John 3:13-17 Lift High The Cross

John 3:13-17  Lift High The Cross

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Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”  For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

A criticism often levied against Christians is that we are far too often focused on something far too far away.  Our desire for Heaven is often viewed as a rejection of earth.  This criticism is not without any merit.  How often have I found myself explaining my life by saying, “I’ve rejected this world for Christ” or “I’ve rejected the things of this world to follow Christ”? 

Now, I know what I mean, but I also know what this sounds like. 

We, as Christians, have to be careful.  Christ did not come into the world to reject the world.  Nor did He come into the world to condemn the world.  Rather, He came into the world to love the world.

So what should I say when it comes to this world?  I think the old saying: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, may be well adapted for Christians in the following way:  “As a Christian, do as Christ would do.”   Let us be imitators of Christ. 

The Lord did not come into the world to reject the world, and neither should I.  He did not come into the world to reject the sinner, and neither should I.  Instead, the Lord came into the world to confront sin and embrace it.  Yes, embrace it!  Suffocate it!  Intoxicate it!  And nail Himself to it!  And yes...so should I. 

Embrace it.  The Lord accepted His Cross and wrapped His arms around it.  The Cross is not just a symbol of the reality of sin; it is, more importantly, a symbol of the reality of the sinner.  It is a symbol of each and every one of us.  What the Lord does to the Cross is what He does to us:  He will not turn His back on us; He will not abandon us; He will not reject us.  Instead, He will take us upon His shoulders and carry us, all the way, till His death.  Sin will no longer give birth to further tragedy; it will give birth to an everlasting Savior! 

We do not reject this world; we change it.  We do not reject the sinner; we embrace him. 

Yesterday, I was dying.  My back was killing me!  Nothing would dull the pain.  I wanted to go see my chiropractor but I didn’t know when I would be able to see him.  He called me right between two appointments (Thank you Lord!) and so I rushed there to get my back fixed.  It worked.  Pain relieved.  Problem solved.  

As I was heading out of the building, I found myself in the elevator alone with a college student.  I cracked a little joke about the elevator “going down to hell”.  She laughed a little, but more out of politeness.  Then, out of the blue, she asked me if I was a minister (I was wearing my uniform).  I nodded.  She asked me what kind of minister I was.  I told her I was a Roman Catholic priest.  She asked me if I always had to wear my uniform.  I told her, “Yes, almost always.”  She asked me why?  I thought about it and told her, “You never know when you will be needed…when someone is looking for a priest.”  She thought long and hard at what I said.  I broke the silence by asking her what religion she was.  “Methodist”, she said, “But I stopped going to Church a long time ago”.  She surprised me when she told me she had a very strong desire to go to Confession.  I told her, “I’m ready when you are!”    She couldn’t believe it.  She was happy, but was not ready to go.  However, she did tell me that she had just gotten out of therapy and that she would love to go to Confession one day.  I gave the address to St. Monica and encouraged her to come to Church.  I hope she does.

Somehow the Cross has become a symbol just of Christ.  It shouldn’t be.  It should be the symbol of a relationship between Christ and the sinner; the good times and the bad; of sickness and health; of sinner and Savior.  Christ and the Cross is a reminder that He is united to us...for life.  We need him back on the Cross, not to crucify Him, but to embrace us.

As I got into my car, I was reminded of just how important it is for us to wear our faith on our sleeves, regardless of how hot it is!  You just never know when you need to let others know who you are. 

Let us all lift high the Cross, in one way or another.  Not to show off, but as a sign to let others know the love of our life!  In this way, we will do what Christ did:  bring heaven down to earth.

Luke 5:1-11 Peter’s Hell

Luke 5:1-11  Peter’s Hell

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Simon said to Jesus, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”  When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing…When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”  Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Do not be afraid.  Here are those words again.  Why do I fear so much?  When do I fear so much?  I know when:  every time I lose control or when someone else takes control.  I am a control freak!  I want to control everybody and everything:  my day, my job, my boss, my friends, my destiny, my wife, my husband, my children, my life and my death.  But imagine for a moment a dog trying to control its master.  Looks pretty silly.  This is how it must look every time I try to control God.  Pretty silly.

And worse: control often leads to the fine art of manipulation.  Friends get burned.  I get burned.  Control freaks come to an end just like a power outage!  

Depart from me.  Peter loved the Lord.  But his love was elementary, far too simplistic; too black and white.  “Depart from me, Lord”.  I am no good for you.  Peter was afraid because he could not control the situation.  He understood the situation.  If he could not control the catch, he wouldn't be able to control the Lord.  And if he couldn’t control the Lord, he wouldn't be able to protect the Lord.  He felt like the burden was too much.  He felt the pressure to high.  Depart from me Lord.  I am a weak and sinful man.  

Peter understood the situation.  What he didn't understand was the Lord. 

We know not what we ask for. But what Peter was asking for is what many of us ask for:  to be left alone.  When Peter told the Lord to leave him, he was basically asking the Lord to send him to hell.  Oh, the heartfelt and confusing things we say!  Of course Peter knew not what he was asking for.  But every time we ask the Lord to depart from us, we are asking Him to send us to hell.

