The most effective sermons are not delivered from pulpits…You want to impact a life?……Clean the gutters for an elderly couple in your neighborhood….People do not care how much you know until they know ho much you care

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of John how Jesus tells us all something fundamental to living out our Catholic faith….”This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends”……One can speak eloquently, write powerful words, recite lyrical words of wisdom - But none of it - Not one word of it can replace the witness of sacrificial love lived out for another….This is the language of Christ…This must be our language!…The hardness of hearts can not ignore such a witness….This is the measure of what real love is…This is the love a mother and father give to their children….Our children may not always listen to our words, but trust me, they see what we do for them….So it must be for all Catholics today…Our world is not interested in words…Words are empty and mean nothing…If we want the world to “see” and “hear” the message of the Gospel, we must live sacrificially…..Such a life SCREAMS of Christ…This is why the death of Jesus shook the foundations of the world….An innocent man spoke the Truth and willing gave his life for the worst of the worst…..In order to live in this manner, one CANNOT rely on ones own gifts…Scripture tells us this very clearly….”Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us”……Only a person who lives a Sacramental life can do what is literally humanly impossible…To give their life away in service to others - This begins in our family….This is our message to a wounded world….This is what it means to be Catholic

“I call you my friends, says the Lord, for I have made known to you all that the Father has told me”

Before I was married I actively volunteered with the Mother Teresa’s sisters for seven years…I served with them in India, Haiti, New York, Montreal & San Francisco….There have been so many times that I was literally stunned at what I saw….Literally stunned!….How these women gave of themselves to others in impossible situations and impossible places…Nothing to this day has impacted me more then that witness…Not my education, not anything I have read…Nothing!….There are many Christians that want to communicate the message of the Gospel in our world today….We see this on social media, in community churches, in books, in podcasts, etc….And all those things are good - Don’t get me wrong - However, if we are to really make an impact…We must live sacrificial lives for others…As the Gospel today tells us…”No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends”…And this CANNOT be done without Sacramental grace and daily prayer…..This is the mistake made by modern man today - We disregard the necessity of living a Sacramental life….Most of us are parents and if you have a family, you are fully aware of the demands placed upon you to give of your self to both your spouse and your children….This is why the Church in her wisdom made marriage one of the seven Sacraments….Families need to rely on Sacramental grace - WHY? - Because we are ALL imperfect - Jesus knew this - This is why marriage is a Sacrament and this is why Jesus gave us a Church….. Families must live Sacramentally once again…Our children may ignore what we say…But they CANNOT ignore what they SEE with their own two eyes - The deep sacrifices made for them by two loving parents…Such an example will leave a DEEP impact on our children…It will shape and mold them to become people for others when they are mature adults……..This is the ONLY way the world will change for the better…..Everything begins and ends in the family...And this “type of family” is grounded in Sacramental grace…We can not give what we do not have….Do we disregard the efficacy of Sacramental grace?….Mother Teresa was asked by the secular press - “What is your secret”…This was her answer…”I pray”…..In the final analysis - There is “no secret”

“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain”

Once again today St John in the Gospel at Mass gets right to the point….We are told that we must love others but we are also told how we are to do it…By giving of our self…..The example of an authentic selfless person can not be refuted by the secular world…No words need to be said because actions speak LOUD…And frankly for all those who are trying to communicate the message of the Gospel - Be it a bishop, a priest, a deacon or simply a person in the pews of our Churches…If our lives do not give witness to sacrificial love…No one will listen - “Nice” words don’t cut it…However, when a Catholic lives sacrificially, the world will stop in its tracks…The hardest of hearts will take note…This is the message of Jesus Christ….And this is where the “rubber meets the road”…If we are serious about following Christ…We too are called to live a sacrificial life…”This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends”…….The most effective sermons are not delivered from pulpits…You want to impact a life?……Clean the gutters of an elderly couple in your neighborhood….People do not care how much you know until they know ho much you care