Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel of St Luke, Jesus tells his disciples something very important…He is telling us the same thing today! - Particularly fully formed Catholics…..”Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more”…..The Catholic Church contains the Fullness of Truth - What does that mean? - It means the Church is PERFECT - The people in it (ME included) are NOT perfect, but what the Church proclaims to be true is PERFECT…..And if we have been fully formed in our Catholic faith - Now before I go on - I will be honest - Many Catholics sadly are not fully formed - There are many reasons for that and God will be the judge (not me) as far as WHY those Catholics are not formed - With that said - We only know what we know…And God will judge us accordingly….Some many read this and disagree….Jesus today in St Luke’s Gospel addresses this idea…..”That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly”…That means Catholics who are fully formed (ME) better be VERY careful…Because the standards of judgement will be VERY HIGH……As many of us know…There are three components to a mortal sin: First, the matter must be grave - Second, the person MUST KNOW (have full knowledge) that the matter is grave - Third, knowing what they know (that the matter is grave) - The person commits the action any way….Watching human behavior from afar, we can assess a mortal sin from an objective prospective - But only God knows if the person who commits this sin has "full knowledge" and even knows in their heart what they are doing is "grave matter"…For instance - Do you know if we miss Mass on Sunday (outside of being sick or having to take care of someone who is sick), that is an objective mortal sin - It breaks one of the Ten Commandments - Remember them?….But how many Baptized Catholics do not go to Mass on Sunday? - And how many Baptized Catholics even know that is “grave matter” and a mortal sin?….God will judge that - Not me…But all I am trying to illustrate here is - Not all sins are the same and those who are AWARE and fully formed in the faith have a “high standard” to meet….Not because I said so - Because Jesus said so today in the Gospel…..I have taught the Catholic faith for almost thirty years….As a Catechist, my “job” is simply to educate….I can not control other people’s behavior nor is it my job to “judge” them - Meaning - Its one thing to tell someone something - It another thing for the person to really “HEAR” what you say and fully believe it - Again - God’s job to judge - Not mine…..Is this what we see on some segments of Catholic Social Media? - The comments! - The condemnation! - Do you realize that God will judge us by the same standard we judge others?!? - Let that sink in for a minute!….If we have been blessed to be fully formed in Catholic Truth - Its our “job” as a Catholic to share what we know with the world - And to share it from a place of love in our heart - Willing the good of the person we are trying to educate - Not to “call them names” or beat them down or prove how smart we are!…If people want to ignore what we are teaching - That is their business…Let God be the judge of them - In the meantime….Take the words of Jesus to heart…..Because “words” matter - Especially when God says them!…….”As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you. Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town”…The Deposit of Faith is not mine to alter - As Catholics - That goes for the Pope - Cardinals - Bishops - Priests - and Lay Catholics alike…Our job is to “pass on” what the Church perennial teaches and has taught for centuries…..And may God have mercy on us if we knowingly twist or alter a teaching to suit an agenda….Jesus addressed that situation as well - Notice the pattern here? - Jesus has a lot to say on this subject - Do we listen to his words and take them seriously?.........”Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea”…Get the point?
”Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”
I attended a Catholic College and every Sunday night at 9:00pm, the oldest Jesuit at my University would preside over a Mass - And believe it or not - The Mass was packed with students!….I grew up Catholic and my parents always took me to Mass - But sadly, even though I attended a Catholic High School, I was not fully formed in the faith…..And while at college, a Catholic College no less, I still was not formed….Yet, I still attended Mass…And, let me just tell you this - Knowing what I know now - I am surprised that God did not strike me dead because I was living at the time in objective mortal sin and was receiving the Blessed Sacrament at that Mass - By the way, so was many other students who attended that Sunday night Mass - How do I know that? - Because I would drink excessively with them often - And getting drunk out of your mind on alcohol is an objective mortal sin!….But here is the point….I did not “think” what I was doing was really that wrong - Believe that or not - Not to make excuses - But the first component of a mortal sin was not met - I did not have “full knowledge” of the grave matter that I was participating in…..Now - Let’s address the Priest who presided over that Mass - Is it his job in his homlies to address the student body and educate them in what the Church teaches? - I think I can say that in all fairness - Should he tell the students that if we are not in the state of grace, meaning have confessed our moral sins to a Priest Sacramentally, we cannot receive the Blessed Sacrament - Should that have been said? - The answer clearly and plainly is YES….It is not “pastoral” to not educate Catholics in what the Church perennially teaches and has ALWAYS taught…People only know what they know and we are not doing anyone any “favors” by not addressing mortal sin……For example, if you were about to drink poison and I knew it was poison - And I did not tell you - How do you think God would judge me? - I let you drink poison and did not warn you!……Have we as a Church forgot the consequence of sin? - Do we even believe in hell? - And that people go to hell….Do we dilute the Gospel and what the Church teaches because we are fearful of what people will say or frankly do not believe it ourselves?……These questions MUST be addressed honestly and by each of us as Catholics…..Giving people a false sense of mercy is not mercy at all….The idea is to call people to conversion - So they experience a “change of heart” and live better lives - Right? - Because we love them - Right?…Remember the words of John the Baptist, the man Jesus called the greatest man born of women…”Repent and Believe in the Gospel”……How can people REPENT if they do not even know what to REPENT from - We only know what we know and if no one tells us….Well - We will simple keeping doing what is objectively wrong in the eyes of God……”Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more” - Powerful words indeed - And they apply to us all….JMJ
“Stay awake! For you do not know when the Son of Man will come”
No comments:
Post a Comment