One simple test of whether or not you're living the radically different risen life is your attitude toward money. If you live the risen life, you aren't preoccupied with money. Like Barnabas and other disciples in the early Church, you'd gladly sell your "property or houses" for the Lord (Acts 4:34). It isn't a problem to tithe and give alms, for you're more concerned with the welfare of the needy than with possessions (Acts 4:34).
Risen life is completely different than life before the resurrection. The difference is even more striking than the contrast between the murky darkness of the womb and the dazzling brightness of sunlight (see Jn 3:3). Risen life is radically different from "non-risen" life. To a person not living the risen life, understanding risen life is like a child in the womb trying to understand the wind outside the womb (see Jn 3:8). They probably can't understand why someone would tithe, but they do hunger for the joy, newness, peace, and freedom they see in those who truly live the risen life.
You may feel like a lead weight instead of a soaring eagle, but risen life has nothing to do with your feelings. It has everything to do with the action of the Holy Spirit begetting you from above (Jn 3:6). Jesus is risen! He is "the Resurrection and the Life" (Jn 11:25). With Mary, say: "Lord, let it be done to me according to Your will" (see Lk 1:38). Be born to risen life.
| PRAYER: | Jesus, how can I settle for a half-life when You offer me life to the full? (Jn 10:10) I want everything You have for me. |
| PROMISE: | "The community of believers were of one heart and one mind." –Acts 4:32 |
| PRAISE: | Brother Michael gave up all his earthly possessions to live in a foreign land with the poorest of the poor. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College