“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from St John….Interestingly enough, he addresses a problem, which still exists today……How society “thinks” they have “moved beyond” God….These are his exact words, not mine……”Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antichrist. Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for but may receive a full recompense. Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son”…….At the root of all these “progressive ideas’, from St John’s time to the present day is the fact that mankind does not want to “bend its knee” to God…So he “invents a God”…..And in doing so, “the world” indirectly proclaims itself “god”…..…”I make the rules”….”I live by my terms”….Very easy to say when we are young, strong and rich…But has we know, we all get old, lose our strength and our money can not buy us eternal life…….To expand on this idea put forth by St John…The one who is most “progressive” is the one who sees past the “sparkle and glitter” of this world and builds his / her life upon eternal truths that have and will last…..Have we “invented” a God that does not exist?….Do we call our self “spiritual”, worshiping this imaginary “god” we created?…..As St John rightful said….”Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God”

“Open my eyes, that I may consider the wonders of your law”

The great CS Lewis said the following: “We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake. And I think if you look at the present state of the world it's pretty plain that humanity has been making some big mistake. We're on the wrong road. And if that is so we must go back. Going back is the quickest way on.”……Haven't we seen enough in this world?…Don’t you think it’s time to maybe try a “different path”?

“Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”

“Don’t tell me what to do”…This was the sin of Adam and Eve and this is the sin we see today played out again and again….How is it working out?….The answer should be very clear….Not too well…The world is a mess….Yet mankind doubles down on bad ideas…All because we echo the words of the fallen angels…”I will not serve”….Jesus tells us very clearly…”I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit”…He also tells us….“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined”……..And we still do not want to hear it! - “Don’t tell me what to do”!………..God’s way works….Its time tested…But my words will not convince you of this….This is why the world needs witnesses….Only saints change the world…Saints live radically different lives from the rest of society…They show people that God’s way not only works but when you embrace it, you thrive in this life…Speaking personally, I saw that first hand with Mother Teresa’s sisters with my own eyes…..They showed me - Not with words - But by their example that God’s way does in fact work….What I suggest to anyone who reads this refection is, expose yourself to the radical life of Catholic Church…Its there if you search it out……..Stop focusing on the “bad actors” within the Church….Volunteer at a soup kitchen, Volunteer at shelter, Volunteer at a hospice….In doing so you will meet the most interesting of people and you will also see with your own eyes that those people having “something” the world does not have and desperately wants.....…You will soon come to want that “something” for yourself……..And if you volunteer long enough in one of the places I just mentioned…You will come to understand that what you see…”That something”…Is the Holy Spirit…That God is real…That God loves you…And that you can have “that something” too

“I ask you, not as though I were writing a new commandment but the one we have had from the beginning: let us love one another”

Circling back to St John in the first reading today….We all want “progress”…..However, without God we do not have progress, we in fact regress both personally and as a society….…The one who is most “progressive” is the one who sees past the “sparkle and glitter” of this world….God came to give us life and give it abundantly in the here and now!….God takes nothing from us, he only gives…..See for yourself….Expose yourself to radical witnesses of the gospel….Experience for your self the joy of giving……Haven't we seen enough in this world?…Don’t you think it’s time to maybe try a “different path”?

“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be”