Inaction

Whoop, Whoop, it's Friday! In the fitness world it's #flexfriday, so today, let's FLEX our spiritual muscles and dig into today's readings. Be sure to READ and/or LISTEN to God's Word!

In our Gospel, Jesus is comparing many of the cities He had preached in. He is condemning Chorazin and Bethsaida because they are suppose to be the ones that listen to God, yet the pagan cities actually listened and repented when Jesus told them to.

When it comes to our faith, it is not enough to listen and believe what we hear if we don't allow it to change and transform us. Inaction is as big a sin as not listening and believing what we hear.

Prior to the Mass as our Penitential Act we recite the Confiteor:

I confess to almighty God

and to you, my brothers and sisters, 

that I have greatly sinned,

in my thoughts and in my words,

in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,

(and striking our breast)

through my fault, through my fault, 

through my most grievous fault;

(then continue)

therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,

all the Angels and Saints, 

and you, my brothers and sisters,

to pray for me to the Lord our God.

What stands out to me here is that we are asking forgiveness for not just the acts we commit that are sinful, but the things we are failing to do as well. When we are not doing the will of God, when we are not doing the things he commands us, it is just as bad as doing wrongful acts. 

I was also struck the first time I recited this that we are not just being judged by our words, but our thoughts as well. 

In our Gospel, Jesus is warning that repentance is important. Seeing, hearing and believing is not enough if nothing is done with it! When we don't act on what Jesus tells us to do it is as though we reject Him. When we reject Him, we reject God! 

Have you actually repented. Are you not only acknowledging your sins but actually doing something about them? Are you allowing God to transform you from the inside out?

He Sees

I am home from an incredible week away and ready to get back into my routine. Fortunately I was able to be sure I was in the Word while I was away. Be sure you get in the readings for today by either READING and/or LISTENING to them!

In our Gospel today we see Nathaniel meeting Jesus in person for the first time. Jesus speaks to him and about him and Nathaniel is amazed and a little confused. "How do you know me?"

If I had just met someone for the first time and they spoke to me as though they knew me, I would want to know too! Granted, in this day of social media, people can appear to know each other and have a better idea about each other, but Jesus really knew Nathaniel, who he was and what he was about!

Jesus answers him "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."

This response might seem meaningless to you or I, but this was Jesus revealing himself to Nathaniel. When Jesus says this, Nathaniel's eyes are opened and he sees Jesus for who He is! In that instant He knows Jesus is the son of God.

It is so cool that Jesus reveals himself to us in different ways. How I come to know Him is different than how you might. Where and how I see Him is different to me than it is to others!

There is scriptural and historical significance of the fig tree and history tells us that it would have been a place that Nathaniel may have been praying and reflecting and it was seen as a place of God's peace and blessings.

Jesus asks Nathaniel "Do you believe because I saw you under the fig tree?" Then He tells Nathaniel that he will see far greater things that this!

Jesus sees you and I the way He saw Nathaniel. He sees straight into our hearts. He knows everything about us! Through Nathaniel's faith, Jesus gives him the promise that He will see and know God!

I find comfort in knowing that I can't hide from God. I love that no matter what I am doing, he continues to pursue me and want a relationship with me. He wants to literally give us life if we are willing to accept it!

Are you ready to follow

Good morning and happy Wednesday! Be sure to READ and/or LISTEN to the daily readings for today, especially if you feel like you need to get over that Wednesday hump!

As the disciples are traveling with Jesus on of them said "I will follow you wherever you go."

Sounds like such a simple declaration, right? Have you ever said somemthing like that before to someone? Maybe it was a spouse or a great leader or boss. Who wouldn't want to follow Jesus, right? Well, it's not so simple! We know that He is The Way, the Truth and the Life and the only way to God, but it is more complicated.

Jesus doesn't say "nope, you couldn't handle this life." He tells them "Foxes are dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."

