christianity

Are we weeds or wheat?

“’Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest” (Mt 13:27-30).

The master warned his servants to let the wheat and weeds grow together until they were more mature at the time of the harvest, so as not to pull up the wheat with the weeds. Weeds in this verse is translated from the original “Greek [as] zizanion [which] refers to a noxious weed that in its early stages closely resembles wheat and cannot be readily distinguished from it” (Harrington 2007, 204). Both, in their immature state, were indistinguishable.

Jesus is helping his disciples and to resist the temptation of condemning one another. Even when there are those who commit heinous acts of evil, and we may feel justified, Jesus says no. We are to convict another of their actions, and we are certainly to hold each other accountable, but condemn, no. The Father is the ultimate arbiter and judge. The Father sent his Son, not to condemn, but to save. There is always hope for repentance and a change of heart.

All of humanity has been created in the image and likeness of God, each of us are a unique gift to this world. We have been created good, yet all of us fall short of the glory and grace of God and because of our fallen nature our image and likeness to God has dimmed. God the Father will judge at the end of time between the wheat and the weeds and only he knows the time or the hour. Let us leave the judgment to God. Our invitation is to repent and align ourselves to the will of God, to encourage each other in the maturation process which can include, convicting others when needed, yes, but above all with love, willing each other’s good.

We are to resist the temptation the poisonous practices of gossip, prejudice, and self righteousness that create division and separation. Instead let us welcome, nurture and care for one another, promote unity while respecting the diversity of each person and their thought. We can disagree and have a good argument when we keep it at the level of an exchange of ideas while refraining from dehumanizing one another, and in the end accompany and be there for one another through thick and thin.

Not an easy path. What will help us, is to recognize that we are all in need of healing and transformation. Let us pray for patience, understanding, seek forgiveness, as well as be willing to forgive each other. Life, even when going well, is hard. We need the encouragement and support of each other if we are to mature and actualize the fullness of who God calls us to be as we strive through God’s grace to restore our image and likeness to God. “Encourage each other while it is still today” (Hebrews 3:13)!
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Photo: No wheat on Rosary walk but did find some sea oats. Riomar Beach, Vero Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, July 27, 2024.

Harrington SJ, Daniel J. “The Gospel of Matthew”. In vol. 1, Sacra Pagina Series, edited by Daniel J. Harrington. Minnesota, Liturgical Press, 2007.

Let us reflect the light of the mercy of Jesus as the moon reflects the light of the sun.

I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.” (Mt 12:6-8).

Jesus continues to rock established regulations and practices. Here he is challenging the understanding of the Sabbath itself when justifying the accusations leveled toward his disciples who were picking and eating grain on the Sabbath, and he does so in a profound way by saying that,“something greater than the temple is here.” Present in the heart of the temple, the area called the Holy of Holies, was the ark of the covenant. Atop the ark was the lid called the mercy seat of God. Jews believed that this was where God sat and when the blood of atonement was offered from sacrifices, God’s mercy was offered to the people. In the temple then, was the mercy seat, the very presence of God.

Jesus’ claim that he is greater than the temple is putting him on the same level as God. A blasphemous statement to say the least, unless of course, he is God. Jesus even doubles down by claiming that he is the Lord of the sabbath; Jesus used this latest challenge by those Pharisees seeking to trap him to help to reveal to them, his disciples, and us today that Jesus is God!

In quoting Hosea 6:6: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”, Jesus is not only saying that he is the something greater, but that his Way is something greater. One of the foundational points of the Way of Jesus is mercy. Through the incarnation, the Son of God dwelt among us, became one with us in our humanity. He restored our dignity in the midst of our brokenness and sin. What Jesus said, in defending his disciples eating from the grains of wheat on the Sabbath, he is saying to us today: “What is owed to every human being on the basis of his or her human dignity is personal respect, personal acceptance, and personal care” (Kasper 2014, 202).

We grow closer to God and one another when we put Jesus’ teachings into practice. This is especially true when we bestow acts of mercy on our neighbor. “The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his [or her] spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church).

