His grace will be sufficient for you - Live and die by it

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Luke Jesus telling his people that a time will come when he will suffer….They did not seem to understand or maybe did not want to understand what he was talking about….The “world is not having it” - As we all know…..So the question(s) to ponder today is - Do we understand and are we willing to suffer too when times get tough?…..”Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men. But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them”….Jesus came to serve, he did not come to be served - How easy it is to “get lost” in this world and forget this very important aspect of our Catholic faith……Yesterday I read something from Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thun…He was imprisoned by the Vietnamese government for 13 years…Many of those years in solitary confinement…..What he wrote shook me deeply….It caused me to question if I too would be willing to suffer with the same amount of grace as he did?….Why did I ask myself this question?….Because again - The world is not having it!!!!….And while God will have the last word - The devil always takes his “pound of flesh”…Are we willing to suffer if called upon too?….This is what Jesus was telling his friends today in the Gospel and this is what he asks us to ponder as well…Back to Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thun…This is what he wrote from his prison cell….”Once I used to celebrate the Eucharist with a gold plated paten and chalice; now I hold your Blood in the palm of my hand. Once I used to travel the world over to attend conferences and meetings; now I am confined to a narrow cell without a window. Once I used to visit you in the tabernacle; now I carry you, night and day, in my shirt pocket. Once I used to celebrate Mass for thousands of faithful; now, in darkness of the night, I give Communion under a mosquito net. Once I used to preach the spiritual exercises to priests, religious, lay people; now a priest, who is also a prisoner, preaches the exercises of St Ignatius to me through a crack in the wall. Once I used to have solemn benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the cathedral; now I have Eucharistic adoration in silence every night at 9:00, softly singing the Tantum Ergo and the Salve Regina, and concluding with this short prayer: “Lord, now I am content to accept everything from your hands; all the sadness, the suffering, the anguish, even my death. Amen….I am happy in this cell”……Powerful words - They shook me - Would I be willing to suffer for the Lord and do it with such grace and not be bitter?….Jesus tells us today in the Gospel…."Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men”……..Do we understand?…. And are we willing to suffer too when times get tough?

“Our Savior Christ Jesus destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel”

The three years Jesus ministered to his people…He was greatly misunderstood, even by his closest friends….The Jewish people in their heart of hearts wanted a King to ride on a white horse to free them from the bondage of Rome…..Jesus was not that kind of King…He came to humbly serve, suffer and die…..While we all most probably will not be asked to die in the same manner that Christ died…We are all called to completely die to ourself…..This is the only road to heaven…..It is in dying to ourself, that we are filled with the life of Christ…This is how we do the most good here on earth and enter into eternal life when our mortal life concludes...….Are we willing to be misunderstood?…..Are we willing to “take the last place”?…..Are we willing to go without?….Are we willing to be ridiculed?……Are will willing to be “left out”?……All these and more are questions we must reconcile within ourselves if we truly want to follow Christ…………..In 2007 in Kolkata, India I got sick from the pollution of the city….For two days I had a fever and no strengthen in my body…..I was all alone!…..And fear - FEAR! - At times terror gripped me…….How will I be able to get home?…..Is this just a simple fever or did I catch a disease, which would plague me the rest of my life?……Two days, sick all alone in a dirty apartment in Kolkata…..Looking back, I experienced a very small “taste of suffering”….…Would I be able to endure what Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thun or St Maximilian Kolbe or Fr Walter Ciszek endured?….These men suffered for years in prison for their Catholic faith - And were not bitter doing it!…And two days with a fever in a dirty room in India almost broke me!……When the mother of St James and St John asked for her sons to sit at the right hand of Jesus…This is what Jesus said to her..….”You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?”…..When REAL persecution and suffering comes our way…All the “tough talk” and bravado goes out the window…Only through grace can one suffer for what is True; Good & Beautiful…This is why to follow Christ - To take up our Cross daily - We must pray, fast and live a Sacramental life…..Those who receive the Blessed Sacrament in the state of grace will endure until the end - Not because in doing so such people are so “strong”…....Just the opposite in fact.....But because Jesus empowers them by his grace - By his very Flesh….We are told in Scripture….”Apart from me you can do nothing”…Do we really believe that?…..When push comes to shove….All we have is grace - And do you know what?…..Grace will be enough!

“The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock”

Today we are reminded in the Gospel at Mass that Jesus did not come to “thrive” here on earth…He came to serve, suffer and die……The world has not changed too much since the time of Christ 2000 years ago…The Truth is still rejected adamantly…..That means if you speak the Truth or dare I say live the Truth boldly…....To one degree or another - We will suffer too…..Jesus asks us today….Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?”…..The only way we can accept persecution is by and through God’s grace…..I have found in my life, many times in fact - The “tough guys” fold…..Why?…Because they rely on their own strengthen and no matter how strong you may “think” you are…Our strength is limited….."Therefore, put on the armor of God, so that you will be able to hold fast on the evil day and to hold your ground with all your strength”….His grace will be sufficient for you - Live and die by it……………JMJ