Then Jesus, turns to another and says "follow me." The response he got is one that I think many of us would say. I bet what we say sounds a lot like this to his hears "I totally will, but first I have a bunch of other things to take care of. I swear though, you are the most important thing and person in my life, but first I have to go do....x, y, z."

In this Gospel, Jesus is teaching them a bit of the cost of being a disciple. If we want to truly follow Him we must do it with our whole mind, body and heart. We must move forward and not look back. He must take priority over everything else in our life. This is so much easier to say than do.

I pray that if Jesus showed up at my door and told me to follow Him that I would drop everything and go, however, I know I would want to "wrap things up" at home. I would want to say good bye to people and let people know where I am going. That is the earthly part of me wanting to do those things. We must be looking heavenward and looking to The Kingdom and not stopping for things of the world.

What relationships and "things" of this world are getting in the way of your relationship with Christ? What is stopping you from following Him?

Showing love shows real strength

There is nothing better than kicking off your day with the Word of God. If you don't do this first thing in the morning, it is still the most important part of your day, so be sure to READ and/or LISTEN to today's readings.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus and his "crew" are heading to Jerusalem. This passage opens indicating that Jesus earthly ministry is nearly done. During their travels they must go through a Samaratin village. This doens't sound like a big deal to us on the surface, but the Jews and Samaratins did not get along and those traveling through were not treated well.

We see James and John asking Jesus if He wants them to basically destroy the village cause they weren't being well and because these two groups didn't get along or like each other.

Do we sometimes find ourselves wishing bad things on those who don't like us? Do we sometimes want to cause harm to others who don't like us?

Jesus rebuked James and John and then they moved on. We need to follow this example, especially in our world today. We are fighting and arguing with those not like us, we are not looking at individuals and their heart and we are lumping people into large groups and disliking them because society tells us we should.

It's time that we stand up and be strong the way Jesus demonstrates. It's easy to want to fight and wage war against our enemy, but it is difficult to love! It is time we start showing more love to each other.

Who is the Greatest?

Good Morning! I hope you had an amazing weekend and are ready to get this day started right. Be sure to READ and/or LISTEN to the readings for today.

In our Gospel reading today, we see the disciples behaving like normal human beings. I think sometimes when we read scripture we want to place the disciples on a pedestal and elevate them to a different status that us because they walked with Jesus. Yes, they are special and we learn a lot from them, however, they are human to. They have the same human desires and have the same human sins we do.

Our Gospel starts with the disciples arguing about who is the greatest! For real, they are arguing about who is the best! As children, we have proabably all done this, especially if we had siblings, but how often have we found ourselves doing this as adults, or at least thinking it at some point?

As they are arguing, I imagine it hurt Jesus heart a little bit. He knew what was in their hearts and what their intentions were. To prove a point, Jesus brings a child over and uses the child as an example.

"Whoever receives this child in my name receive me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest."

Luke 9:48 (NABRE)

Why the heck would Jesus use a child as an example of being the greatest? I think some of this has to do with the pure heart and intentions of a child. Children are also totally dependent on their parents and must have total faith and trust in them. 

This is how we must be with God. We must humble ourselves and realize we are nothing apart from Him. We must see that we can do nothing on our own and everything we have, do and are come from Him. 

By bringing ourselves to a low position, we allow Jesus to elevate us to a higher one!

Our Gospel wraps up with John asking Jesus about someone else who is casting out demons in Jesus name. Jesus says "Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you."

I am not going to lie, I struggle a little with this answer, because we see false prophets all around us. When we look at these two passages together, we see something different. Jesus is looking at our hearts. Was John so concerned about false prophets, or was he concerened about someone else doing the work that they were doing? Did John think that only they were "cool" enough to do God's work? 

Regardless, we need to keep ourselves humble. We need to have childlike faith and we need to not stop people from doing God's work. 

"Who do you say I am?"

Happy Friday! In order to wind down your week the right way, be sure to READ and/or LISTEN to today's readings.

