”Pick up your Cross and follow me!”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy….God addresses his people and tells them that they are obliged to obey his commandments…There is a “bad word” today - Obey - Far too many people can’t seem to understand that its in our best interest to obey God - God is not an ogre - He loves us!….”And today the LORD is making this agreement with you: you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you; and provided you keep all his commandments, he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made, and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God, as he promised”….Notice the language used….”You are to be a people peculiarly his own” - Now comes the conditional word - “provided” - Ready for it?!?…….While each of us is far from perfect, if we do not accept ALL the teachings of Christ ands the one Church he founded - The Catholic Church - And do our very best to follow them - And when we fall short, ask God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation for forgiveness - And have a firm purpose of amendment for our sins - If we do not act and think in this manner - How can we possibly “think” we are “a people peculiarly his own”? - How?….I will tell you how - The human mind has a way to twist and convince itself of many things - Its called “self preservation”….We rationalize away our salvation for comfort - When the Scriptures are crystal clear!……”But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother”….It does not get any clearer then that - Right?!?……So “strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough”……..Without God’s grace - Without the aide of the Sacraments - Without daily prayer - Without weekly fasting…The likelihood of “being perfect” is slim to none as we say in New Jersey….Jesus gave us a Church and Our Lady for a reason….To help us “carry our cross” and enter through the “narrow gate” which leads the salvation…..To “think” otherwise is foolish…Left to our own devices, we will fail - But with God all things are possible…Those who have ears - Let them hear!

“Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation”

American Christianity has a false belief that we can simple say - “We believe in Jesus Christ” and with that claim - “We are “saved” - Really? - Jesus did not say that………How can anyone come to that conclusion after reading the words of Jesus Christ himself in Scripture……There is no getting around it……We must “pick up our cross and follow” the one and only man that can save us and we do that by the way we live our life and by the choices we make…Again, the human mind can “play tricks” on us - But reality is reality….And heaven and hell is reality!…………..Years ago I got into a discussion with a man who left the Catholic Church who believed the Protestant rationalization of “once saved always saved” - That once you proclaim Jesus to be you savior, you are guaranteed eternal salvation…I told this man that such a belief is not biblical…Now keep in mind, Protestants say they “believe everything in the bible”…Ok - So do Catholics - And the words of Christ do not validate the “once saved always saved” Protestant delusion…..So I told this man that I would take the very bible in his hand and find verse after verse that refutes this self rationalization…..So that is what I did - I filled a single piece of paper, front and back, of verses from the bible that refute the “once saved always saved” Protestant doctrine…And when I tried to give this man the paper filled with Biblical verses - He refused to read it…..”I thought you believed everything in the Bible?” - I guess not…..As St Paul tells us…”We hear what our itchy ears want to hear”…..Bottom line - We do not get into heaven on “our owns terms”…..Jesus Christ told us - He is “the Way” - He did not say he was the custom……..”Then Jesus said to his disciples, Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”…Does it get any clearer than that? - And the words I just cited come from Jesus’ mouth - And they are in the Bible - They are not my words - I did not make them up - Go figure?

“You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept. Oh, that I might be firm in the ways of keeping your statutes!”

Today we hear at Mass in the Gospel Jesus say to his disciples…..”So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect”….We also hear in the first reading at Mass that we as Catholics are obliged to keep the commandments…..How can we possibly “think” we are exempt from this?……Catholic teaching is very clear - All we have to do is read it…The words of Scripture are very clear as well……Being that we are all sinners and are far from perfect, should give us all the more reason why we need to rely of grace and take the words of Christ and his Church seriously…..There is no way we can do what God asks of us without grace!….This is why Jesus did not write a book - The bible was written roughly 400 years after the death of Christ - Jesus however did give us a Church - And he gave it to us for a reason…And here is the reason……”Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him”…..Can it be stated any clearer than that?!?…….As we say in New Jersey - “It is what it is”….”Pick up your Cross and follow me!”……………….JMJ