Today at Holy Mass we hear beginning in the first reading with St Paul and later in the Gospel how the Truth was imparted to the crowd and once the work was complete, St Paul moves on but before he travels to another location, he warns his friends….“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the Church of God that he acquired with his own Blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. So be vigilant” ….This message of keeping vigilant and guarding the deposit of faith is so important that Jesus in the Gospel today also had similar words for the people….“Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth”……Why are St Paul and Jesus giving us these warnings?…Because the Spirit is willing and our flesh is weak - In each of us!…Both Jesus and St Paul are well aware of how human beings “operate”…We “hear what our itchy ears want to hear”…..This is reality and it applies to ALL of us - Even the best of us!…So what is the remedy?….We must strive each and every day to stay “grafted to the vine”….How do we do that?….Daily prayer….Weekly Fasting (Fasting is not just for Lent)…Monthly Sacramental Confession….Sitting before the Blessed Sacrament…..Receive the Blessed Sacrament in the state of grace…Why do all those things?…Because the Spirit is willing and our flesh is weak!….If you are not fully aware of your own human weakness…If you overlook the fact that YOU can so easy fall…..Then you are “easy prey” for the devil - Yes - The devil is REAL…….St Peter also warns us…”Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”…….Temptation is very real….Its so easy to compromise - We see it everyday both in the Church and outside of it……If we are not “in the fight” each and everyday…We will lose - Point Blank!….This is why St Paul, St Peter and Jesus himself tells us today…Stay vigilant…Stay grafted to the vine!
“Your word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth”
Our world is not convinced of the reality that grace is REAL and that the Sacraments of the Catholic Church are the instruments that directly connect us to the very life of God…Our world is also not convinced that God can do more with our lives then we EVER can or could……How can I make such statements with confidence?…Because our Churches are not packed!….Because if the world understood how grace can impact the human life…The Churches across the world would be packed each and everyday…What if I told you that your local parish was giving out one hundred dollar bills every time a person walked into the door….How many people would go to Church?…The answer is EVERYONE….But what if I told you that by going to a Sacramental Confession regularly and receiving the Blessed Sacrament in the state of grace - Such a person is “getting” infinitely more then a mere one hundred dollar bill…Words - Only Words - I “get it”……This is why Catholics must boldly live our faith in the public square….The effect of Sacramental grace, daily prayer and fasting are tangibly witnessed in and through those who commit to such practices….This is the witness our world needs to see…..Catholics are not called to be “like everyone else”…………..But living in this manner is DIRECTLY correlated to the very practices that I noted above…Americans commit to so many different daily regiments…Going to the gym, reading, working side jobs, etc…All those things are good…But how about tending to the one thing that will last for all eternity - Your soul….Are we convinced that if we commit to a daily regiment of prayer, as well as utilizing the Sacraments as they were intended - How that can shape our life?…Sadly, the world is not convinced…..This is why Catholics who know what I am writing about now MUST double down!….Only saints change the world - Posting on social media does not cut it!….And if we want to make an impact, we MUST stay connect to the vine!……Jesus himself tells us……….”Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing”…..Our task is really simple - To get out of our own the way! - As a good nun once told me ……”Joe - Pray and do!”
“Behold, his voice resounds, the voice of power: “Confess the power of God!”
Today we hear at Mass both St Paul and Jesus warning us - To stay vigilant…..Catholics must be fully aware of our human weakness and strive to stay connect to the vine, which is Christ himself…..Everything we do is dependent upon this…..Are you convinced?….Most are not sadly…More reason why our world needs to “see” the witness of holy men and women in the public square…..Seeing is believing….We were not created to be “like everyone else”….But this begins with First Principals….And if we do not ground our life in these First Principals, such a witness will never happen….Stay vigilant…Stay grafted to the vine!…Be convinced that “your ideas” are not better then God’s - This is the key to a life which will shake the foundations of the world - For those who have ears - Let them hear
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