How To Stay Close To God Forever

For most of my life, I was not a religious person. I was happy and pleasant to most people. Yet I do recall a yearning inside of myself for something meaningful. I yearned for goodness. I wanted peace. Despite the fact that I had nearly everything that I wanted, including good relationships and a decent looking future, it felt like something was missing.

That feeling never went away until I began a relationship with God. Now, my happiness has changed into a more permanent JOY. I do not fear death. I am at peace. I feel more in touch with reality than ever before. Even though life is not perfect, I no longer feel as though that "something" is missing from my life.

And so, God has blessed me because I feel as though I am closely joined to him. This week's readings speak of being joined to Christ. Why would any person want to be joined to Christ? A few good reasons are listed above. So do you want to be joined to Christ? Do you want to live a life in which you are close to God? If so, what does a person need to do in order to stay joined to the Lord? This week's readings offer the answer. The Mass readings are below after the commentary.

If we want to be close to God we must first be baptized so as to receive forgiveness of our sins and to be born anew. This week's commentary will focus on life AFTER baptism. The Gospel reading and the 2nd Reading talk about "remaining" in Christ. In other words, the message in the readings focus more on those who are already connected to Christ. And so, the 2 readings tell us explicitly what we must do to remain in Christ and have him remain in us.

The 2nd reading says that "Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them". So if we keep the commandments, we will remain close to God? Yes! It really is that simple. Why is it this simple?

Reasonable Requests

Many people view God's commandments as rules similar to the rules they must follow at work like "show up to work on time" and "don't use the company car for personal use". But the commandments are not like human "rules". They are more like reasonable requests and invitations made from one person to another. For example, say that I am married. My wife says to me, "I will be 100% faithful to you, please remain faithful to me. I promise to never cheat on you. Do not cheat on me. I promise to never steal from you. Do not steal anything from me. I promise to always tell you the truth. Do not lie to me."

Although her requests can be challenging, they are very reasonable. And what would happen to my relationship with my wife if I always told her the truth? What would happen to our relationship if I never looked at other women lustfully, but rather I looked at my wife with great admiration and respect? Our relationship would grow. Our relationship would strengthen. I would be a happier man. That is God's intention in his commandments.

The commandments are not like human rules. They are reasonable requests from God. Unlike humans, God is 100% faithful and honest with us. God's commandments invite us to love him and each other.

Purpose and Fulfillment

The commandments also fulfill a great longing inside of every human being. Human beings will always inevitably ask this question "what am I supposed to do with my life?" To this, God answers "follow my commandments". When we carry out and live the commandments, our desire for meaning and purpose are answered and fulfilled because when we obey the commandments we are answering a call from God himself. This is why Jesus says, "my yoke is easy, and my burden light."1 His request to us is very simple and reasonable. In our hearts, we wrestle and we dig with great pain searching for meaning and purpose. Jesus responds with great simplicity: "keep my commandments". Paul echoes this is the 2nd reading "Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them." And this is why we feel fulfilled when we obey the commandments- because in doing so, our relationship with God strengthens, and that is the desire of every man, whether he knows it or not.

Let us remember that in following God's commandments, our desire to live meaningful lives is fulfilled. Only after we are baptized and only after we follow the commandments does this feeling of "missing" something in life disappear and is replaced with peace and fulfillment.

Hell and Disconnecting Ourselves From God

Although keeping the commandments and remaining in God fills us with happiness and joy, we can still destroy our relationship with God. In the Gospel reading, Jesus says "Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned." This situation of hell is described throughout the Gospels. Usually, Jesus describes it with words like, "wailing and grinding of teeth", "burning", and descriptions of "fire" and such. In the above paragraphs, I wrote about the happiness and joy of having a relationship of faithfulness, honesty, and righteousness. This happens not because God likes us more when we follow the commandments. It happens because as we follow the commandments, WE draw closer to the Lord.

When we disobey God's commandments (sin), we separate ourselves from him. When we commit serious sin (mortal) we willfully disconnect from God completely.2 Let's go back to this analogy of me and my wife. Suppose I cheat on my wife. This act by its very nature destroys our relationship. The act is a serious offense against my wife. If I persist in cheating, no kind deed will make up for it. It doesn't matter if I buy her flowers, take out the trash, and write happy songs about her. And so, this is what is meant by Jesus in the Gospel reading. This situation of serious sin against God is described in the Gospel where Jesus says, "without me you can do nothing." Mortal sin separates us from God completely and often causes the worst heartbreak a person can feel.

