“I will turn darkness into light before them, and make crooked ways straight. These are my promises: I made them, I will not forsake them.”

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the gospel of St Matthew…..In the text the teachers of the law question Jesus…..“By what authority are you doing these things?….These men do not honor the Truth…They honor power…Not unlike the men and women of today…..”Playing politics” results in everyone losing…Yet, short term thinking continues to win the day….Building a life upon Truth requires a number of things….For one, it requires sacrifice and secondly, it requires something which was discussed in today’s gospel…....”By what authority are you doing these things?”…….We hear statements made today by very powerful people…”This is my truth”….”That is your truth”…..How can there be a subjective truth?…A life lived under the yoke of God is far better then a life lived under the yoke of power brokers of this earth, no matter what the political stripe they claim to be…Yet, mankind is not convinced…We continue to “play politics” and disregard the laws of God - To our own detriment….All because we do not want to “bend our knee”…All because of our pride...All because we will not acknowledge that there is only one authority - God

“Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior”

There is an old saying…”A man can not lead if a man does not know how to serve”…..When a person acknowledges God and that God gave him his position of authority, then and only then will that man treat the people under him rightly….Without the grace of God and without God has the center of any power structure…In time, that power structure will eventually only serve a select few and disregard the needs of the masses…..History shows us this, yet mankind refuses to “see” it….All because mankind refuses to “bend its knee” to the God who loves him more then anyone could or ever will….......Years ago I used to volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity at an AIDS hospice on Saturdays in Lower Manhattan…The men who lived there were taken care of but as with any home, there were rules…No drinking or drugs, there was a curfew…..very basic things were asked of the men living there and if they followed the rules, they had a good life - Yet some men just could not or would not do it…Why?…..Because to accept rules means to accept authority and some people would rather "cut off their nose in spite of their face" before they accept someone telling them what to do…..There was this one man living in the house for a few months named Leroy…Leroy had AIDS and was a drug addict…For a time he was doing so good and before he was fully recovered from his addiction he asked to leave the home…The sister who was the superior at the time literally begged Leroy to stay - She knew he was not ready to leave yet - But Leroy was not having it, he wanted to do things his way…So Leroy left…Within three months we heard from the other men still living in the hospice that Leroy was found died in the Bronx…..Why tell you this story?.....All you have to do is look around and you do not have to look very far - How is “our way” working out?…..Jesus tells us in Scripture that I came to give you life and give it abundantly - That is in the here and now!…Yet we are not convinced!….We would rather “play politics”…….We want to "do it our way" - Be damned the consequences or the personal costs.....It all comes down to the word authority - Do we acknowledge God as having it? - Or do we live in denial?…....At the end of the day - We cannot “save ourselves” nor do we go to heaven on “our terms”……..There is a deep cost to pay for denying God’s authority, at the end of our life and in the here and now as well…That is reality and reality does not change based upon - “My Truth”

“Good and upright is the LORD; thus he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, he teaches the humble his way.”

Today in the gospel from Mass Jesus’s authority was questioned…And ironically enough, Jesus’s authority is still questioned to this very day…..Mankind doubles-down and triples down on choices lived outside of God’s law…Only to reap the consequences…And then mankind doubles and triples down again!…..Jesus tells us very clearly….”My yoke is easy and my burden is light, learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart”….....Still not convinced?….God is our Father and God loves us…..A good father will never tell his children something that will hurt them…..We need to understand and more importantly feel the depths of God’s love for us - Love changes everything - Not words but love put into action…If only we give God a chance, then maybe just maybe will we understand - The will of God was given to us for our own good…….In the mean time, God does not give up on us…Why? - Because he loves us….. “I will lay waste mountains and hills, all their undergrowth I will dry up; I will turn the rivers into marshes, and the marshes I will dry up. I will lead the blind on a way they do not know; by paths they do not know I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them, and make crooked ways straight. These are my promises: I made them, I will not forsake them.”