For those who have ears to hear

Today at Holy Mass we hear Jesus in the Gospel of St Mark tell us very clearly how we are to arrive safely in heaven…..“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”…..This statement, while perfectly clear is rationalized away - Ignored outright - Twisted and manipulated by believers and non believers alike……The road to eternal life is narrow and Jesus is telling us this today point blank - Yet, ask many people about how we get to heaven - About living life on our own terms - About the meaning of suffering and sacrifice…..Some of these people are well intentioned too - Yet, they have twisted the words of Christ - They “created” their own “brand” of “Christianity” and “created” a “god” of their own making……..In order to follow Jesus Christ, one must first be honest with themselves and see Jesus for who he truly is - God - Which implies we are not God…..”We” do not make “the rules” and if we want to “get in” to God’s house - We have to follow His rules….That means dying to our own self…..There are no two ways about it!…..Now - Tell what I just stated to the large majority of the world - Again, many of these people are Christians - Some are even Catholic - And when you read to them what was read to us today at Mass from Mark’s Gospel - Somehow, they “don’t get it” - Or maybe better put - They don’t want to “get it”….Why is this the case? - Because people want to live their life on their terms - And still go to heaven - Jesus is telling us today very clearly - It does not work that way!…….”I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him”…….Jesus told us he is “The WAY” - He did not say he is the custom….So choose life!

“Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked. Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, But delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night”

The Natural Law is imprinted on every living cell of every human being - And because of this reality - We all long for God…And when we turn from God, most especially when we intentional turn from God, something within us breaks!……When a Catholic lives in the state of grace - Going to Confession frequently and receiving the Eucharist at least once a week at Sunday Mass….There is a peace that comes along with this state of living….And if we sin, most especially if we sin mortally - Our peace is taken from us…..This is a very real and tangible example that one can live through first hand, which provides understanding that not only is God real - But so is grace - How do I conclude this? - By the way we tangibly “feel” (i.e. Our lasting internal peace) while we are in the state of grace….Here is another “truth bomb” - We can not have it both ways - God and the world…Jesus tells us so in the pages of Scripture - “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon”…..This reality could not be written any clearer - But the concept still has not penetrated into the human mind even after 2000 years of trial and error documented in pages of human history - Why is that? - The answer is - We refuse to “bend our will” completely to God…Its in that action - The “bending of our will” - Until it breaks - Its then that we truly encounter the Lord!……To understand this reality is to have a mature and adult faith…….St Paul, who was a man at one time in his life lived the wrong way tells us, from his own experience…..”When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things”…….So ultimately we all make a choice and to think we can have God and the world at the same time - Is simply a self delusion - The only people we “fool” is ourself…..How do we know we are doing the right thing and living the right way? - That we made the right choice?…The answer to those question comes in the form of deep peace, we either have or do not have - Follow your peace!…..The happiest people on the earth are the people closest to God….The “world” gets it wrong…..Human beings chase after many “things” and in the process they lose God and ultimately they lose who they are too - At their core…..It’s really very simple - “We” make it complicated.

“He is like a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers”

Today at Mass Jesus tells us how we are to follow him….The question then is - Do you believe him?…And an even better question is - Are you doing what Jesus asked of you?…..”For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it”….No matter what state of life you are in: Single - Married - Consecrated Religious……We are all called to “give our life away”….This is the one and only path to heaven…..Sadly, many voices will tell you otherwise - And some of those voices many come from people that may shock you - Both inside the Church and outside the Church……..But the reality is this - Again told to us by Jesus Christ himself……“Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep”….Don’t be deceived!……There is one God - There is one Heaven - Jesus was one man who formed one Church…..It’s really very simply, once again, it’s “us” who make it complicated……As Our Lady told us at the Wedding Feast at Cana…......“Do whatever he tells you” - Some good advice right there - For those who have ears to hear………………..JMJ