Not Simply Hearing

We are told that if we deny Him, Jesus will deny us, but He will remain faithful even as we become unfaithful. Jesus challenges us today to not just hear His words, but to actually do something about them! Don’t just simply hear His words, but listen to them. And to listen to them from our hearts so that our hearts may be moved to action. Faith alone is not enough. We can’t just say we believe and think everything will be fine and that our spot is reserved in heaven just like that. Works are needed. Not extraordinary work, not anything outside our means, but works that we are able to do. God always gives us all the help and graces we need to do those works. Faith enables us to ask God for that help. So, faith is needed, but it is not sufficient. Faith accompanied by good works with God’s grace is doing the will of the Father. Let’s get to work!

Called by Name for Mission

Like Jesus, St. John the Baptist was a miracle baby. He was born to an old couple and to a mother who was barren. John had been called by name. When the Angel appeared to Zechariah to tell him his wife Elizabeth will bear a son, he also told him the name the child shall be called. After his birth, the people asked Elizabeth and Zechariah what the name of the child should be. They said, “John is his name.” John had an important mission. He was to be the forerunner of Christ, to tell people to prepare their hearts for Christ, and to baptize the people for the forgiveness of sins. You too are called by name. We too have a mission.

God calls us by name. God calls you by name. God calls out to you, in the deepest recesses of your hearts. He calls for you. Even before you were born, God has called you. John the Baptist leapt in his mother’s womb when Jesus in Mary’s womb came to visit. Each one of us is special to God and each one of us has a special call and mission. Your life is meaningful and special. You matter. There is a special plan for your life. The God who has created you calls you beloved. He is Your Father. He loves us and He calls out to you. He calls you by name. Do you hear Him? He's speaking to you. Be still and listen.

St. John the Baptist was born to an old couple and to a mother who was barren. Nothing is impossible for God. Even when we feel things are impossible, God will bring good out of it. Keep the faith. He calls out to you. Listen to Him. May our hearts leap with joy when we hear the voice of God calling out to us today.

Entering through the Narrow Gate

Nothing worth doing is easy. Success comes from failure. We learn how to get back up by first falling. “Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered.” There are many paths that we can take. Some paths seem easier and lead to temporary joys and pleasures. Some seem more difficult but lead to more lasting joy. On the path of truth and life there will be lies and deaths. These lies will make us doubt our choices and beliefs. These deaths will make us question the meaning of life. The gate and road that leads to life is narrow and constricted not because God does not want people to enter but because the world has made it so. It is hard to enter and difficult to travel on because we have become attached to this world. We have told ourselves that we belong to this world, but we do not. This world is passing, but we were made for eternity. When we cling to what we are not, it will only lead to sorrow, and this sorrow will bring us to despair and hopelessness, and ultimately destruction.

So, may we walk towards that narrow gate and ask the Father to give us the courage to enter through it.  May we come to see the lies of the world as instruments for us to see the truth and the deaths of life as sacrifices that draw us ever closer to Christ. When we can come to see that God uses all things for the good, then the gate and the road to life will not seem too narrow or too constricted because we will come to see those hardships as gifts and moments of grace. So, let us enter through this narrow gate with joy and hope.