Fortunately, God offers us forgiveness. All we have to do is ask for it and stop sinning, just like the man who stops cheating on his wife. For Catholics, we must go to confession in order to receive forgiveness for our mortal (serious) sins, and fortunately, confession is free of charge.

There is a very popular notion these days that if you are a good person that's all that matters. But make no mistake about it. If I feed the poor, go to Church, and I'm nice most of the time, while committing serious (mortal) sin without an intention to quit, my soul is lost, and no pleasure in the world will make up for it.

Heartbreak

Now most people know the feeling of heartbreak. People have been writing songs about heartbreak since writing started. That's because heartbreak hurts so much and it's unforgettable. THE WORST HEATBREAK THAT A PERSON CAN FEEL IS WHEN A PERSON DIVORCES HIMSELF FROM GOD.God is the perfect spouse. The Bible describes Jesus as the bridegroom and the Church (you and me) as the bride. Nothing is worse than being separated from this perfect bridegroom (God). Nothing that a man does to bring himself happiness will make up for this, the highest form of heartbreak.

God is the perfect spouse. He is perfectly honest and perfectly faithful. He invites us to have a perfect relationship with him. He is the vine, we are the branches. All we have to do is follow his very reasonable commandments. God reveals himself through his commandments. He reveals his desire for us. He desires that we love him and each other for eternity- with happiness and joy.

God loves us!

1- Matthew 11:30
2- CCC 1861

P.S. One of the most common mortal sins I can think of is the sin of premarital sex. Please read about this in the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2390. If you had sex outside of marriage and have not confessed, I beg you to go to confession right now, and vow to never do it again until marriage. No fleeting physical pleasure is worth an eternity without our beloved God- the only true BEST FRIEND we have.

Reading II
1 Jn 3:18-24

Children, let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.
Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts before him
in whatever our hearts condemn,
for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,
we have confidence in God
and receive from him whatever we ask,
because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
And his commandment is this:
we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.
Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,
and the way we know that he remains in us
is from the Spirit he gave us.


Gospel
Jn 15:1-8

Jesus said to his disciples:
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
Remain in me, as I remain in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own
unless it remains on the vine,
so neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
will be thrown out like a branch and wither;
people will gather them and throw them into a fire
and they will be burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."

Reading 1
Acts 9:26-31

When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples,
but they were all afraid of him,
not believing that he was a disciple.
Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles,
and he reported to them how he had seen the Lord,
and that he had spoken to him,
and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.
He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem,
and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord.
He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists,
but they tried to kill him.
And when the brothers learned of this,
they took him down to Caesarea
and sent him on his way to Tarsus.

The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace.
It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord,
and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32

R. (26a) I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear the LORD.
The lowly shall eat their fill;
they who seek the LORD shall praise him:
"May your hearts live forever!"
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the LORD;
all the families of the nations
shall bow down before him.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
To him alone shall bow down
all who sleep in the earth;
before him shall bend
all who go down into the dust.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
And to him my soul shall live;
my descendants shall serve him.
Let the coming generation be told of the LORD
that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born
the justice he has shown.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or:
R. Alleluia.

The Greatest Commandment- October 26, 2008

This week's liturgy of the Word is about the greatest commandment ""You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." What does that really mean in a practical sense? How do I do it? Why is this the greatest commandment?

Reading 1
Ex 22:20-26

Thus says the LORD:
"You shall not molest or oppress an alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.
You shall not wrong any widow or orphan.
If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me,
I will surely hear their cry.
My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword;
then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.

"If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people,
you shall not act like an extortioner toward him
by demanding interest from him.
If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge,
you shall return it to him before sunset;
for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body.
What else has he to sleep in?
If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate."


Aliens and Slaves

What is this talk of "aliens" all about? Here we see the origin and purpose of the commandments. The purpose of the commandments is to remind us of our calling in life (to know, love, and serve the Lord.) The basic story of human history is this: God loves us, he made us, we screwed up, and now he is here to save us. In Exodus 20:2, the first thing God says as he introduces the commandments is, "I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me." In other words, I loved you by saving you from slavery. I want you to love me the same way I love you by being faithful. Don't cheat on me- "you shall have no other Gods." Before God commanded us to love him, he loved us first.

