Thursday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092211.cfm

This people says:
"The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD."
(Then this word of the LORD came through Haggai, the prophet:)
Is it time for you to dwell in your own paneled houses,
while this house lies in ruins?”

I often hear the complaint from unchurched Christians that priests and ministers only care about money.  They feel excluded because they don’t support their belief in God with real sacrifice. The faithful know better. Like everything else in life, religion requires sacrifice and a willingness to support the infrastructure to flourish.  

In today’s first reading the prophet Haggai urges the people to set to work rebuilding their temple. A “remnant” has returned from the Babylonian Exile to find their ancient city in ruins. With government support they have rebuilt their homes, roads, bridges and marketplaces but have neglected to build a house for God. Consequently, he tells them,

You have sown much, but have brought in little;
you have eaten, but have not been satisfied;
You have drunk, but have not been exhilarated;
have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed;
And whoever earned wages
earned them for a bag with holes in it.

The fact is we can’t afford not to build the infrastructures our faith requires. Children take for granted the sacrifices their parents make for them; they can imagine neither how much their parents love them nor how much they cost to feed, house, clothe, educate and protect – much less amuse.

Adults, on the other hand, take responsibility for the gifts they receive. They understand that nothing comes without sacrifice and the most important gifts they enjoy are the ones others hardly notice – roads, bridges, water-, gas- and sewage-lines.  Even clean air and water have their costs. Adults know that money is not for entertainment but to sustain life. Religious adults know they cannot afford not to sacrifice substantial amounts of money for their faith.