There is a big difference between empathy and sympathy…..Being Catholic is not about “ticking boxes”….Only under the “weight of the cross” will our witness bear fruit

Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel of St Matthew Jesus tells us something we such consider and reflect upon deeply…As Catholics are we just “ticking boxes”?….Do we worship God from our heart?…..Do we see Jesus in others and respond in kind?…..”Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven”…Mother Teresa gives us good insight into remedying this potential problem….."It's not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing”…….Its very easy to get “caught up’ in a “check list”…To do “things” without thinking about them…..To “look through people”…..To say words that really have no personal meaning……Being Catholic MUST be a lived experience - It MUST be felt!…..We MUST walk among men…We MUST feel what they feel….We MUST struggle as they struggle…..This kind of lived experience breeds empathy…Which is very different from sympathy…Empathy understands people because YOU too “lived it”……This was the example of Jesus - He lived and walked among men…..St Paul breaks it down the best….......”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, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross”…This is why Pope Francis said rightfully: “A shepherd should smell like the sheep”…..No one wants to do this because no one wants to suffer…But its through suffering that we grow in empathy towards others….And then words mean something and have impact!….We feel for people because we are just like them….This is what servant leadership looks like…And this is how we remedy becoming mechanical in our Catholic faith…Being Catholic is not about “ticking boxes”

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come to him”

Having a big family helps one to be detached from the world…..Why?….Because having many kids is “messy”…..Everything gets broken…Money is tight…..The word “NO” means something and is not just a word…..You don’t have a “perfect house”…You don’t go on “perfect” vacations….You will not retire with a view of the ocean…..You will not drive the car you want…..All these things serve a purpose…They help a Catholic to understand the very people they are to serve…And YES, all Catholics were put on this earth to serve others - That means YOU!….But in order to do that properly and not just “tick boxes”…We too must feel what the people we serve feel…..Let’s be honest - No one wants to do this - But I will tell you bluntly - This is why our world lacks saints…..And only saints change the world……..At the end of her life a journalist asked Mother Teresa if she thought her religious order would continue after her death…This is what she said…”If the sisters do two things, the Missionaries of Charity will continue to thrive…The first, keep the Blessed Sacrament the center of their life…And the second, that the sisters live in poverty”…No one wants to hear such a statement because no one wants to do what Mother Teresa just said…How could the sisters effectively serve the poor if they do not live just like them?…..And because the Missionaries of Charity do just what Mother Teresa said to do…Their witness is POWERFUL!…..The Gospel is lived out and SEEN by the world - No words necessary!…..If I was to give advice to Bishops, I would humbly tell them that this is the example our clergy must give…Again, this was the advice from Pope Francis too: “A shepherd should smell like the sheep”…But that advice must go further….Catholic families must also “live this experience”…Now that does not mean we are to live in dire poverty…But it does mean we are to live simply….To meet the “needs” of our family, not necessarily their “wants”….This kind of living breeds character…It instills empathy towards others in our children…..This kind of living also gives a powerful witness to the world…Our world does not need another “lecture”…It needs witnesses…In order to give that witness, we must embrace the cross…There is NO OTHER way!

“Visit me with your saving help, that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, rejoice in the joy of your people, and glory with your inheritance”

Today in the Gospel read to us at Mass we are reminded about “keeping it real”….People use that phrase a lot in America…”Keep it real”…..Well - In order to do that, we must not only know about Jesus Christ, we must strive to live like him…..This model of living goes against everything we have been taught in America…..But to live as a Catholic means we are to be different…We are to view our life as a pilgrimage focused on our heavenly home - Our true and ONLY home.…And if we want our witness to impact the world, we must “bleed” the same red blood as the people we live next to and serve…..There is a big difference between empathy and sympathy…..Being Catholic is not about “ticking boxes”….Only under the “weight of the cross” will our witness bear fruit