Is it a reasonable expectation for God to ask us to love him back? Is it reasonable for a loving wife to expect love back from her husband? Of course it's reasonable! God is making a very reasonable request of us here. And who wins anyway if we follow the commandments? EVERYONE wins! The essence of and purpose of all of God's commandments is this: God loves us with all of his heart, with all of his soul, and with all his mind. He wants us to love him back. How do we know that God loves us like that? We need only look at the cross. Jesus loved us with all of his heart which was pierced by a lance on the cross. He loves us with all of his soul because he lowered himself by becoming a frail, limited, human being. He loves with all of his mind because even though his human nature feared death (let this cup pass), he submitted his mind to the Father completely out of love for our little human souls. That's why the greatest commandment is the greatest commandment- God loves us, he wants to share in this love of his for eternity- including today, tomorrow at lunch time, and 10 minutes before we die- forever.

Justice

What a relief it is that God says he is compassionate and will hear our cries even when we are cold and in need of a cloak. It's quite comforting to know that if we are heartbroken like widows, or lonely like orphans, God will "surely hear our cry." God is "compassionate" as he says in this reading. But, that also means that God hears the cries of ALL of the people WE have "wronged". He hears the yearning of everyone WE have caused to cry. He hears the cries of the poor people WE have ignored all of our lives. Because God is perfectly loving, he is also just. He asks us to follow the commandments and he EXPECTS us to follow them. God knows what true love is, and he wants us to live it. The 2nd reading shows us how to do that.


Reading II
1 Thes 1:5c-10

Brothers and sisters:
You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord,
receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit,
so that you became a model for all the believers
in Macedonia and in Achaia.
For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth
not only in Macedonia and in Achaia,
but in every place your faith in God has gone forth,
so that we have no need to say anything.
For they themselves openly declare about us
what sort of reception we had among you,
and how you turned to God from idols
to serve the living and true God
and to await his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead,
Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.

Paul pays a tremendous complement to the Thessalonians here. He calls them "a model for all the believers". A model for ALL believers?!! Wow! They must be doing something right! What is that SOMETHING that they did? They had become "imitators of us and of the Lord." The Gospel reading says that the greatest commandment is that "You shall love the Lord, your God,with all your heart,with all your soul", and your neighbor as yourself. The Thessalonians knew exactly how to obey that commandment- by imitating the Lord. That is what the commandments are- an invitation to imitate the Lord. It is such a powerful way to live and to love God and one another that Paul had "no need to say anything" (no need to preach) to the places where the Thessalonians' faith had traveled. What is faith? It is an adherence of man to God and a surrender of a person's will and intellect to God.2 The Thessalonians had faith. They turned away from their idols, joined themselves to God, and surrendered their will and intellect to God. If they had not done so, they would have looked just like any other community. Instead, of doing as everyone else did (worshiping idols), they imitated God. And what was the result? Their faith and their example evangelized people with such power that Paul didn't need to go anywhere that the Thessalonians had already gone. Let's move on to how we can obey the greatest commandment in a practical way.

Following The Greatest Commandment

We have already established that God first loved us and now he wants us to love him and one another as his great commandment says. Does that mean we have to all quit our jobs and become priests? Of course not. We must remember that salvation is not something that happens as one big event. It is more of a "daily" thing which requires persistence, as Luke would say. Yes, this sounds boring and even more difficult to follow this command every day, but that is our call. When we ponder whether or not we should do something, the answer is always available. Suppose I want to obey the greatest commandment. And let's say that I have to make an everyday choice. All I have to do is ask myself this: In making this choice, or taking this action, am I contradicting my call to love God with all of my being and my neighbor as myself?

Here is an example. Suppose, I want to download my favorite song off the internet. I can download it for free and illegally and not get caught. But in doing so, am I contradicting my call to love God with all of my heart and my neighbor as well? First of all, by stealing, I am disobeying God and telling him that I like music more than obeying him (his commandments). By stealing from the musician (my neighbor) I am clearly not loving my neighbor. Now, this method of discernment is not going to be helpful with decisions like what color to dye your hair, but with the important decisions in life, God's greatest commandment and the our call to love our neighbors as ourselves will assist us on the way to heaven if we allow it to.

Real Life

For the last year, I lived as a missionary on a 640-acre ranch. The people I lived with were full-time unpaid missionaries. They never once tried to evangelize me or lecture to me about the faith. Rather, every time I saw them, they treated me in a loving way. I was continually amazed at their self-giving, self-sacrificing love. It wasn't long before I loved them right back. After all, how can you not love someone who loves so sincerely and so beautifully? I began to realize that this love with which they loved me came from their shared faith in God. It made me want to get closer to God. So, they evangelized me without using words.

