The real “Revolution” began 2000 years ago…The rest of it is nothing but “talk” and dust….Our impact rests in Christ and that impact will bear fruit that will last

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel according to John how St Peter reconciles with Jesus after denying him and Jesus tells Peter something prophetic….”Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go…….And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me”….As we all know St Peter too was murdered for his faith in the one true God…..The purpose of Jesus telling Peter this was to not only teach him but to teach us…To follow God is an act of the will…..How we “feel” about certain choices has little to do with what we choose when it comes to following Christ….Even Jesus struggled with following the will of God before he was crucified…“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will”……In order for us to persevere…To continue to follow Christ and adhere to Church teaching, we must pray, fast and rely on the Sacraments….Our “feelings” can and will betray us…Remember again what Jesus said before his death………….”Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers”……To follow Jesus Christ goes against just about everything our world today tells us to be true….If we want to continue on the “narrow road” we must realize that there will be many hardships, many trials and the devil will present countless reasons why we should “turn back”…..This is why we must pray daily, fast weekly and live a Sacramental life…..Love is not a “feeling”…Its a daily choice…Choose well and be confident

“O LORD, be my helper. You changed my mourning into dancing; O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.”

In many if not in all of my reflections the importance of daily prayer, weekly fasting and living the Sacramental life is almost ALWAYS emphasized. Why?…Because I am fully aware of how weak the human condition is in not only me but in all people…..I am also fully aware that what Jesus and our Catholic faith asks of us to live out cannot be accomplished without the assistance of divine grace….However, if we utilize the “tools” given to us by Christ himself and the one Church he founded, not only will we execute on everything asked of us but we will bear countless fruit for the Kingdom of God…Why is that?…Because Jesus said so…..”Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father”…….When we read the lives of the saints, we see this played out time and time again…How God rises up simple people and through them great things happen, almost out of no where, things that could not be explained outside of God’s hand…..This is why we must strive to become a holy people…So many people today want to be “activists”….But ultimately whatever such a person is trying to advance, without the assistance of God’s grace and without working in union with God, all such secular activism will amount to nothing in time….Mere dust!…However, when we look at the saints, we clearly see that through their cooperation with God, not only did their efforts bear fruit, it lives on well beyond the life of the saint who began what was asked of them by the Holy Spirit….All the evidence is there to validate what I just wrote…Just read the lives of the saints…They were and are real people like you and me…They utilized the “tools” given to them by the Church and God used them to accomplish his will….This is what real “activism” looks like….Jesus Christ was the greatest revolutionary the world has ever seen….And if we radically follow Christ today, Catholics will bear fruit that will last…However, like St Peter was told today by Jesus in the Gospel….”When you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go”…Our will must bend until it breaks!….When we pray the Our Father, think about the words we say with our own mouth…”Thy will be done”…Not my will…”Thy will”

"Children, have you caught anything to eat?”…They answered him, ""No.””…So he said to them, ""Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.""

Jesus today is telling us something we should pay attention to….Following God’s will and being a practicing Catholic is not for the faint of heart….The world, the flesh and the devil will throw everything they got at you!…This is why daily prayer, weekly fasting and the Sacraments are vital in the life of any person who takes following Jesus seriously…The greatest impact a person can make upon this earth is to do the will of God and strive to become a saint…The closer we unite our life to God, the more God will use us and the greater the impact will be!…The French Catholic novelist Leon Bloy put it best….."The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint”….The real “Revolution” began 2000 years ago…The rest of it is nothing but “talk” and dust….Our impact rests in Christ and that impact will bear fruit that will last