Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Paul…Paul is writing a letter to his friends…He tells them that Jesus came to serve....How he humbled himself…Was obedient to his Father…And because of this God greatly exalted him…..Now for the question and for some reflection…Do you think that example was meant only for Jesus?…..That somehow we are not asked to do the same?…….While we cannot do what Jesus did to the degree he did it because he was without sin - That is reality…...However, the example he gave was meant for us to see - For us to emulate - And for us to strive for!…This is the path to heaven….It goes by way of the cross…It entails deep sacrifice...There is no other way!
“Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave”
Saint Charbel, was a Maronite monk and priest from Lebanon….I recently saw a movie about his life…Charbel lived a very simple life….He really did not do “anything extraordinary”….Except for the fact that he was holy and grew extraordinarily close to God…There were two scenes in the movie that struck me deeply…The first was when Charbel was in the confessional and a woman came to him for her confession. She wasted her life away on many bad choices….Instead of scolding her, after her confession, he absolved her of her sins and instead of giving her a penance…He told her…”I will do penance for you”…..And he did just that…The second scene that stuck me was when Charbel was old he was working in the fields with the monks and he was struggling to carry a large basket of grain…Another monk attempted to help him and Charbel gently moved the monks helping hand away and continued to struggle with the heavy load….This is the example of a saint…This is the example that Jesus gave…And this is the example we must give to the world if we expect to be an instrument of change…People believe what they see...Our example must be fueled by grace or it won't ever happen
Why did Jesus do what he did?…Why did Saint Charbel do what he did for his people?…The answer is simple…They loved deeply….And for love to be real it must sacrifice…It must cost us!
St John in today’s gospel at Mass put it best….”For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him”…Jesus did not come to earth and walk among us to “wag his finger" at us…He already knew just how flawed and sinful mankind was and is…He came to show us a better way…He came to give us an example…He came to give us a Church, which provides the means of salvation through the Sacraments….This is why Jesus came…He came because of a deep love and concern he had for us….And when we know just how much we are loved by God…We too will strive to love in return by means of sacrifice….Because love without sacrifice really is not love at all
“Do not forget the works of the Lord”…..For love to be real it must sacrifice…It must cost us!
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