Sep132026
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The most selfish thing I ever did was giving my birthday present, a new bike, to my brother. You should have seen the look on his face. It was the greatest feeling. That day I made a new best friend.

I was at Mass, and I had a wad of money rolled up in my pocket. I earned it shoveling snow, mowing lawns, raking leaves, and doing other jobs. When it was time for the collection, I took out my wad of money and flipped through the tens and fives until I found a one-dollar bill. I pulled it out and put the rest back in my pocket. As I was waiting, I heard a voice from heaven speak, “You big cheapo. That’s it; one dollar. How often do you have that kind of money. This is a moment of great opportunity. Nothing says I love you more than cold, hard, cash. This is your opportunity to do something great. Take it.” When the usher arrived, I reached into my pocket and dropped the whole wad in the basket. The roll of money unraveled. Tens and twenties filled the basket. The usher took one look at all that money and pulled the basket away from me quickly as if I was going to change my mind. I remained in the church with the greatest feeling. It was as if I just made a new best friend.

Why do you think the King in the gospel cut the guy a break? Maybe to see the surprise on his face. He was not going to jail; his kids would not be sold into slavery. It must have been a great sight.

Ever since we discovered that you can’t take it with you, the inheritance was invented. It is the moment when we give all of our belongings to our family, friends, or the needy. The only thing missing is that we do not get that wonderful feeling. That is because we are dead.
Here is the faith lesson. When a moment of great opportunity arrives before us, take it.

We all know that God does not need money. He made the universe. Everything belongs to God. The “everything” rule means to give all we have from our hearts. 

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