A warm welcome to my blog on this fifteenth Sunday after Trinity!
The Gospel
St. Matthew vi. 24.
NO man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life? And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
The concept of serving two masters and being anxious in your life go well together. Prior to becoming an ordained Priest in
the Anglican Catholic Church I was pursuing a career with an Australian Bank and I was a Middle Manager in Card Services and later in the area of Information technology. As a practising Catholic Christian one had to be constantly on guard to avoid having double standards, ie trying to confess Christ Crucified and trying to cope with all the cursing and dirty jokes going on around you.
Then there was also the sexual harrassement carried out openly by Senior Management with female staff. At one time I gathered up the courage to speak against the constant swearing of my Senior Manager, who was setting in front of me behind a screen. The General
Manager took note also my complaint of the sexual harrassement but warned me that if he was to take the issues raised further it could jeopardize my career and effect my appraisals. This offcourse caused me great anxiety as I had a growing family to support.
I prayed about this all , and evently the situation in my office changed for the better , not perfect , and I continued with my life.
Living our daily lives by encouragement and exemple, boy oh boy it is not easy, but we have to endure in order to be saved.It is like always being a witness for Christ. If people ask if we know Him , then the answer should be yes. Remember the Bible story where Saint Peter denied three times that he was associated with Jesus Christ? Saint Peter would also have been full of fear.
You might recognize yourself in the story I told you about my career and Christian Pilgrimage in the office. Are you ready to face another week serving your one and only Master Jesus Christ ?
Have a blessed week ,
Father Ed Bakker,
Priest & Missioner,
Anglican Catholic Church / Original Province ,
Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne,
Launceston on Tasmania,
Australia.
Ik spreek Nederlands
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