Jesus came among us not to condemn us, but to forgive, instruct, and advise, to comfort, console, and provide care and accompany us in our needs. He extends mercy as his starting point, as his invitation. Jesus was and continues to be willing to join us in the midst our chaos. He does not wait for us to be perfect or worthy. He only asks if we are willing to allow him to love and heal us and then are we willing to enter the chaos of others and allow him to work through us to provide the same. Reviewing and examining our consciences with the spiritual and corporal works of is a good place to start. Praying about and deciding which one(s) to put into practice is a good next step. 

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Photo: Rosary walk, view from the midpoint of the Merrill P Barber Bridge, Vero Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, July 19, 2024

Kasper, Walter. Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life. NY: Paulist Press, 2004.

Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church: Revised in Accordance with the Official Latin Text Promulgated by Pope John Paul II. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997.

Following Jesus and St. James, we can learn to listen, love, and serve.

“The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, ‘What do you wish?’ She answered him, ‘Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom’” (Mt 20:21-22).

The context of this request from the mother of the sons of Zebedee, James and John, comes from reading a few verses before the quote above. Start reading at Matthew 20:17 and you will see that Jesus and his twelve apostles are heading toward Jerusalem. Jesus stops to share with them, for the third time, that he will be condemned and crucified.

Jesus’ statement of his imminent suffering and death appears to be ignored by the mother of James and John. The other ten are indignant, not because of the apparent lack of acknowledging Jesus’ statement, but about who is the greatest among them! It is easy to imagine how a chaotic scene could then insue! As Saint John Chrysostom wrote: “See how imperfect they all are: the two who tried to get ahead of the other ten, and the ten who were jealous of the two” (Chrysostom 1975, 1552)!

This event is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Mark has James and John speaking for themselves, not their mother, as in Matthew. Luke does not even record the initial request of James and John at all but comes in at the point of the apostle’s dispute. What all record, including the Gospel of John, is Jesus’ interjection where he made it clear to his apostles that he came to serve, not to be served. To follow Jesus meant, not that James and John would be given positions of honor and power in the worldly sense, the sitting at his right or his left, but that they were to serve as he served, to love as he loved.

As disciples of Jesus, one of the most powerful ways we can serve, the most powerful ways we can love, is to be truly present, done most effectively when we actively listen. This is done when we look at each other, resist the temptation of thinking about our own needs, and/or thinking about what we are to say. We put the book down, set the work aside, turn off the tv, put away the cell phone, disengage our thoughts, and instead look at and listen to what the person before us has to say.

This discipline becomes easier when we are willing to do the same with God who we can’t see. We do so when we are willing to be still, to stop, breathe and set everything aside, even our thoughts, to be present with and listen to Jesus. One does not have to come before the other. In the course of the day, it is good to have quiet times with Jesus and also intentional time with family members, friends, colleagues, as well as those to whom, in the past, we may not have given the time of day.

Jesus came to love, to listen, and to serve. May we too give of ourselves with our time and undivided attention toward those he directs us to love, listen, and serve. When we are present with one another the other gift of grace is that we experience the love of the Holy Spirit between us. St. James surrendered his pride and learned this practice well, and he has helped me on multiple occasions. St. James, pray for us!

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Painting: St. James by Guido Renin (1636-38)

Chrysostom, St John. Homily. The Liturgy of the Hours: According to the Roman Rite. Vol. 3. NY: Catholic Book Publishing, 1975.

Parallel Gospel passages to review:
Mark 10:35-45; Matthew 20:20-28; Luke 22:24-27 and John 13:12-17

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, July 25, 2024

Following the will of God helps us to grow closer to Jesus and each other.

What Jesus proposes is not an either/or statement, but is meant to be a both/and statement. The end goal of our life is to be in communion with God. To attain that goal, we need to not only acknowledge that God exists but also come to know and follow God’s will. As Jesus said, “For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Mt 12:50). The challenge is that there is so much that pulls at us for our attention, so much that reaches out to divert us. People, activities, material pursuits are all vying for first place for our minds, hearts, and souls.

