PASTOR'S PEN
You can't take it with you
RORY DEANE

I want to share with you a few funny items that happened to me this summer. On July 10, I set out for a month in Ireland, my home country. The weather was brilliant; I did not have any rain, and when one is on vacation it makes for a good time.

One day I went to the horse races and did not have much luck until close to the end of the day. I saw a horse whose name I liked and, not knowing the first thing about its track record, I put $10 on it to win. Win it did, in fine style, and I was one of the very few who shouted it home. Name of the horse: Rory's Sister, and it won at 14/1 - what a joy! Btu I gave it all back as I put all my winnings on the American golf team, and we all know what happened to them.

I better get down to a bit on religion now.

I would like to share with you a few thoughts that I used at St. Joseph's a few days ago. St. James wrote, "God willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of first fruits of God's creatures," James 1: 17-18.

What are "first fruits?" They aren't simply the fastest ripening part of the crop, but also the choicest. If you give the first, best part of your harvest away, you have to trust in God that there will be more to come. The tithing of the first fruits was a sort of "trust walk" with Almighty that God would take care of you later in the season if you took care of the obligation to tithe up front.

How do we get to be first fruits in the life of faith? Immersed in scripture, sacraments, community, worship and grace, we have everything we need to be models of Christian living. We can sacrifice the momentary gains of this world trusting in God and the life of the world to come. If we surrender worldly wealth, power and advantage, we demonstrate our hope in a kingdom coming. We are willing to allow this moment in time to be tilled under so that eternity will reap the harvest of our tithe. When we cling to the goals of the present hour it only betrays that we are not yet quiet sure that eternity is out there.

I remember an old wealthy old man once saying of his wealth, "if I cannot take it with me, then I do not want to go to that place."

Monsignor Rory Deane is parish priest at St. Joseph Catholic Church.