We can not give what we do not have

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Luke Jesus addressing the crowd…He is also addressing us - Do we “hear” him?…..“My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it”……Day after day the Gospel is read at Masses all over the world and contained in these readings are very clear instructions….Do we really “hear” them?…..The Gospel is not a collection of “nice words” - Its God TELLING us how to live - Its God TELLING us how to be happy and thrive - Its God TELLING us the ONLY way to enter into heaven - Is HIS WAY - NOT OUR WAY….And today - Jesus gives a “key” - Did we hear it?…..Allow me to summaries the message - Its not what you hear that is important - Its what you DO with what you hear and how you ACT upon what you hear that matters….Did you catch that?…Each day in the Gospel passages read at Mass, Jesus instructs us - And let’s be honest, his instructions are very challenging….Love your enemies - Forgive infinitely all wrongs done to you - Share your wealth with the poor - Turn the other cheek - Blessed are the meek…Did you hear all that?!?…More importantly - Did you ACT upon it?…..Now allow me to let you in on a “little secret”…..To ACT on all these very challenging commands of Jesus, without living Sacramentally - Without fasting regularly - Without praying daily…IS STRAIGHT UP IMPOSSIBLE!…Did you hear that?!!…And did you hear this today in the Gospel from Mass?…If we do not ACT on these instructions - We will be held accountable - Now don’t shoot the messenger here - I am just telling you the Truth - Again, not my words, these are the words of God…So what does this imply?….Before we attempt to do the impossible - We need to develop our interior life…This should be the primary objective of every Catholic - This should be our number one priority - Why? - Because everything we do comes from our interior life…And if we “think” for one minute - I do not care if you are a Cardinal - A Bishop - A Priest - Married or Single…I do not care if you have 100 university degrees from the best schools!……If you “think” for one minute that you are going to be able to “act” on what Jesus says without a deep interior life….I got a “Bridge in Brooklyn to sell you!!!”…..Our problem is not that we do not “hear” what Jesus says - We hear it - What we are missing is the daily discipline to develop our interior life…..The great Abraham Lincoln, the sixteen President of the United States put it best…..”If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening my ax”……God is not impressed with what we ‘know”…Nor is he impressed with what we “hear” or read…God however does take notice how we act - What we do and what we do not do….And what we do depends entirely upon our interior life…”Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it”

“To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice”

Do you believe in grace?…Grace is REAL and it is only by and through grace that we can live a Catholic life…Being Catholic is not some “academic pursuit”….Write this down and put it in your pocket! - We can know EVERYTHING about the faith by read books and FAIL miserably when it comes to living the faith out…And God does not care what we know, as much as what we do with what we know - How we put our faith into action is what matters - St James put it perfectly - “Faith without works is dead”…..In order for us to be “filled up” with grace - We first have to be empty of ourself…We do this by “giving ourself away”…Because even God Almighty can not fill a cup with milk, if the cup is filled to the brim with water, the water MUST be poured out first to make room for the milk…..And when it comes to “doing” what Jesus asks of us….We can not give what we do not have - And what propels us to act and “give” is grace……….My wife and I have five children under twelve years old…And as you can imagine our home is very busy….Both my wife and I live Sacramentally - Not just because the Church tells us too - But because if we do not - THERE IS NO WAY  - We can do what is required of us as husband and wife and as Catholic parents….On the weekends, before the children get up, both me and my wife take turns to sit before the Blessed Sacrament……We sit for thirty minutes each visit, both on Saturday and Sunday….This time spent before Jesus is so important…Mother Teresa tells us why its so important….”When the Sisters are exhausted, up to their eyes in work; when all seems to go awry, they spend an hour in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. This practice has never failed to bear fruit: they experience peace and strength”……Jesus told us in the Gospel of St John - “Without me you can do nothing” - Our problem is - We do not “hear” what he just said - YOU CAN DO NOTHING! - Did you hear that!!!…..I was told that Mother Teresa one day was asked to give a talk to a group of priests about spending an hour each day before the Blessed Sacrament….After she gave the talk, a priest stood up and said this to Mother….”I have two parishes, a school and a office to manage - I have no time to spend before the Blessed Sacrament each day”…This is what Mother Teresa told this priest…”You are an important man with many things to do and have many responsibilities - You should spend not ONE but TWO hours each day before the Blessed Sacrament”….Do you get the point I am trying to make here?!?…..We can not give what we do not have…….JMJ