Then there are the challenges, demands, joy and wonders of family life. We often read, hear, and experience ourselves, how much the family is being challenged in our modern age from without and within. Many of us strive to put family first in our lives. That ought to and needs to be a priority as healthy relationships require commitment, love, sacrifice, and persistence. What Jesus offers then seems to be counter-intuitive to that reality.

Jesus is interrupted while he is teaching, and told that his mother and brothers were there wanting to see him. We would think he would say, “Great! Bring them right in, I have a place reserved for them here, front and center!” Yet, I am sure that his comment, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers” (Mt 12:49), raised a few eyebrows and hackles.

Jesus was not choosing his disciples over his family, he was clarifying that the primacy of place of God his Father is to be first and foremost. “For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Mt 12:50). Families come in many different shapes and sizes, one size indeed does not fit all. Building our relationship with our heavenly Father is the foundation toward striving toward healthier relationships.

As our ego and self-centeredness become less of a focus, we slowly come to realized we are not the center of the universe. This is no overnight or easy process, but as we surrender a little more each day to the truth that God is our Father and Jesus is our Lord, we will begin to experience the love of the Holy Spirit a little more. As the relationship of God becomes foremost in our life, we will begin to change. We will become more patient, understanding, less reactive, and more present to one another.

As we continue to mature in our spiritual life, we will also begin to experience the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control (cf. Galatians 5:22-23). In sharing what we have received, we will be more available to others and better able to foster deeper relationships with our own family members, while at the same time experience a larger extended family, with those beyond blood. Let us surrender ourselves and all of our relationships to and entrust them into Jesus’ care.

Who was the closest relationship Jesus had? Mary. Not because she gave birth to him, but because who better than Mary followed the will of his Father? If life with some family members is a little bumpy right now or you just want to deepen your familial bonds, begin your day with Mary and say often, “May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38) and let God happen.

Photo: Mary and John followed Jesus all the way to the Cross. While on canonical retreat last December at Bethany Center, Lutz, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Jesus will help us to discern when to walk away and when to stand firm.

In today’s Gospel from Matthew, Jesus realized that: “The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death” (Mt 12:14). Jesus did not then start to plan how he would defend himself against their plot, he did not arm his supporters, nor is there any indication that Jesus let the fact that he was a marked man bother him. What did Jesus do with this bit of news?

“He withdrew from that place” (Mt. 12:15) and cured those who followed him. Was Jesus being a coward by withdrawing? No. Jesus refused to engage or give any of his time or energy to their negativity or threat. He focused on what he was about and that was continuing the mission that God had sent him to achieve, which was to help bring about the salvation of humanity and the world and to call those who would work with him to continue his mission.

Many of us will hopefully not receive death threats, but many of us have and may witness and/or receive critical, negative, belittling, or dehumanizing looks, words, and outright actions to cause physical, mental, emotional or spiritual harm. For those of us who choose to practice publicly the teachings of Jesus, we may receive even more!

Our common response to the many forms of perceived or actual animosity directed toward us is to react. Our reactions generally are based on learned defense mechanisms we have adopted. Often when we react, we slip into survival mode, experience increased anxiety, defensiveness, anger as well as a myriad of other emotions. Hopefully, as we mature in our faith we will resist reacting, remember to breath, and call upon God’s guidance to direct us such that we can be less reactive and more attentive to how to act as advocates of God’s grace.

Life is short, let us not take a day or moment for granted, nor give away our precious time by engaging in unneeded drama or negativity. There are times that we do need to stand and speak up. Other times, as Jesus did today, we need to walk away and direct our energies elsewhere. With each challenge, may we call on Jesus for his discernment on how best to act in each situation.

The words of Teresa of Avila, Spanish saint and doctor of the Church, (1514-1582) are good ones to repeat and meditate upon: “Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.”

Photo: Jesus walked away from today’s threat but was willing to endure the greatest suffering of all when his appointed time had come to save and restore us to the Father. Praying in the sanctuary of Holy Cross, Vero Beach.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, July, 20, 2024

In Jesus, we are grounded and renewed.

“At that time Jesus exclaimed: ‘I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike’” (Mt 11:25).