I noticed that they took God's commandments very seriously. When one of God's commandments were inconvenient for them, they still obeyed. Their faithfulness to God and his greatest commandment were instrumental in evangelizing and saving my soul.

God loves us!

1- Matt 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6
2- CCC 150, and CCC 143

Gospel
Mt 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law tested him by asking,
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"
He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

"Oh, Baby! I've Found Real Love" - Sincere Love and Knowledge of God - ME#15 June 8, 2008

The theme of this week's readings again is faith. Again, God wants us to know what real faith is. He compares the real faith of Abraham and Jesus with the superficial faith that "like the dew that early fades away."

This week we will discuss what real faith is vs. "pretend" faith. The readings give particular attention to real faith vs. insincere sacrifice. The first reading talks about how the Lord desires love and knowledge of him rather than sacrifices.

Today, I am focusing on real love vs. "pretend" love and knowledge of God. There is commentary following the 1st reading only.


Reading 1
Hos 6:3-6

In their affliction, people will say:
"Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD;
as certain as the dawn is his coming,
and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!
He will come to us like the rain,
like spring rain that waters the earth."
What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your piety is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that early passes away.
For this reason I smote them through the prophets,
I slew them by the words of my mouth;
for it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.

"Pretend" Love

Now why does God want real love rather than sacrifice? Not long ago, a well-known pro basketball player publicly confessed to adultery. It was reported by news agencies that a few days after he confessed to everyone and his wife, he bought a $4,000,000 ring for her. Now would he have served his wife better by remaining faithful? Instead he betrayed her and then bought a ring. I imagine that in her heart she resented the gift. Any woman who loves her spouse would prefer real loyalty over cheating and jewelry. We are talking about the person we will spend the rest of our lives with. Is jewelry going to keep us united "til death do us part" or is real love the answer?

Our situation with God is the same. We are going to spend ETERNITY with him. He desires love, not sacrifice. In the same example, didn't this basketball star SACRIFICE $4MM of his hard-earned money to buy the ring? He did, but God doesn't want this type of sacrifice. He wants REAL love. Now if a mortal woman can see through insincerity, God SURELY can. He can see through all of our insincere acts! In our modern lives, it is laughable that we would offer 10% of our income to God while committing adultery, fornication, theft, and total ABANDONMENT of our poor brothers and sisters. Sin is an offense against GOD first and foremost. Now how can we expect to make up for our infidelity to God by giving him a few bucks? In this reading, God says that such faith is "like the dew that early passes away." In other words, such faith amounts to NOTHING. God desires love, not sacrifice.¹

In Jn 15:14, Jesus says that "if you love me, you will keep my commandments". Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him, the word that I spoke. It will condemn him on the last day." Here, Jesus is so generous to explain what it means to love him. Jesus makes it easy on us. He explains very simply what we should do rather than sacrifice to him in an insincere manner. We are supposed to follow his commandments to love him and each other.

Learning About God

In this reading, the author says, "let us strive to know the Lord." God also says it is "knowledge of God" that he desires. Why does God want us to know more about him? I have found that EVERY time I learn something new about God, I am learning more about who he is. And each time, I am reminded that he is love. It is a wonderful thing to know God and that is the point of our lives.

Imagine that you love your wife. Imagine that you found some old pictures of her volunteering at an orphanage. You never knew that she did that. Next, you look into your closet and you find that your wife has ironed ALL of your shirts perfectly. You come home from work and you discover that she has spent 2 hours cooking you dinner. Wow! She loves you and you are starting to understand that in a new way. With God, we experience this new found love at the highest level. As we grow in "knowledge of God", we find that out of love, he created us so that we could experience REAL life and REAL love. We find that he loves us so much that he lowered himself by becoming human because he loves us. We find that in response to our infidelity to him, he doesn't kill us. Instead he DIES for us. Knowledge of God increases our love of him.