I absolutely LOVE when we read that Jesus was praying in solitude. It is such a strong reminder that we ALL need to spend time individually with God! It is a great reminder that we ALL need to be filled up with God before we can do or be anything to anyone else.

When he is done praying he asks the disciples "Who do the crowds say I am." Then, he follows up with the important question "But who do you say I am?"

Who do you say Jesus is? Even non Christians don't dispute that Jesus existed. Most religions recognize him as a great Prophet, or at least recognize that historically he was a man. Where we differ is that we believe He is the Son of God and that he defied death!

Who is Jesus to you in your life? Do you believe He is the Son of God? Do you believe that He trampled death and was sent to save us from our sin? If you believe these things in your heart, do you profess them with your mouth? If you believe these things, do you live like you do? Do you put your trust in Him? Do you lean on him for strength? Do you run to him for comfort and protection? Do you seek Him when you are hurting or anxious? Are you obedient to Him and listen to what He has to say to you?

Who do you believe he is? Who do you say he is? Do your actions match your thoughts and words about Jesus?

After Peter answers that Jesus is the "Christ of God," Jesus reveals what will have to happen to him. He tells them that He will suffer, be rejected, killed and be raised from the dead on the third day.

This must have been unbelievable. They are finally realizing that He is the Messiah, surely he wouldn't have to suffer, be rejected and killed! My guess is they never even hear the last part about being raised from the dead! I know my brain would have been confused and numb by that point.

Jesus knows full well they don't totally grasp this, but He must start preparing them for what is to come so they can share the Good New at the right time. I think He is also working to prepare them because they are His friends and He loves them. I know if something bad were going to happen to me, I would want to warn those I care about and start to prepare them for it!

As you go into the weekend, really think about who Jesus is to you. What does that mean in your life? Are you living out what you think and say about Him?

Finding meaning and satisfaction in life

Good Morning! I pray you are well and that you will take a few moments to READ and/or LISTEN to today's Mass readings and then check out my thoughts on them.

Before I hit up today's Gospel, I want to take a look back at the first reading. I am not gonna lie, I always avoided reading Ecclesiastes and it was because I couldn't stand that darn Byrd's song, Turn, Turn, Turn. For whatever reason it drove me nuts and at the same time kept me out of this incredible book of the bible....my BAD! This is not an uplifting optimistic view of the world, but we can learn a lot from this book!

Today's reading makes this life sound so hopeless! It starts us off talking about vanity and that all things are in vain! We work, but it doesn't matter because we are just going to eventually be replaced. The sun will come up and go down, but nothing changes. There is no such thing as something new, everything has happened and will just happen again. We are also being told we won't be satisfied with anything we hear or see.

Then, we turn to our Gospel and in it we learn of Herod the tetrarch's obsession with trying to find and see Jesus.

Why would these readings be put together? I think it is because Herod seems to be searching for something but he doesn't want to see and hear the truth. He is not satisfied because he is not truly seeking God, but is looking to please the people around him. He isn't searching for Jesus for the right reasons, he is almost start struck by the idea of finding and meeting him.

Herod liked John the Baptist, he respected John the Baptist even though John spoke against Herod and his relationship with his brother's wife. John didn't pull punches, he told Herod he was wrong and living in sin. This really made the wife mad but Herod was fearful of John because he knew he was righteous. He was perplexed by John because he was condemning Herod's behavior, yet Herod enjoyed listening to him speak, so Herod kept John in custody.

Ultimately Herod had John beheaded, but not because it is what he wished, but because of an oath he made in front of other's. Rather than looking bad or going back on his oath, he had John killed. He was much more concerned with pleasing the people around him than doing what was right or what he wanted to do.

Are you someone who seems to be searching for meaning in life and looking for something more in this world? If you are, take a good hard look at yourself and who it is you are truly trying to please. Are you living for this world and looking to please the people in it, or are you seeking God, His will and honoring him in everything you do?

When you start to focus on God, His will and pleasing Him, only then will you find meaning in this life! Only when you do these things will you find fulfillment and purpose and truly be living!