Why did the wise and the learned, referring to some of the Sadducees, Pharisees and scribes, reject Jesus? One possibility is that Jesus challenged their idol of tradition. Even though Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (cf. Mt 5:17), the invitation to go deeper was and continues to be challenging. This is certainly highlighted in the six antitheses that Jesus shared during his Sermon on the Mount. Here is one such example: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil” (Mt 5: 28). Offer no resistance to one who is evil? Not only hard to swallow for people of Jesus’ time, but for us today as well.

Jesus offered then and continues to offer us today a share in the intimacy of the Trinitarian Love of God shared between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To be fully alive, to share in his Love, we need to resist being governed by holding blindly on to tradition for its own sake. Instead, we need to be open to growth, change, and renewal. Gerhard Lohfink, in his book, No Irrelevant Jesus, quotes the Polish philosopher Leszak Kolakowski: “A society in which tradition becomes a cult is condemned to stagnation; a society that tries to live entirely through revolt against tradition condemns itself to destruction” (Lohfink 2014, 2).

Many have left the Church because they feel we are too steeped in tradition, rules, and laws, and yet in doing so, they have left behind the secure ground or foundation, with no anchor in their life. On the other extreme are those who remain hunkered down, entrenched in a bunker of tradition fearing the secular tide, grasping, white knuckled, to tradition, but this stifles their growth.

Both tendencies are insufficient because at root there is not a trust in Jesus. Jesus helps balance the tension between these two. He invites us to remain anchored in the Truth of the deposit of faith that he has given to us while encouraging us to go deeper in our understanding, practice of our faith and relationship with our God. If we are not moving forward in our spiritual lives, we are moving backward.

We are better when we resist the extremes of rejecting tradition altogether or idolizing tradition alone, and instead build on the foundation of Jesus Christ: “The Way, the Truth and the Life” (cf. Jn 14:6). Within the life of the Church, “we must not do away with its traditions, but at the same time, it must continually clarify, renew, and deepen them” (Lohfink 2014, 2).

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Photo: Rosary walk last night – Riomar Beach, Vero Beach FL. Just like the ebb and flow of the tides we must allow for a rhythm of expansion and contraction in our faith journeys. We are called to be grounded in Jesus and stretched beyond our comfort zones as well!

Lohfink, Gerhard. No Irrelevant Jesus: On Jesus and the Church Today. Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2014

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, July 17, 2024

May we be willing to see and cut the ties that bind.

“Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented.” (Mt 11:20).

Anyone who encounters Jesus is invited to change. Jesus shines the light of his love and mercy into the darkness of our own fallen nature, where we are wounded, sinful, and broken. He invites us to repentance, healing, and reconciliation. He invites us to actualize who we truly are. A wonderful invitation, but why would we turn away? The darkness may be too dark, or the light may be too bright.

Facing our own darkness and pain is not easy and can be frightening as well as intimidating. That is why we are so vulnerable to temptations, distractions, and diversions. We may not be able to sit still because we want to keep moving so as not to face our fears and the root causes of our suffering, nor let go of our false senses of security, control, and the glitter of apparent goods. We also may not be able to accept the fullness of our goodness, of who God calls us to be, and the realization of who we really are.

Jesus invites us to stop, to breathe, to enter into his stillness and silence where we can hear the word of his Father and experience the love of the Holy Spirit. In this experience of silence, we come to encounter the choice to change our hearts and minds. We are invited to repent: to turn away from and let go of that which keeps us from growing closer in our relationship with God and becoming more fully alive.

God loves us more than we can ever mess up, more than we can ever imagine, and he does not define us by our worst mistakes. Jesus’ arms are wide open to receive us in the midst of our deepest wounds, fears, pain, sin, and suffering but we must be willing to stop running and be still long enough to experience and feel his forgiving, loving, and healing embrace. At the same time, we need to be willing to accept who we truly are and called to be apart from our false self. We are often too self-critical and judgmental of ourselves which keeps us wrapped up in ourselves.

Our challenge is to accept who we are as God’s children and who he calls us to be. While at the same time, we are to surrender to Jesus and make him our Lord. All the saints have come to this same place in their encounters with Jesus. The light of Christ reveals their sin, and they see where God is calling them to go free of that which keeps them bound. And so, they begin to cut the chords and strings that bind. For a bird bound by even the smallest of strings will not be able to fly until the string is cut.

