Only by and through grace….”Thy will be done” - Only happens because of grace

Today at Holy Mass we hear read to us a short Gospel from St Luke…Because it’s so short…Its worth me noting it in its entirety for the purposes of this reflection….”While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed." He replied, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it”….Its not enough to acknowledge Jesus as God…Don’t believe me? - Read the words of Christ himself - They stare you in the face!…Just by saying Jesus is God - Does not mean your “saved”…..So please get that out of your head….Like everything else, we must take the instructions, which Christ gave to us and put them into practice…..But how do we do that?…In one word - GRACE…..Don’t for a minute think you can live out the Gospel message grounded upon your own strength, will and determination….Get that out of your head right now!…..”The spirit is willing and the flesh is weak”……Conversely - If we radically surrender our will and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us…If we live a Sacramental life….If we give our small but sincere efforts to Our Lady, who will magnify them beyond all telling…Then and only then will we do what Jesus said today….…”Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it”……What stands in our way?….We simply do not believe the words of Jesus when he tells us - ”Without me you can do not nothing”

“The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the LORD of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his justice, and all peoples see his glory”

Our world today does not believe in the power of grace….Grace is real…This is how a priest lives a celibate life…This is how a Catholic married couple remain faithful to each other and their children…And this is how we serve our fellow man sacrificially, putting God above all things and loving our neighbor as ourself…..GRACE is required - Because without it, we will turn from the words of Christ and slowly but surely, we will lean towards living a selfish life….Its in our nature as humans to “take care of ourselves” first - And only GRACE allows us to elevate our human nature and strive to live a life modeled upon Gospel values……For those who have not given up on the Catholic Church and the authority given to her by Jesus himself, take the time today and look at the various web-sites of the many solid Catholic religious orders, who are not only faithful to the teachings of Christ but produce endless fruit in the world, due to the fact that they “adhere to the vine”…Why do I make this simple request of you?…In looking at these web-sites of these religious orders, you will see an example of a typical day spent by these brothers, monks, sisters and priests…....What you will see is a rigorous prayer life “baked in” to each day…..The amount of time one needs to spend with the Lord in prayer is absolutely required for these men and women to live the lives they live…If you think for a second that they can live such radical sacrificial lives without daily prayer and the Sacraments…I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you…….So what does that mean for us? - The people in the pews…..While we are not monks, we live in the world and have responsibilities as married persons, caring for our children, paying bills, etc - With all that being said - If we do not carve out time each day to pray - YES you heard me right - EVERYDAY…..If we do not live in the state of grace, which ONLY can happen if we live a Sacramental life….THERE IS NO WAY we can do what Jesus said today in the Gospel…And the devil knows this - So he starts you off slow - Little by little we neglect our prayer life…Little by little we drift from the Sacraments……And the devil in the mean time slowing “reels us in”………Before we know it - The distance between us and Christ is vast……To live a Catholic life in this world is HARD - And if you don’t agree with me in making that statement - My response to you is this - Then most probably, you are not “living it” - Sorry - I am giving you some “tough love” here…..If you think for a second you will live out Jesus’s words in real time without utilizing the tools given to us by the Church…You simply are delusional……Now lets address the “800 pound gorilla in the room”…For the minority of Catholic priests who got “caught up” in the sex abuse crisis that plagued the Church in the 20th century…Without knowing them…I can guarantee you this right now….They were not going to Confession regularly…They were not praying their Rosary daily…They were not living in the state of grace and receiving the Blessed Sacrament worthily…....Take that to the bank!……Because if they were - THERE IS NO WAY one could possibly commit such horrific crimes…..So what is the take away here?….God wills the salvation of all mankind…In order for that to happen…We must cooperate with him…..Jesus can not “save us” without our consent and we cannot do the will of God without GRACE….Know why?……”Without me - You can do nothing”

The LORD roars from Zion, and from Jerusalem raises his voice; The heavens and the earth quake, but the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the children of Israel.

Today at Holy Mass Jesus dismantles a common idea believed across the Christian world…….”Once Saved - Always Saved”……While we must publicly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God….Jesus tells us today more is asked of us…We not only must “hear” what Christ says…..But we must put it into practice….To think we can do that on “our own terms” or based upon our own strength and will is a self-manufacture fantasy…..As we say in New Jersey - That is a “Pipe Dream” - Just “keeping it real” here people!…..However, if we put aside “the lies” the world and the devil tells us….If we put aside our personal biases…And most importantly - If we put aside our very self…Trusting in God’s grace…Grounding our life in radical surender…....We will not do what God asks of us perfectly - Again, just “keeping it real” - But know this - You will get infinitely further then you ever imagined…..Only by and through grace….”Thy will be done” - Only happens because of grace………….JMJ

https://www.holywaterbooks.com/catholic-men-will-save-america.html