It’s time we exit the illusion of self-sufficiency and discover and accept one’s own needs:  need of others and God – His forgiveness and friendship. (Pope Benedict XVI) 

A while back, at a retreat in Lubbock, a young lady told me they were seeking evil upon God!  I asked, “Are you sure you know what you are asking for?”    She stood there unresponsive.  I continued, “Did you ever ask yourself why every time you wished evil upon the Lord, evils fell upon you?”   This individual had suffered greatly for her sins.  She knew what I was talking about.  “Have you figured it out yet that every time you try to crucify the Lord, you end up crucifying yourself?  Do you know why?  It’s because you were created in the image and likeness of God.  What you do to Him, you end up doing to yourself.” 

I am a sinful man.  Why should I not be afraid of the Lord when I feel like my sins have taken control of me?  How can you say I should be at peace and my rest tranquil when my life is falling apart?  How can I not worry? Why should I not be filled with stress, or anxiety or even panic attacks?  Why should I feel confident in God when I feel no love?  Be still.  Be silent.  Our peace comes from the Lord’s response to Peter’s insistence.  Peter is no different than me.  He was a sinful man.  I am a sinful man.  He was a useless man.  I am a useless man.  Peter was a simpleton.  I am a simpleton.  He was a control freak.  I am a control freak.  And still…the Lord made one thing very clear to him and that He would like to make very clear to me:  There are many things that I will do.  But I will never depart from you!

Departing from a bad situation is not something the Lord does well.  Love is very different from manipulation.  It asks for nothing in return and get’s more than it ever bargained for.

With a little faith, Peter’s hell turned into Peter’s glory.  He even stopped failing as a fisherman.

Lk 4:38-44 The God Touch

Lk 4:38-44  The God Touch

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After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.  Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever.  He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.  She got up immediately and waited on them.  At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him.  He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.

I will never forget what happened to me when I went to Mexico to attend the beatification ceremony of Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio, the young martyr whose life was recently featured in the movie “For Greater Glory”.   While I was in Sahuayo, Michoacan, I went to visit the local Church where this child would often serve at Mass.  As I was heading back to the bus, a young man asked me for a blessing.  I placed my hand over his head and blessed him.  Then, another man came up to me and asked for my blessing.  Again, I placed my hand over his head and prayed over him.  When I looked up, I could not believe what I was seeing.  A crowd had gathered around me.  Fifty, then sixty, then nearly one hundred people surrounded me and asked me for a blessing. 

Never before did I feel so needed and so wanted as in that moment and in that place.  Never before did I experience such personal oneness (closeness) with Christ and His priesthood.  Never before did I witness so much trust, love and devotion towards Christ.

He laid his hands on each of them.  When I saw the crowd gather, I was tempted to give one big blessing, but then I asked myself what the Lord would do.  It’s then that I remembered:  “He laid his hands on each of them…”   

The Lord gave himself; his time and attention, to every single soul that sought Him.  It is this extraordinary fact and highly inefficient tactic that made Him so loveable, memorable, personable and believable to others.  The Lord had no fears in allowing others to get close to Him; to get to know Him.  This should not be taken lightly.  After all, most celebrities keep their distances.  Stages are set well above the crowd – above our abilities to jump over it.  Cameras and microphones allow pop stars to easily communicate with millions of their adoring fans…and get away with it FROM A DISTANCE.  Do not even think for a moment that it is for their security.  Hah! It is not for their safety, it is for their sake; their image. It’s not to keep them safe and sound but to keep what is hidden from being revealed.  Our sins are what make us fearful of getting too close to anyone. 

Over time, I have convinced myself that if others only knew me…they would run away from me.   

He stood over her.  The Lord reaches out to us.  And even though He knows us, He continues to love us.  Though He was without sin, He does not shy away from us.  Instead, He over reaches to get to us so that we can’t help but touch Him, know Him and be saved by Him.  His light is what shines all over my heart, mind, body and soul.  His light dispels the darkness in my life.  Idols are incredibly insecure people.  They do not want us to know them for who they really are.  They prefer to cover their eyes with sunglasses, even during the night.

When you leave this earth, how many people will have known you intimately, personally and affectionately?  Two?  Three?  A handful?  Is this a bad thing?  Not at all!  Not at all if it was for good, and better yet if it was for worse.   

Do you realize that the Lord was known intimately by just a few people?  But boy…look at what they did with that knowledge! 

Regardless of how long we live:  ten years, thirty years, fifty years, even one hundred years, we will only be intimately and personally known by just a few.   

Some people may get to know me with blood samples; others by my size, height, width, DNA, look or feel or some weird Freudian measuring stick.  Still others may even get to know me by what I wrote, said and did.  But only a few will ever know me by heart.  And if only a few ever got to know me by heart, then I can truly imagine only One who would have known me better than I knew myself; who would have known what I was capable of before I was ever formed in my mother’s womb. (cf. Jer 1:5)

This is the God touch.