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Wednesday, August 19, 1998

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St. John Eudes


Ezekiel 34:1-11
Psalm 23
Matthew 20:1-16

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"for love or money"

"Take your pay and go home. I intend to give this man who was hired last the same pay as you." —Matthew 20:14

If you work many years for the Lord, you may be paid the same as those who hardly do "a lick of work" for Him. In fact, you may be paid less on earth than those who have done nothing. You may think you have "toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent" your strength (Is 49:4). You may even have the attitude of the older brother of the prodigal son. He complained to his father: "For years now I have slaved for you. I never disobeyed one of your orders, yet you never gave me so much as a kid goat to celebrate with my friends" (Lk 15:29).

Why work for the Lord if you don't get paid or if you get paid only as much as those who haven't worked? Love is the reason we work for the Lord. Love is the reason the Lord lived, worked, and died for us. God is Love (1 Jn 4:16). Although we may indeed be paid on earth for serving the Lord and although we will receive our reward in heaven, the Lord does not want us to work primarily for pay but for love. Therefore, He often delays paying us or makes us feel like we're not getting much out of serving Him. This helps us repent of impure motives, and by obedience to the truth we are purified for a genuine love (1 Pt 1:22).

Prayer:  Father, impel me by Your love (2 Cor 5:14).

Promise:  "I Myself will look after and tend My sheep." —Ez 34:11

Praise:  St. John has been called by the popes an "author, father, doctor, apostle, promoter, and propagator of the liturgical devotion to the hearts of Jesus and Mary."

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert J. Buschmiller, February 17, 1998


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, March 25, 1998