May we allow Jesus to reveal to us the chords and strings that bind us so that we can cut them and be set free from the fowler’s snare!

Photo: Moment of pause while on my Rosary walk on Veteran’s Memorial Island Sanctuary, Vero Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Jesus leads us from the darkness of our fears into the light of his love.

Jesus said to his Apostles: “No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master (Mt 10:24-25).

Following the teachings and guidance of Jesus was hard for his apostles and disciples then and it is just as challenging today. To live as authentic disciples, we need to learn from and put his teachings into practice. That means more than reading some of his teachings: love God with your whole heart, mind, and soul and your neighbor as yourself, turn the other cheek, and what you do to the least of my brothers, you did it to me, and acknowledging, that, “That is some good stuff!” Then just moving on to the next thing on the to-do list.

Living as a disciple also happens in a public way, which means public scrutiny. One thing we all have in common as human beings is that we want to belong, to fit in, and to be a part of. We risk rejection and ridicule by following Jesus and living as his disciple because we run up against our own fallen nature and the fallen nature of others. Jesus said he would be sending us as sheep among wolves yesterday and in today’s reading, he announces that we are not to be afraid of those who kill the body. Not exactly the kind of encouragement many of us are looking for.

Yet, Jesus affirms consistently that we are not to be afraid. Jesus leads us to the most important relationship that we will ever develop and that is with his Father. God cares for us, just as Jesus said, as his Father cares for the sparrows, but even more. God knows us by name, and we are his, we belong to him. Our loving God and Father has known us not only before we were born, but before all creation began. Never have we been, are we now, nor will we ever be, alone. As we risk, grow in confidence, and begin to live our life in alignment, in relationship with Jesus and God through the love of the Holy Spirit, we will begin to become unified with him so to feel a joy and a fulfillment that is unmatched.

One of the keys to living the Christian life is understanding that it is more than a philosophy, a set of teachings, or a theology. Being a Christian means allowing ourselves to be known, loved, and to build our relationship with a person. Jesus is that person. Instead of hiding or running we are invited to trust and turn to him. By admitting and giving him our weaknesses and our fears, our anxieties and overthinking, our worries and our sins, we can begin to slowdown, to breathe, and begin to reset our brain’s wiring.

As Isaiah had his mouth purged by the ember placed in his mouth by a seraphim, as Peter recognized in the presence of Jesus that he was a sinful man, we too in the presence of God will see our weaknesses, our failures and our shortcomings. The light of Christ reveals to us our darkness not to condemn us, but to free us. To bring our sin into the light, so it can be purged, that we can be purified, and ultimately deified. Jesus became one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity. It is precisely in turning our weaknesses over to Jesus, and admitting our utter dependence on him, that we become strong.

Acknowledging Jesus is our teacher does not mean that we will gain all the answers to life, but it does mean we will be more aware of his presence during each step of our journey through this life. Take courage, be not afraid, and like Isaiah, the prophets, the Apostles, and Mary let us say, “Yes.” to the will of God and take our next step along the path to our freedom.
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Photo: Rosary walk last night in Riverside Park, Vero Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, July 13, 2024

We can help to make visible the kingdom of heaven, relationship by relationship.

“As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 10:7).

Empowered by Jesus, the Apostles were sent to proclaim that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, that the God of all creation is present in our midst, and seeks to restore a relationship with his fallen creatures. This invitation is not new with Jesus. The Father has sought reconciliation and unity with his children since the fall. This is present also in our first reading through the words of Hosea, God shared how he sought to take care of his children, Israel. How he “drew them with human chords and bands of love”(Hosea 11:4).

God has reached out, generation after generation, not in some abstract way, but as he has done since he walked with Adam and Eve. He came among them, he drew close to offer reconciliation, forgiveness, and intimacy of relationship.

