”No slave is greater than his master”

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of St John…In the text Jesus tells us something, we should all digest as Catholics…Its a sobering thought….….”'No slave is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me”….To follow Christ means we are in the world but not of it….The world was “not interested” in what Jesus said and taught - That is why they killed him…..Ultimately, we all make “a bet”…Jesus is God and everything he said is true…Or…He is not God and what he said is not true…If we believe He is God and what he taught is true - Then we have to accept that “the world” will reject us - Its part of the deal……We will even see this within the “walls of the Church”….The great Fr John Hardon SJ, who is on his way to become a saint famously said this…I always remember it….”Catholics must know the Truth…..Speak the Truth.....Live the Truth…..…And suffer for the Truth”…..And no one wants to suffer - That includes me! - But that is part of “the deal”…And if we intended to follow Christ until the end…We must accept that we will suffer….Because that is reality……”No slave is greater than his master”

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God”

Years ago, I taught RCIA at a local parish…For those who do not know…RCIA is the course where people who are interested in becoming Catholic must take to learn about the faith before they are baptized….When I taught that class, I taught it directly from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which for those who do not know is the book that documents everything the Catholic Church professes to believe….The text which I used was complied by Pope John Paul II in 1992 and as we know, this pope was declared a saint…..The lay people who were in-charge of the course fought me every step of the way as I taught from that book….Until finally after four years they asked me to resign from teaching the course…And I am sure the Pastor of that Parish knew about it, while he did not confront me directly……This was an eye opening experience for me…For one - I left that parish…Secondly, I realized that not everyone who professes to be Catholic believes what the Church teaches….And as far as the clergy goes….I can not speak for them and I will not - But they either “conveniently” don’t say certain things…….Or…….They themselves have constructed a watered down version of the Catholic faith to make it “palatable” for people in the pews…I will not or can not say why that is - Because I am not God and I cannot read hearts - However, I have eyes and ears - And this is reality in some segments of the Catholic Church sadly today…..Does this discourage me?…..NO…Just the opposite - It drives me relentlessly!…..The Truth must be spoken and more importantly LIVED OUT in the public square - However we must be sober about what it means to fully embrace the Truth as well as teach it........Jesus told us very clearly in the Gospel today……And as Fr John Hardon SJ reminds us as well…We must be willing to suffer for the Truth.

“Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven……Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you”

”No slave is greater than his master”