San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, Texas shared a message from Rev. Victor Valdez on the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

“God gives us the gift of His very self and asks us to invest it. Investing God’s greatest gift of Himself wisely, allows God’s kingdom to grow and flourish,” Rev. Valdez wrote.

We are given the prayer of great price and told to be faithful and produce fruit. It is his wish that our lives will be spent not only personally growing but also building others up and teaching them about the grace of his love. 

“They are intended to be shared and are at the heart of Jesus’ blueprint for happiness, the Beatitudes,” Rev. Valdez wrote. 

When we are careful to properly order our lives, we take it upon ourselves to invest in the good of those around us and those who are far away as well. But we must be careful to do our best for everyone and everything, not just those areas that most closely impact us. 

“Tending to God’s treasure requires a great deal of focus and persistent hard work. It demands that I see the bigger picture, God’s picture, in which self-sacrifice is a given as we labor for the establishment of God's kingdom, God’s vision,” Rev. Valdez wrote. “Fear and a lack of trust can loom large, however, we are afraid of letting go of what is ‘mine’ and apprehensive of jeopardizing what we have in order to venture into something bigger and more promising.”

When we embrace fear and do not trust God, we do not serve ourselves or him. 

We must instead trust in him, that he has the best at heart. Not necessarily the best for our goals, but the best for our sanctification and our love of others. 

“If persistent, alert and attentive, then life will gradually improve around us, there will be greater peace and we will experience joy,” Rev. Valdez wrote.