“Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father”…It comes down to this simple question…Do we take the words of Jesus seriously?

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of St Luke…Jesus tells his 12 friends something…He tells us the same thing…..”Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more”…Now this is Jesus talking - Not me!….First question to ponder…Do we take the words of Christ seriously?……Jesus tells us a lot of things in the New Testament and frankly he is crystal clear…….Do we take what he says seriously?…Because today he is telling us…..I expect something from you!….Just like all parents, who raise their children…They expect them to be good citizens once they leave their family home…Jesus is telling us…..You have been given a great gift…What are you going to do with it?…….Far too many people have this misconception that we just “float into heaven”…..Not the case my friends!…While heaven and faith are gifts from God given to us completely undeserved…….Jesus does expect us to use what was given to us for the building of the Kingdom of God here on earth…What you do with your gifts is completely up to you…But do not delude yourself or listen to watered down Americanized Christianity…We have been given a great gift at our Baptism…The Life of Christ has placed within our soul….Jesus expects us to use what was given to us….But don’t take my words for it…..Jesus is very clear…The rest boils down to a choice made by each of us.

“Stay awake! For you do not know when the Son of Man will come”

We all may recall the story in the Book of Revelation……..”And now war broke out in heaven, when Michael with his angels attacked the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated and driven out of heaven. The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had led all the world astray, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him.”…..Lucifer, who was the greatest of all angels said something we should all pay particular attention to…..”I will not serve”……Lucifer was full of pride…He would not bend his knee to God, therefore he resisted God’s will…And as we all know, that choice did not end well for Lucifer…Nor will it end well for us…..When we choose to not do as God asks of us…We too echo the words of Lucifer, whether we want to admit it or not…”I will not serve”…..This is something we must avoid at all costs….Some times though, like St Peter, we fail only to face our failure and redeem ourself after we reconcile with God….That is the course most of us take…Due to our fallen nature we all sin…The key to this reality is we must humble ourself by saying some of the most beautiful words ever stated…”Bless me Father for I have sinned”….In making that statement to a Catholic Priest, Jesus himself forgives us…And we are given grace to overcome our very nature in time…….If you ask young children the question…When you grow up, do you want to be great?….They all will say yes!…..Would if I told you that every person who was ever born has the capacity to be great…Would you believe me?…..Most would not because we measure “greatness” on the terms of the world…However, if you read the lives of the saints you will learn that the saints come in all shapes and sizes…Some were well educated and brilliant like St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas…Some we poor…Like St Benedict Joseph Labre, who was in fact homeless…Some were simple like St Therese of Lisieux…And some were wealthy like St Elizabeth of Hungary…What made them great was that they followed the will of God radically…We can do the same!……That kind of “greatness” I am speaking about lasts!!!…These men and women are spoken about to this very day…..If you notice…The people the world calls “great” are forgotten about very quickly no matter what they accomplished….True greatness is found simply in doing the will of God…And if you do…You too will set the world on fire!…It all boils down to a choice…"I will serve"…Or…"I will not serve"…Make your choice

“You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation”

Getting back to the gospel today from Mass….Jesus tells us very clearly…Each of us have been given so much!…We were grafted into the very life of God through your baptism and God expects us to use that gift!…Again, don’t take my word for it, just read the words of Christ, they are very clear…..When we stand before God we all will be judged but what many forget to think about is when that moment comes, we also will be shown what we did not do or better put what we could have done if we only followed the will of God…..The Universal Church calls these action not performed “sins of omission”…..What we have to realize for ourselves is…Greatness is within us all by means of our Baptism…All we have to do is “uncork the bottle”…..The French Catholic novelist Leon Bloy famously said…."The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.”….Everything we accomplish outside of the will of God, no matter how much value the world places upon our accomplishments will be forgotten…However, if we pursue the will of God with all our might…You too can and will set the world on fire!…….Don’t believe me?…..Once again, let’s read the words of Jesus himself on the matter….”Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father”…It comes down to this simple question…Do we take the words of Jesus seriously?