Be the Difference that Makes a Difference

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, September 17th, 2023
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Romans
14:7-9

Brothers and sisters: We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

I recently read a quote that struck me: “Through the grace of God, be the difference that makes a difference”. As I reflect on that thought in the context of this Scripture, I worry that I am not doing enough with what I've been given; at times I feel selfish and unworthy of the grace bestowed upon me as a chosen child of God. I wonder if I am living for myself or for the Lord.

My husband and I were recently talking about how busy our schedules seem to be these days. Between work, home life, and volunteer commitments, we were both feeling a bit overwhelmed. 

In human fashion, we decided to prioritise where we wanted to spend our time by thinking about what “feeds” us, what we need to do and be. We listed all our commitments, beginning with our own “domestic church.” Our kids and granddaughter live with us, which adds a level of busyness to life through sharing of driving, food preparation, house cleaning, childcare. From there, we moved on to work and volunteer commitments.  We started with the secular ones before considering those related to our parish and faith communities. The list was long and has the potential to grow longer. 

Then my husband said, “If we claim to live for God, shouldn’t we have started with our faith commitments, realising that everything we do should start there and be offered to Him willingly and without resentment?”

That brought me to a full stop.

I reflected on a recent situation I encountered at home. I had spent the day cleaning the house and making a meal for our little family, imagining a blissful domestic scene with the five of us gathered around the table in our clean home. The doors burst open as our adult children arrived home from a weekend away. Shoes, toys, suitcases were strewn about the clean house, and then a niece unexpectedly arrived just as we were about to eat. We invited her to join us amidst the chaos and mess, and our home filled with laughter as we ate together. After supper, I gave our granddaughter a gift bag filled with treats and little toys that a parishioner had sent home from church that day. She wanted to send a thank you video, so we sat to film it. 

As I listened to that video afterward, the resentment that had been building at the disruption of my plans for a quiet evening was replaced by the recognition of just how blessed I am. I took note of the background laughter… the reality that we always have more than enough food to include others for supper without notice… the gift from a community member… and the easy way our granddaughter broke into a contemporary song of praise that she has learned because her Poppy serves God through music. None of that would be possible if not built on the solid foundation of living for the Lord.

Let us pray: Lord, help me to always have living for You as my foundation. Let that build an interconnected tapestry of Your will that is pleasing to You, and help me become the difference that makes a difference. Amen.  




Sandy Graves

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