The Price of Ignorance

In Romans 1:24-32, Paul shows how "ignorance of God is the reason (principle) of all moral deviations."² In other words, Paul shows how we do really terrible things against God because we don't know him. Jesus echoes this on the cross: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

Here is Romans 1:24-32 where Paul talks about unbelievers:

Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies.
25
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26
Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural,
27
and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity.
28
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper.
29
They are filled with every form of wickedness, evil, greed, and malice; full of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and spite. They are gossips
30
and scandalmongers and they hate God. They are insolent, haughty, boastful, ingenious in their wickedness, and rebellious toward their parents.
31
They are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32
Although they know the just decree of God that all who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

The people who do these things are called unbelievers. Unbelievers can be baptized Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, or Muslims. Unbelievers are those who do not follow the law of God. "Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper." That means that people who don't know God are left with their own insufficient minds and end up doing very bad things. So what happens to them in this passage?

• Their own lust destroyed their bodies
• Perverted sexuality (homosexuality) became common.
• Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity. (maybe he is talking about STD's and lack of fatherhood)
• Not only did they do HORRIBLE things, they gave approval to others who did.

The World Today

Does this all sound familiar? It sounds like the place where we live. Instead of following God and his natural order, we have become perverted. Instead of sex being a way for a husband and wife to participate in creation, it has been lowed to another form of entertainment by many. Giving approval to those who do terrible EVILS reminds me of abortion. We are talking about an act which ends with blood and death EVERY time. This is an act which if we would avoid, would result in long lives for millions of newborns each year. Not only do we as a nation kill our babies, we GIVE APPROVAL to those who do the killing. We vote for pro-choice politicians even though as Catholics our unified pro-life votes could make abortion illegal forever in this country. Paul isn't just talking about idolaters of the 1st century in this reading from Romans. He is talking about unfaithful Catholics of the 21st century.

Just the same, in the 1st reading, God said, "What can I do with you Ephraim?" Today, God says the same thing to us, "What can I do with you El Paso, TX? What can I do with you Lexington, KY? What can I do with you Maine? What can I do with you America? Your piety is like a morning cloud, like the dew that early passes away."

It is a sad state of affairs and personally, I don't want to be counted amongst the unfaithful on judgment day.

As you can see, ignorance of God is truly "the principle of all moral deviations." Can you see why God desires knowledge of God rather than sacrifice? Many of us who hear this message might be scared. After all, how do you get to know God? Do we have to get PHD's in theology? Of course not. Because God loves us, he makes it easy for us. Gaining knowledge of God is as easy picking up that dusty bible from the shelf. If we do not do this, we will be left to figure out life with our own pea-sized brains. Now every time we decide to watch "American Idol", ESPN, or some movie instead of reading the bible, we are making a pitiful decision. It is a daily decision in which we can get to know our God and spend eternity with him, or we can decide to be distracted by 2 hours of entertainment every night until the day we die.

Instead of staying ignorant, I hope that we will sing together, "Oh how I'd like to be in that number, when the saints go marching in!"


The Point

• God is a person, not a thing or a book. He desires a real relationship with sincere love and boundaries
• God wants love first and foremost. We can love him the same we he loves us, his Son and the Holy Spirit- by loving unconditionally as described in the commandments.
• Faith desires understanding.³ Because of our faith, we must learn more about God. God wants us to know more about him.
• The better we get to know God, the more we understand that he love us and so we will fall in love with him more and more.
• Ignorance of God causes death and destruction of all kinds. We can see it now.
• God is calling us to read the Bible. Each day, we choose to watch television and other forms of entertainment instead of growing in knowledge of God. Many of us spend more time flossing our teeth than we do reading the Bible. It is an atrocity!

Real Life

Last Sunday night, my friend and I went to a large juvenile detention center in Juarez. She sang to the inmates and shared with them the good news of the Lord. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Many of these teenage boys, were against what she had to say at first. She spoke out against stealing (a way of life for many of them), pornography, and other sins. They laughed, jeered, and ignored her at first. But as the night went on, the Holy Spirit took over. Instead of telling you about it, I want you to see for yourself.

Click below to see video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8184G8FUovA


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 50:1, 8, 12-13, 14-15

R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
"Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your holocausts are before me always."
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for mine are the world and its fullness.
Do I eat the flesh of strong bulls,
or is the blood of goats my drink?"
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"Offer to God praise as your sacrifice
and fulfill your vows to the Most High;
Then call upon me in time of distress;
I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me."
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

Reading II
Rom 4:18-25

Brothers and sisters:
Abraham believed, hoping against hope,
that he would become "the father of many nations, "
according to what was said, "Thus shall your descendants be."
He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body
as already dead - for he was almost a hundred years old -
and the dead womb of Sarah.
He did not doubt God's promise in unbelief;
rather, he was strengthened by faith and gave glory to God
and was fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to do.
That is why it was credited to him as righteousness.
But it was not for him alone that it was written that it was credited to him;
it was also for us, to whom it will be credited,
who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
who was handed over for our transgressions
and was raised for our justification.

