"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths. Do not be wise in your own eye”

Today at Holy Mass St Paul addresses his friends in a letter to the Colossians….St Paul as we all know led two very different lives….He was a man of extremes…I can relate to St Paul…I clearly am not a saint - But I too in many ways am a man of extremes……And have led both a worldly life as well as a religious one…This is what St Paul said in this letter………..”And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one Body. And be thankful”…How easy it is to forget that we are not in control…..How easy it is to give away Christ’s peace, which is a gift when we try to control what we can not change……Paul understood this because Paul was a man of extremes…..Remember, Paul was a Pharisee…For those reading this and do not know what that means…Paul was a man of the world and part of the elite religious class of his day before he encountered Christ on the road to Damascus…”He knew how things work” - “How powerful men operate”….Unlike the other apostles he was highly educated….All the more reason why Paul had to remind his friends and probably himself……That God is in control and we are not….So what is our role?…..To purify our hearts…To build the “interior castle” within our soul…..To grow ever closure to God - Day by Day…God’s ways are not our ways......Thank goodness for that!…..All the more reason why we should be at peace and allow Christ to “control our hearts”...As well as outcomes.

“If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us”

This summer I took my family to a vacation / retreat where many Catholic families gathered…During that time I met an interesting man from the middle of America…This man was older, an engineer by trade and the father of 12 children…..He was a bit quirky but the more I spoke with him, the more I understood he was a man of deep faith and wisdom…He would tell me story after story about how the twists and turns of his life always lead him to a deeper and deeper faith in God…How when he was young, one of his arms was too short - And how that turned out to be a blessing…How he had pain in his side and as a result of going to the doctor to address the pain, the doctor found cancer and his life was spared….Over and over again…He told me story after story of how God worked in his life and in the life of his huge family….Through twists and turns….And in time, this man began to really trust God….So much so, he brought 12 children into this world….He ended all his stories with this statement…”Joe - Sometimes what looks so terrible turns out to produce the most efficacious outcome”……For as quirky as this man was - I will always remember him and what he said to me……The first reading today from St Paul reminded me of my friend from this past summer…..”And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one Body. And be thankful”…….Men like to “fix things”…..We want to control outcomes…..This is not always possible…..Our job is to trust…..To allow God to be God…..To do what we can…..To hold on loosely to all our plans…..God sees what we do not see…He also knows what needs to be done and will do it…..What man can not do, God will do…So let you hearts be at peace and be thankful

“Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you”

Today St Paul reminds us to let Christ control our hearts…..I think in a way St Paul was reassuring himself in this letter…Why do I think that?…Because Paul was radical man…..And radical men have a hard time “giving up control" of their hearts.......I know a little bit about being “radical” so I can speak from experience……But as we all know….Paul in time was transformed…Into one of the greatest figures in biblical history…But that took time for Saul to become Paul…..God is constantly working at molding mankind and forming our hearts….Our job, individually speaking, works from the inside out, not the other way around….The more we develop our interior life......The more we purity our hearts…The more God can use us…And its not our job to “choose” what we are to do….Odds on, we will “choose” the wrong thing…Its God’s job to place us where we have to be - And he will - So let God be God….”I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus”…....Easier said then done - Right…..We want to control outcomes…..Our job is to learn to trust first and foremost……..Patience gains all things - So be patient and be at peace...………”Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths. Do not be wise in your own eye”………………….JMJ