Lk 13:31-35 Are You A People Pleaser?

Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

(Click here for readings)

Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said, "Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you."  He replied, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.'"

Our Lord will not allow anyone or anything to come in between Him and us.  Will you?

What will separate you from the love of Christ?  Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?  (cf. Rm 8:31b-39)

When St. Paul made out his list, he did it by memory, recent memory.  He experienced it all after his conversion to Christ.  I am sure he noticed it.  Did you?

He experienced it all:  Heartache and heartbreak was all too familiar to him; physical pain, emotional pain, psychological pain, even spiritual pain were daily realities.  And although he dedicated his life to serve and to love, he was persecuted and threatened night and day with death.  He endured sleepless and cold nights.  In the end, he underwent the sword for the Lord. 

Now I know He knew better.  I know he got the hint.  Paul was no dummy.  He knew it wouldn't end "well" for him. But he marched on, as long as he could, along the Via Crucis, The Way, never looking back and never once regretting the decision He had made.

St. Paul, pray for us!

Why are the lives of the Saints so easy to read and so difficult to live?  Why do they bring tears to my eyes but fear in my heart?  Why are they so inspiring to my eyes and ears, yet so torturous for my hands and feet?

It may very well be because my life is still very much self-centered.

Herod is looking to kill you.  The Lord got the bad news from some unlikely sources:  Pharisees.  Maybe they thought they could scare Him on Halloween day.  After all, if we can't accuse Him of anything, then maybe we can use Herod to scare Him.  Well, they failed.  He did not budge.  Why?  Because a king is nothing in the presence of a principle. 

Principles.  Principles.  Principles.  Are you principled-centered or are you still a people-pleaser?  Are you driven by Christ or by pride, vanity and sensuality?  Are you still seeking MTV's "Best Dad Ever" award or TIME Magazine's "Most Influential Person Ever" Award or your High School's "Most Likely To Succeed" Award?

Give the Lord a break, please!  What pitiful honors are these when compared to the Lord and His principles.

Choose well.  Choose the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Do it now!  What will it be?  Will it be the death agony of happiness or the death agony of virtue? 

In Victor Hugo's amazing novel, Les Miserables, Jean Valjean is caught in a dilemma:  He must either reveal his true identity to a court of law and return to prison, or hide himself and allow an innocent man to take his place and be sent to prison.  Of course all of this went against his life plan: "His goal was to conceal his name and sanctify his life and to escape from men and return to God.  Now, it was necessary to sanctify his life he must reveal his name.  He must return to men and carry his cross."

What will it be?  Will you carry your cross and sanctify your life in this world, or conceal your true identity and walk away from this world? 

This is not an easy choice.  Let us not kid ourselves of such serious business.  But to budge or not to budge is not the real question, for sometimes it is good to budge a little.  No, the real question is whether or not to love and not be loved.  That is the real question!  For to love someone means to seek what is good for them.  Unfortunately, this will not always what they sought, nor will their response to you always be what you expected.  But "I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

Amen!

Happy Halloween.  Let's not forget to take off the mask after today.