something petty? Money, a Car, toys?
How many would ask for something that God is not willing
to do because he is not willing to take away human freedom?

God always answers our prayers,
but sometimes his answer is no
because God knows what we need to become the persons
He made us to be.

The question is will we ask God, like Solomon
For nothing more than the Grace, wisdom, and courage
To fulfill our life’s vocation or will we

Or will we seek things that will never give us
true happiness, joy, and peace?

Remember at the end of our life
God will ask us a few things too.

On that judgment day...

1. God won't ask what kind of car you drove;
He'll ask how many people you helped and loved
by driving those who didn't have transportation.

2. God won't ask the square footage of your house,
He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

3. God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet,
He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.

4. God won't ask what your highest salary was;
He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it, and performed your job to the best of your ability.

5. God won't ask how many friends you had;
He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

6. God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived,
He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.

7. AND He won't ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation;
He'll just ask you how you loved Him after receiving it.


In the Bible it says ask and you shall receive seek and you shall find

The Lord wants to give us all that is good
and lead us into the fullness of happiness, but
we must seek to know His plan and understand
that so often He has much greater things planned for us
than we have for ourselves

Ask the Lord today for the Courage to improve the things
you can improve in this world,
the serentity to accept the things you can’t,
and the wisdom to know the difference.