To speak the Truth is the greatest revolutionary act one can commit - Its time to make a commitment - “They will fight against you, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah…..Prophets are merely men who speak the Truth…By our Baptism, each Catholic is called to be a prophet both in word and deed…..”The word of the LORD came to me thus: Gird your loins; stand up and tell them all that I command you”……To speak the Truth is a revolutionary act…And we need more clear voices in our world to speak as well as do what Jeremiah asked of his people....…”To stand up”…….Interestingly enough, we are told by the prophet in order to do this we must “gird our loins”…What does that mean?…..I will put it in “New Jersey terms” - “Buckle up - Your in for a rough ride”…..The world does not want to hear it - It did not want to hear it at the time of Christ and to this day nothing has changed…..Jeremiah understood that and because he did, he tells us….”Be not crushed on their account, as though I would leave you crushed before them; For it is I this day who have made you a fortified city, A pillar of iron, a wall of brass, against the whole land: Against Judah's kings and princes, against its priests and people. They will fight against you, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD”…....So here is today's question….Do we believe that?….What are we afraid of?……In order to speak the Truth, first off, we must know it….That requires us to objectively read both history, as well as the teachings of the Catholic Church…..The Truth is like math - It does not change - We are the ones that must change…..Second - Once we know the Truth, in order to live it and speak it we need grace…..To be such a person who lives and speaks against the secular world will bring with it hardship….And only grace can sustains us….As Jeremiah told us today in the first reading from Mass……”For it is I this day who have made you a fortified city, A pillar of iron, a wall of brass, against the whole land”…....One man who possesses the Truth and is grounded in grace can stand up against the entire world…..The Truth is like a lion, all you have to do is let it go - It will defend itself…Our world today needs men, particularly Catholic men who boldly speak the Truth, without compromise…To speak the Truth in all its fullness…..So many today in our world have built their life upon the “shifting sands” of this secular age only to watch their lives and the lives of their loved ones crumble in time….How can the world thrive if men do not know how to live anymore?…….Are we willing to “pay the price” for living and speaking the Truth? - This is where the rubber meets the road - This is what it means to be Catholic…..This is what Jesus did…And this is what we are called to do as well…Don’t think for a moment somehow we are exempt……It all comes down to this question - Where is your Kingdom? - Here on earth or in heaven?…..God did not create us to be comfortable - He created us for himself…So - “Gird your loins; stand up and tell them all that I command you”

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven”

Life is all about choices…We make them everyday and its by our choices that we will be defined and remembered……When Christ went into the desert to fast, the devil confronted Jesus and tempted him three times…He offered Jesus the entire world - Think about that for a moment!!!…..How would you respond to such a request?…..I go to daily Mass in New York City everyday near my office building…There is a gentleman, whom I work with who over the years I became friends with and also goes to daily Mass…Michael is a Senior Director of Finance…He is divorced and has five kids…He told me the other day he is getting remarried and his second wife is not Catholic, so he has to “figure out” how to make this work…..First off - Are you in the state of grace to be receiving the Blessed Sacrament at this point - I am not judging him but let’s be real - Being divorced with five children and going to Mass and receiving the Eucharist with a girlfriend sounds pretty “fishy” - Right?….Back to my story…I told Michael I know a good priest in New York who is a moral theologian, who studied in Rome - Trying to “give him the hint”…When I mentioned this priests name, Michael said he knew him and “can’t stand that guy” - “He is too rigid”…Let me stop right there - This is not what we are told today at Mass, which commemorates the Passion of John the Baptist who died for speaking the Truth - Telling King Herod he can’t marry his brother’s wife…..Clearly, my friend Michael is living a delusion - Is he listening to what is read at Mass each day?…..Why bring this story up?… Michael like many in America is “culturally” Catholic, his life does not comport with the teachings of Christ nor does it comport with the teachings of the Church….Now I can hear it from the many who are reading this reflection right now - You are judging him - No I am not…I am stating the obvious……When we live in this manner, not only are we fooling ourself but we are not benefiting from the grace of the Sacrament which we are unworthily receiving…..Cultural Catholicism needs to end!……There was nothing “cultural” about the life of John the Baptist…We do not determine Truth - We must embrace it as it is….To think we are following Christ on “our terms” is a delusion….And such a path leads to destruction…..Are we willing to pay the price as Catholics in the world today?……To think we can “have our cake and eat it too” is a delusion - Straight up!…….I am not picking on Michael, I am still his friend and will continue to be his friend…Yesterday after Mass I was on the line for Confession in the back of the Church…Michael and I usually walk back to our office building together and this practice will most certainly continue…But yesterday was an exception, as he was leaving the Church, he waved to me as I was waiting on the line to confess my sins………Cultural Catholicism needs to end!….And the only way it will end is with these words - “Bless me Father for I have sinned”

“For you are my hope, O LORD; my trust, O God, from my youth. On you I depend from birth; from my mother's womb you are my strength”

Today the Universal Church commemorates the death of John the Baptist…John was a “voice crying out in the wilderness”…..Our world today needs such voices….However, to be such a person requires grace….To think we can do this on our own is a self delusion…..God in his goodness gives us what we need…He gives this to us when we avail ourselves to His grace….Through daily prayer, fasting and the Sacraments …..Our Church today needs prophetic voices - What stops that from happening?…….Once again, the words of the Prophet Jeremiah echo through the ages….”Gird your loins; stand up and tell them all that I command you”…..To speak the Truth is the greatest revolutionary act one can commit - Its time to make a commitment - “They will fight against you, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD”…….JMJ