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b'(Prv.31:10-13,19-20,30-31;\\xa0\\xa0 Ps.128:1-5;\\xa0\\xa0 1Thes.5:1-6;\\xa0\\xa0 Mt.25:14-30) \\u201cWhen one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls.\\u201d And so the Lord is pleased to bless His \\u201cgood and faithful servant[s]\\u201d; for His Church is as His Bride and Her faithful members He invites to share His joy.\\xa0 With more than the talents of \\u201ca man going on a journey\\u201d are we entrusted by the Lord.\\xa0 To us He is more like the husband \\u201centrusting his heart\\u201d to his wife.\\xa0 All He gives over to us, even His very life, His absolute love \\u2013 His blood itself He pours out for us.\\xa0 And are we as the good wife who \\u201cworks with loving hands,\\u201d who \\u201cputs her hands to the distaff and [whose] fingers ply the spindle\\u201d?\\xa0 Do we work diligently with all the gifts the Lord imparts to us and thus increase their yield?\\xa0 Are we as she who \\u201cbrings [her husband] good, and not evil, all the days of her life,\\u201d delivering unto the Lord the honor due His Name?\\xa0 If so, then as the worthy wife receives \\u201ca reward for her labors\\u201d and as \\u201cher works praise her at the city gates,\\u201d so shall the Lord richly bless our labors, and the angels at the gates of heaven welcome us with song. Brothers and sisters, \\u201cYou are children of the light and children of the day.\\xa0 We are not of the night or of darkness.\\xa0 Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober,\\u201d doing the Lord\\u2019s will in all things.\\xa0 Let us not be as the \\u201cuseless servant\\u201d who \\u201cdug a hole in the ground and buried his master\\u2019s money.\\u201d\\xa0 The graces the Lord gives us are not meant for such darkness, but indeed to be brought into the light of day that they might spread \\u201clike a fruitful vine\\u201d throughout the face of the earth.\\xa0 This is the call of His Church, and we must be faithful in the work with which we have been entrusted: His love must reach to the ends of the world. And each \\u201cshall eat the fruit of [his] handiwork\\u201d when the day of the Lord comes upon us.\\xa0 The soul which has courted darkness in its distrust and laziness shall find the spouse that awaits her; but \\u201cblessed shall [she] be, and favored,\\u201d \\u201cwho walk[s] in [the Lord\\u2019s] ways!\\u201d\\xa0 She shall indeed not fear the \\u201csudden disaster\\u201d that comes upon the wicked, but shall celebrate \\u201cthe prosperity of Jerusalem\\u201d in her Master\\u2019s house \\u201call the days of [her] life.\\u201d\\xa0 For in none does the Lord take greater delight than she who returns an increase of His invaluable love. Wriiten, chanted, and produced by James Kurt; read by Sylvia Kurt. Music: "We Have Bodies" from The Whole Whale, eighth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******** O LORD, let us do your work and your will; let us be fruitful in serving you until the Day of your Son\\u2019s return. YHWH, you give us gifts, skills and talents upon this earth \\u2013 even our bodies and minds are from you.\\xa0 But if we employ them not, it is as if we have them not at all\\u2026 and soon they are taken from us.\\xa0 We must offer all we have back to you, serving you well with all our lives, and we shall be blessed with your abundance. Into your kingdom let us come, O LORD!\\xa0 Let all we do lead to this grace.\\xa0 Make us fruitful in your Name, ever working with loving hands, and every blessing will be ours \\u2013 and we shall know the joy of your presence.\\xa0 Let our hearts be set on you alone. What have we, LORD, that you have not given?\\xa0 And what should we do but use well what is at our hands?\\xa0 If we wish to be wed to you in Heaven, then your heart we must hold within our own.\\xa0 It is your heart you would give us; let us live as your children in the light of this day. O LORD, may your Son not find us sleeping upon His return, but serving you faithfully, walking ever in your way.'