Our time is now - Make it count!

Today we hear at Holy Mass in the Gospel of St Luke how large crowds followed Jesus…At this point in his ministry…Things were good - It was convenient to “follow Jesus”…But did the people real understand who Jesus was?….Did they really understand what was to come?……What it meant to be a disciple?….Jesus had vision - He knew the world would reject him when “times got tough”…So while all the people were “cheering him”…..Jesus drops a “truth bomb”…………….."If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple………In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple”…………BOOM - Now who is “signing up”?....…Talk about “dropping the microphone”…….We are no different from the “crowd” in the time of Jesus' day….We have not been put to “the test”……As we all know, Jesus was - And he “passed that test” - The question is - When the time comes - Will we?…..Human strengthen will fall us…Don’t believe me? - Just look at how all Jesus' friends ran from him when “times got rough” when he hung on the cross…They all ran away!……..The now Servant of God Fr John Harden SJ put it this way……."Ordinary Catholics will not survive these times. Only heroic ones will……..We need heroic Catholics to restore sanity in the world”……How does one become “that kind of Catholic”….For one - You can not rely on your own strength ..…That is the big mistake made by far too many…..Remember - All the apostles betrayed Jesus accept for John and if it was not for Our Lady standing next to him under the Cross, he probably would have ran too……The only Catholics that will persevere are the ones who have a deep prayer life, fast regularly, and live a Sacramental life - Write what I just said down!…..Only God’s grace can make someone persevere and remain steadfast when “hard times come”…….And just like the crowd in the Gospel today…Americans have “no idea” what it means to live under “hard times”…..We live in a Post Christian world and the Christianity in America is a “mile wide and an inch deep”…….But hard times make for hard men….From the ashes of our deeply broken society will come saints…..History time and time again shows us this pattern…And these saints will lead the way forward….God will never abandon his people - Its us that abandon God!…So pray, fast and live a Sacramental life…..This is how we remain steadfast…Do not trust in men - Trust blindly in God and keep marching straight ahead!

“If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of God rests upon you”

Have you ever been tested as a Catholic?….I mean really tested?…….If you have, you know that when “hard times” come, it’s very easy to give up……This is why we need to have “deep roots” grounded in God’s grace….From the age of 22 years old basically until I was 43 years old, I was alone…I fully embraced my Catholic faith and as a result of that, I lived a chaste life…..The people who knew me before I made this decision could not and did not understand….Who is this “person”?….Where is the “old Joe”?…….I was ridiculed…I was misunderstood…..I was abandoned by “friends”……..All this time, God was forming me…..And then, 20 years later, I met my wife and now have five children…..I tell you this story because God used 20 years of my life to “form me”……I would not be the man I am today without those 20 years…I would not have my five children without those 20 years….All I can say is - God knows what he is doing! - So trust him no matter what!…….As America progresses deeper and deeper into a Post-Christian era, God will form many - “Write that one down and put it in your pocket”…..Jesus told us this today in the Gospel - Were you listening?….. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple”……….And if you think you are going to “follow Jesus” as a Catholic without a deep prayer life and the Sacraments when your entire world “turns on you”…....You will sadly be mistaken…But make no mistake about this…From these hard times. Saints will be raised….And only saints change the world

“He dawns through the darkness, a light for the upright; he is gracious and merciful and just. Well for the man who is gracious and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice”

Today at Mass in the Gospel, Jesus tells his people that following him will not be easy….To be Catholic means we are in the world but not of the world…We are a people set apart…….The pages of 2000 years of history tell us where we have been and where we are going….In the mean time…We must follow the example of the great saints…They show us the way forward, they point to Christ…..And so must we….Our time is now - Make it count!……………….JMJ

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