Salvation history is a record of God’s coming close to encounter and interact with individuals in every age. At the appointed time, he sent his Son to open the doors to a deeper communion with his Father. Jesus devoted himself to people, “accepting them, receiving them into fellowship with him and granting them forgiveness of sins. The power of his affirmation is to be found in his attention to the concrete individual, in particular to the despised, the abused, the sinner, but also involving himself with people in a very personal way… in giving himself away to them” (Gnilka 1997, 111).

We, as the Apostles were, are called to do the same. Empowered by Jesus, we are not to bring about some abstract utopian ideal, but we are sent to enter into the chaos of the lives of real individuals in our midst and on the margins in our own unique and personal way. The Gospel is not just for a select few but for everyone. This is just as true today in our polarized climate of 2024. We need to resist the temptation to be led by our prejudices and pride, of embracing an, us versus them mentality. For God, there is no us and them.

Just as the sun rises on the good and the bad alike (cf. Mt 5:45), we are to examine ways in which we have contributed to division and separation instead of invitation. May we get in touch with our sorrow for the hurt we have caused others, for our actions and omissions, and for failing to reach out in love. Jesus was sent by his Father to love us, he invites us to receive his love, abide in his love and to love him and others in his name. We do so by building relationships within as well as beyond our comfort zones. We do so when we are more present, accepting, understanding, kind, and forgiving and when we share person to person the light, love, mercy, and invitation of fellowship that we have received from Jesus. In doing so, we will help people to experience Jesus and his kingdom which is at hand.

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Photo: Blessed to be celebrating Mass with Dcn. Jude and a server from the Jesus Youth community in Delray Beach in June.

Gnilka, Joachim. Jesus of Nazareth: Message and History. Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, July 11, 2024

Jesus will lead us to our fulfillment, if we are willing to listen and follow.

“At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36).

There is much that pulls at us for our time and attention. Jesus witnessed the anxieties, struggles, pain, and feelings of being lost regarding those in his midst. Are we so different today? Jesus knows the Father, he knows the joy and fulfillment of what being in a full relationship with him entails. Jesus saw then and sees in us now how lost can become, how easily distracted and diverted can be, he knows how many things we put before our relationship with God, and he “is moved with pity.”

Jesus’ heart goes out to us, he yearns to be one with us, he loves us, but in that very act of love, he risks. He loves us so much, that he is willing to let us choose ourselves, others, or a myriad of other pursuits over him. Jesus invites us to the joyful experience of developing a relationship with him so we can come to know his Father, while at the same time he does not impose himself on us. We are given the whole world to choose from or we can choose him. Who do we put first? Is God a priority in our life? If we find that God is at best an after-thought, or at worst a no thought, instead of getting to know God better, what is it that we are choosing over him?

Jesus invites us, but too often we miss, ignore, or do not follow through on his invitation. Too often we choose other pleasures, distractions, diversions, temptations, and/or apparent goods. With time and experience, we may come to see the emptiness of the lure of these worldly promises, as well as begin to recognize that our attachments and disordered affections often lead to many of our troubles, trials, stresses, and anxieties. We are often led astray because we are seeking address our underlying experiences of unfulfillment, abandonment, and/or loneliness. There is only one source, one person, that will ultimately fulfill our innermost longing; God our Father.

I am not advocating for a rejection of the material world. All that God has created is good. We are human beings and a part of God’s glorious creation. Nor do I believe that we are souls trapped in this body waiting to be released upon our death. As human beings, we are a unique unity of body and soul. The key to our fulfillment, finding meaning and belonging is choosing to put God first. In establishing a firmer relationship with God, we can better discern that which we need to let go of, and/or how to reorder that which God wants to remain. Once we establish God as our firm foundation, even the challenges and trials that arise with not disturb our peace.

This might be the moment to be still and evaluate where we are in our lives and to ponder who we belong to. Jesus offers to lead us, just as he has led his disciples through the ages. Those of every age have experienced trials and tribulations and found the promises of this world fleeting. What made the difference for the saints was that they said yes to the call of the Shepherd and then followed him. Are we willing to slow down, to breathe, and listen to the Shepherd’s invitation today? Are we willing to follow his lead?

Photo: Rosary walk Sunday evening, Veteran’s Memorial Island Sanctuary, Vero Beach.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, July 9, 2024