Gospel
Mt 9:9-13

As Jesus passed on from there,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, "Follow me."
And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
He heard this and said,
"Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."

Mass Excitement #15

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1- If we are obedient to God and have no plans or intentions to sin, God is quite pleased by sacrifice (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2099)
2- CCC 2087
3- CCC 158

3- CCC 158

"Are You a Missionary for God or the Devil?"

The commentary is below the readings.

Reading 1
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

Philip went down to the city of Samaria
and proclaimed the Christ to them.
With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip
when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.
For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,
came out of many possessed people,
and many paralyzed or crippled people were cured.
There was great joy in that city.

Now when the apostles in Jerusalem
heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God,
they sent them Peter and John,
who went down and prayed for them,
that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
for it had not yet fallen upon any of them;
they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then they laid hands on them
and they received the Holy Spirit.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20

R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,
sing praise to the glory of his name;
proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God, "How tremendous are your deeds!"
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
"Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you,
sing praise to your name!"
Come and see the works of God,
his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has changed the sea into dry land;
through the river they passed on foot;
therefore let us rejoice in him.
He rules by his might forever.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading II
1 Pt 3:15-18

Beloved:
Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.
Always be ready to give an explanation
to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,
but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear,
so that, when you are maligned,
those who defame your good conduct in Christ
may themselves be put to shame.
For it is better to suffer for doing good,
if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered for sins once,
the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous,
that he might lead you to God.
Put to death in the flesh,
he was brought to life in the Spirit.

Gospel
Jn 14:15-21

Jesus said to his disciples:
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,
because it neither sees nor knows him.
But you know him, because he remains with you,
and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him."

Gospel

In this gospel, Jesus talks about how we can love him by keeping his commandments. He also says that in keeping his commandments, we will be loved by the Father and Jesus, and that Jesus will reveal himself.

Is Jesus proposing a deal? Is he suggesting that he will only love us if we obey the rules? Absolutely not! The idea that we can earn God's love is completely wrong and is a popular misconception among Christians. God does not hate US when we sin, but in sinning, we often begin to hate ourselves. We then think that the distance growing between us and God is because God is pulling away from us. He isn't. When we sin, WE pull away from God.

Unconditional Love

The point is, God loves us no matter what- even if we don't obey the commandments! After all, Jesus was praying for the people who sinned greatly against him. "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."¹ Jesus' love is not in response to how GOOD we are. It is free of charge no matter how bad we are!

When Jesus is mocked by the soldiers, he did not open his mouth. When they made fun of him and tested him while he was on the cross, he didn't tell them to "shut up!" On the contrary, Jesus' heart is broken when we sin.

God's Love Flowing Through Us

So if Jesus is not proposing a deal with us, then what does he mean by "whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I'll love him and reveal myself to him."? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."² God literally spoke his Word to Moses. "The gift of the commandments is the gift of God himself and his holy will. In making his will known, God reveals himself to his people."³ God is sharing himself with us through the commandments.

"In keeping the commandments, the Savior himself comes to love, in us, his Father, and our brethren."⁴ When God gave us the commandments, he gave us a piece of himself. When we keep the commandments, Jesus' love flows through us to our brothers, sisters, friends, family, to God the Father. In other words, the commandments allow us to participate in God's love. In following the commandments, we get to be Jesus. Is Jesus happy? I think so. If we follow the commandments, we'll be happy even if we are made to suffer. (2nd Reading).

The Invitation

The commandments are not rules here to spoil our fun. The commandments are INVITATIONS to enjoy the love of God. We need to hear that again- the commandments are INVITATIONS to enjoy the love of God. In faithfulness to the commandments, we can see who God is (God reveals himself as promised). Who is God? He is love.

Here is an example: Jesus commands us not to get divorced.⁴ Why? It's because Jesus is saying this: Even if you cheat on me (worship other Gods), even if you beat me up, and even if you are ashamed to say you know me⁵, I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU!

Jesus will never divorce us, so he doesn't want us to divorce each other. If we listen to this, we get to love like Jesus does (unconditionally). Can you see that Jesus' commandments are invitations to LOVE LIKE HE DOES? If so, you and I need to act like we believe it and live the commandments every day!

