“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”……Jesus tells him….“Go and do likewise.”…He tells us the same thing today - Nothing has changed

Today at Holy Mass in the first reading St Paul says something rather interesting….”I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking the one who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel (not that there is another)”…..St Paul goes on…”Am I now currying favor with human beings or God? Or am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.”….People within the Catholic Church and outside of it in many instances hear what their “itchy ears want to hear”…St Paul is addressing this very human activity that has gone on for as long as people walked this earth….People have a way of only seeing and hearing things from the prospective of how it impacts themselves as opposed to seeing them with clear and objective eyes…Why?….And this is what St Paul is addressing today and he gives us the answer ….”Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the Gospel preached by me is not of human origin. For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ”…God does not change nor does the Truth….God came and walked this earth to change us!…We cannot change God nor can we change the Truth…Its for us to modify our thoughts and actions and do the changing…This is the “rub”…..Because in order to change, this requires humility and obedience to “a power” higher then our self……Jesus himself was obedient until death…..How can we not follow suit and “think” we are on the side of God when we “hear what our itchy ears” want to hear?

“The works of his hands are faithful and just; sure are all his precepts, Reliable forever and ever, wrought in truth and equity”

There is an idea that is common among many Catholics in America called “Primacy of Conscience”, which places moral decision making upon oneself…While we only “know what we know”, it is God and the Church’s job to form our conscience…Just as a father in his home forms his children….Teenage boys have a very different “idea” of what is right from there Dad…Its Dad’s job to form his sons…To show them by his life what it means to be a man…The same goes with the Church….Its the Church’s job to form us….And it is our job to be receptive to that formation…Not to “hear what our itchy ears want to hear”….Why is that?…Because we are not the source of all Truth…God is…And it is for us to conform to God…Not the other way around…This is not easy and may take time, prayer, and fasting to make happen…But know this…Jesus tells us very clearly…”Knock and the door will be open to you”…If a teaching of the Church is difficult for us…If we take the time to pray and fast about it, in time we will be given clarity…..However, if we rest upon what we “think” is right….Not only will the outcome produce negative consequences…But we will not grow in our faith…And when it comes to growing in our faith…Padre Pio said it best…”If we are not moving forward, we are going backward”

“He has sent deliverance to his people; he has ratified his covenant forever; holy and awesome is his name. His praise endures forever”

Getting back to Mass today…A man in St Luke’ Gospel asks Jesus a question….“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”…Jesus address his question by telling him a parable….This parable challenges the man and his “ideas” about who will inherit eternal life…So the questions we have to ask ourself are these…When we are challenged by the gospel - Are we open to that challenge?….Do we “think” we have all the answers?……Do we hear what our “itchy ears want to hear”?…..Jesus was the most prolific revolutionary that has ever walked the earth…Jesus spoke Truth to power while he walked the earth and the Catholic Church does the same to this day…If we want to follow Christ and live our Catholic faith…We must do the same…The world rejected Jesus and his message and if we are following him today in the here and now, the world will do the same to us…Jesus told us that himself point blank!........Are we comfortable with that reality?…. Because it is reality!!!…Or do we hear what our “itchy ears want to hear”….Jesus in today’s Gospel after telling a man who asks him…..“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”……Jesus tells him….“Go and do likewise.”…He tells us the same thing today - Nothing has changed