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We get to read my favorite Bible verse today. "I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith." 2 Tim. 4:7 Why is this one my favorite? Part of it has to do with being a former athlete and understanding all that goes into competing well. The other part is that I didn't even try once upon a time to "compete well" and I know the difference. This verse is my reminder to never slip back into old ways. What were my old ways? Well, I definitely was like a Pharisee in many respects. Unlike them, I didn't practice my faith, but I did look for ways to pat myself on the back. "Oh God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity--murderous, uh...murderous...greedy, I'm not too greedy...uh...oh, WEIRD, I'm not weird." I couldn't see all the ways that I was just like the rest of humanity--hypocrite, dishonest, fornicator, sloth-like when it came to spiritual things, prideful, prone to rage, etc. I did nothing to keep the faith, or "compete well." I didn't even go to church. My Bible was somewhere, who knows where. And while I couldn't vocally say these things about myself, I knew it. I knew I was a barely limping along Christian, and it made me miserable. It wasn't until I couldn't bear it anymore that I became more like the tax collector in the parable Jesus tells us today in Luke 18:9-14. I came to my first confession begging God to "be merciful to me a sinner" and for the first time felt the relief of saying out loud what I knew to be true about myself. I'm still prideful, prone to a quick temper. I still struggle with envy and jealousy, and vanity for sure, especially as I age. I'm still like the rest of humanity--a human prone to sin. The difference is now, I want to "compete well" and "finish the race" having lived a life where people know that I was trying my hardest to love the Lord well and with a sincere heart. Just because I want to, doesn't mean it's always easy, but I have the remedy--Confession. That beautiful, wonderful Sacrament where I must go and humbly face Jesus, confess my sins, ask for mercy and forgiveness, and receive it. Then, I leave and try to become just a little bit better than before. So, live the faith boldly, my fellow Pilgrims, and travel well this Sunday.
Continue ReadingDon't you just love it when pieces fall into place? Last night at my women's bible study, we were watching the final episode of the series "The Mass" with Bishop Barron. In the last episode, he covers the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. He talked about how, many times, God's words aren't just spoken to convey a message, they actually affect change. "Let there be light," and there was light. "Lazarus, come out!" and a dead man comes back to life and walks out of his tomb. "Talitha koum! Little girl, I say to you, arise!" and a dead girl gets up and is restored to her parents. "Quiet! Be still!" and a storm on the sea calms down. "Rise, take up your mat and walk," and a crippled man is restored to health. So many instances throughout the Bible we read how God speaks and His words affect change. And then there is, "This is My Body, this is My Blood" at the Last Supper. Jesus wasn't telling a parable or making reference to symbols. In that very moment, when He spoke those words, the bread and wine were affected by His words and became what He said they were--His Body and Blood. God speaks the world into existence. He heals the sick with words. He forgives sins with the power of His words. He calms storms, raises the dead, multiplies fish and loaves all with His words. And people think that one of the most significant nights of His earthly life--the night of the Last Supper--was just Jesus playing in word symbols? No. The Son of God is the Word made flesh and His words have power beyond our ability to understand. He still affects this change in bread and wine at every Mass. Working through the priest, who is in persona Christ and says Jesus' own words in first person, Jesus affects the change of the bread and wine into His Body and Blood. And then there He is fully present on our altars for us. I've known these things, but last night more pieces fell into place. We are truly blessed, Catholic Pilgrims.
Continue ReadingAfter one of my old college roommates became an atheist, she said to me one time, "How could God ever take someone too soon?" I asked, "Well, what's too soon?" "I feel like you should at least get 90 years." "Does God owe you that?" Mind you, this is all coming from someone who supposedly didn't believe in God anymore. As we talked, her thinking became more and more clear. What she wanted was for everybody to have the opportunity to do whatever they wanted for X amount of years and then, once the end was drawing near, then, you get right with God, if you want. This attitude is what Jesus is referring to in our parable today. "But, if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and rink and get drunk, then that servant's master will come on an unexpected day." If God owed each of us at least 90 years, many of us would live however we wanted until we got close to the end. Then, we would "shape up" and hope to get that chance into Heaven and that God would just ignore all the past and we'd be good to go. But this attitude lacks love of any kind. In fact, it is selfishness of the highest degree. In effect, we are saying, "God, you owe me. I'll live how I want here on earth. Then, once my days are done, I'll try to do what you ask, and I expect welcome arms waiting for me in Heaven. Also, Heaven better live up to what I'd like it to be." What lies at the heart of all this, is a lack of trust that God's Will can satisfy here on earth. Many believe that they need to be allowed indulge sin to have their fun and then once they are "too old" to really do anymore, then the God stuff can come along. God, though, doesn't owe us anything. Instead, we owe Him everything because our very existence would not be possible without Him. It is better, infinitely better, to be like the servant in the parable who is faithful and prudent and ready for whenever the Master comes. The truth is, a life squandered for self will never satisfy no matter how many years you get, Catholic Pilgrims. So, live the faith boldly and travel well.
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