2nd Reading

The author says that we should "always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope." As Christians, our hope is God. The author of this reading goes on to say that we should "keep our consciences clear." In this week's gospel, Jesus tells us HOW to keep our consciences clear. All we need to do is follow his commandments and our consciences will be quite clear.

When we follow his commandments, God reveals himself to us. So, how can we give an explanation of our reason for hope? We must first obey the commandments. After all, how can we tell someone about God if we don't even know him? The less we obey, the less we know him. How can we share God's loving commandments with someone if we don't obey the commandments ourselves? We can't. You can't give someone something that you don't have. We can't explain our reason for hope, if we don't follow the commandments.

Empty-Handed

Let's look at what happens when we try to tell someone about God while disobeying the commandments. I know lots of people who were once Christians and have since left. But why did these brothers and sisters of ours leave the church? My ex-Christian friends have told me:

• One friend left (or stopped going to church) because a priest was very mean to her.
• One left Christianity because some so-called "Christians" told her that she should forget about her non-Christian parents because they are going to hell.⁶
• One left partly because his dad claimed to believe in Christ and yet he was convicted of a felony and went to prison (leaving the family with little hope)

This reading says that if we want to tell someone about our "reason for hope" we must "keep our consciences clear." In other words, it is impossible to bring others closer to Christ if we ourselves are far from him.


Missionaries

Someone recently told me that my job as a missionary,⁷ "was not the path for her". Well guess what? Everybody is a full-time missionary whether they know it or not! Either our faithfulness to God is drawing others to God, or our lack of faithfulness, is driving others AWAY from God. That means we are either missionaries for God, or missionaries for the Devil! When we obey God, we are missionaries for him. When we disobey God, we are missionaries for the devil. Just look at the above examples of how sinfulness drives others away from God.

Have our actions (whether good or bad) ever influenced our friends? I think it would be better if we keep our consciences clear.

What God Wants

Many people tell me that they feel like they wanna do something else for God besides going to work and Church, and occasionally doing charitable work or donating. It is good to have this desire. More important than this desire to do extra stuff, is that we understand that God wants us to first OBEY HIS COMMANDMENTS.

If we obey his commandments, we shall participate in his incredible, unconditional love. We shall get to know God better. If we truly try to obey his commandments, we will be so happy, fulfilled, and excited about God that nothing will be able to stop us from figuring out what else God wants us to do with our time. God will shows us very clearly what he wants us to do besides work, church, and occasional charity.

First things, first. We must accept the invitation to love and obey his commandments.

The Point

• God wants us to obey the commandments. Even if we sin and disobey the commandments, he still loves us.
• The commandments are commandments to love one another. So, a look at the commandments is a glance at how God loves us.
• When we obey the commandments, God and his love flows through us.
• Each commandment is an invitation and an opportunity to love the way God loves- unconditionally
• God wants us to share him and his love with everyone. We can ONLY do this if we first OBEY his commandments
• If we try to evangelize while disobeying the commandments, we will drive others from God and the Devil will use us to evangelize for THE DEVIL.
• We are missionaries. EVERYTHING that we do, is either bringing others to God or driving them away from God.
• If we want to do something for God, we must obey his commandments.

Real Life

One of my friend's friends killed himself during high school. In his suicide letter, he said that if just one person would have smiled at him or spoken to him on the day of his impending suicide, he wouldn't have done it. Never underestimate the power of a loving smile and the power of empathizing.

There was a boy who was going home from school one day when some fellow classmates knocked the books out of his hands. As he was picking up his books, another classmate came to help him. Soon thereafter, they became good friends. At graduation, the boy who had his books knocked out of his hands gave a speech. In his speech, he talked about what a great friend he had. This friend came to help him one day when some bullies knocked his books out of his hands. He went on to say that the reason he was carrying so many books that day was because he had planned to kill himself that day. He had cleaned out his locker because he didn't want to burden his family with the cleanup after his death. His loving friend unknowingly saved the boy's life.⁸

Jesus said, "I give you another command, love one another."

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1 Luke 23:34
2 John 1:1
3 Catechism of the Catholic Church 2059 & related to Ephesians 1:9-11
4 Mark 10:11-12
5 Peter was ashamed of being associated with Jesus in Matthew 26:69-75
6 This is my opinion of why she left the church. My friend might not agree with me
7 She said that "what you are doing is not the path for me"
8 This is how I remember the story, though I probably screwed up some parts