Mt 7:21,24-27 A Strong Christian
He didn’t come back home. His wife and children were scared something bad had happened to him. What his wife of 15 years and children of 11 and 7 didn’t realize is that he was arrested on prostitution charges. Our man is a non-Catholic Christian: devote, handsome, intelligent, and articulate. He was arrested that evening after having solicited an undercover police woman. His wife was in shock; his children still wondering why mommy was crying – words would not come out.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven.” I just sent this verse, from today’s Gospel, to a young College student who experiences the constant bombardment by her Protestant friends who question if she is saved. After all, just accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and once saved, always saved. The difficulty I have with this concept is that it is the work of the devil. Not everyone who says to me, ‘My Lord, my Lord’, will enter the Kingdom of heaven. Why? Because you have to do something: the Father’s Will. We are called upon to be like Christ. All of us! And to do so, we must build our lives on solid ground. Jesus is the corner stone; the Church is the Rock because it is the mystical body of Christ. “The Lord is an eternal Rock” (Is 26: 4-5).
“A strong city have we; he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us” (Is 118:26a) The Lord demands excellence from all of us. What is the enemy of excellence? Goodness. The greatest threat to being great is being good enough. The greatest threat in starting a new business adventure is having a safety net. The greatest threat to being a Saint is being reasonable, practical or logical.
What does it take to be a Saint? Grace. Does the Lord not give all of us his grace to be holy? Yes. So what does it take for us to be holy? I have come to realize that one essential ingredient is DISCIPLINE! Yes, discipline. To finish what you start. To fulfill your commitments: to say yes to the Lord and to do it. Without discipline we are in constant danger – great danger. We will never charge up the mountain. We will never “never surrender!” Without discipline we will constantly stumble and fall and land flat on our face. We will spend our entire lives climbing a mountain using only our hands and not our feet, for we will be climbing from a ledge, a cliff, inch by inch, without ever being able to give a hand to others. And once we get to the top (if we do), we will find that the path was easier from another side. Discipline is the other side, or the tools that God provides to help us get to the top from an easier side. Discipline is like using a can opener to open a can rather than using a knife to get the job done. Yes, both can be used, but what a waste of time, effort and brains.
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” Listen and act. These are essential ingredients or requirements to live a good Advent. What must I do? Find out. Once you find out, do it and hold yourself accountable. Find someone that will help you to be accountable. In my own personal life I thank the Lord so much for having given me the grace, the light, to start up this blog. This blog is more for me than for anyone else. It is my meditation, my prayer time that I must hold as sacred. On Tuesday, the priests from the Diocese had a retreat. Our guest speaker told us that priests who spend an hour a day in prayer are less likely to experience emotional exhaustion or loneliness. In fact, they will experience greater happiness. Wow!!! What a discovery! I could have told him that myself. He actually mentioned that “burn out” is not caused by too much work, but rather work that is not rewarding or enriching!
Prayer is a good discipline and a good idea. It is the best. What is true for priests is true for all!
“Pray constantly, so as to not fall into temptation.” Prayer is a grace from God and a discipline for man. It is not the cure for all. I know that! But it is a very good start in disciplining your thoughts, words and actions. What was/is good for Jesus is good for man.
Father,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this meditation. These are the words I needed to hear and the truth I have been unwilling to face.
I always wanted to send my daughters to Catholic school, but didn't for this reason or the other, maybe I didn't 'push' enough.I don't usually push, should I? My husband and I sent them to public school instead.I am from El Paso, lots of Catholics there. When I moved to Dallas 33 years ago and encountered the overabundance of Protestants and Catholics as what seemed to me as the minority, I was in shock and it took some time to adjust.Anyway, the day of my youngest high school graduation was a great day for my.Alleluya! It meant we could separate ourselves from the negative remarks and energy and arrogance from all those protestants who always judged and made it known that they knew God, Jesus inside and out and they had a free pass to heaven simply because they were of their protestant faith. Oh, these kids and their families,lots of them were out sinning, having sex, drinking under aged, breaking the laws, behaving with the complete opposite of grace and compassion,carrying on like the rules didn't apply to them, yet they always had their arrogance about them an chanting their popular line of "what would Jesus do?"and others similar, always quoting versus from the bible. haha. My family just found it hilarious,among annoying and sad. Still there were some tearful moments for my girls as they were not old enough to take the nastiness from these fellow students, one of them being my baby's "best friend", who told my daughter on several occasions that my daughter was not going to heaven because she was catholic and that she was going to try to save her by getting her to go to her church instead.We tolerated her stupid arrogance the best way we could and did not hold it against her.I'm just happy that we have no more of that pompous garbage hovering around us. We can breath and move around a little better now. I feel free now. We tolerated and 'turned the other cheek' from all that overbearing arrogance for years. Good riddens!
ReplyDeleteFr. Alfonse,
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful posting/meditation. I started reading daily devotions to all of my students this Advent season. They are really enjoying these simple meditations. Wow! Your meditation falls under the same topic of the meditation I read today. It had to do with we are all called to be Christ like and to choose friends wisely, however not to turn the cheek when others are misbehaving. Instead, help them to become better individuals and followers of Christ. I think they really got this message. Thanks for this meditation today.
Naomi
Father,
ReplyDeleteYour blog is a gift, a tremendous blessing to me and to all who read it!
There have been countless times I have prayed for God to reveal understanding or courage for the plan He has for me and my family. Of course we know that we are doing things on God's time...but just when I question whether God is truly listening to my prayers for answers or understanding--I read your blog--and I know God is listening to my prayers.
Thank you for the time and thoughtfulness you put into your daily meditation for all to read!
God Bless you Father Alfonse!
In prayer tonight, God made it known to me what He wants me to do this Advent.
ReplyDeleteIt is going to be very difficult and very humbling. And honestly I don’t want to do it. But knowing the consequences of ignoring or putting off his will for me, (and believe me, I know them all too well), I will comply, although I may argue and try to bargain a little because it is so much to ask and yet I know it will bring me peace and peace is what I really want this Advent and always.
It will be my gift to myself, to God and to those I’ve hurt, if they choose to receive what He’s asking me to give them.
He is asking me to seek out those that I have hurt and ask their forgiveness, make amends and if possible repair the relationship. This is a huge request. He’s asking me to pray about it each day and ask Him to show me who I’ve hurt, either, out of pride, selfishness, jealousy, or for any other reason. And He’s asked me to even look at those who I thought I was helping who were hurt by my words or actions. He’s asking me to humble myself and truly seek His guidance and look deep into my soul and do this for every person I’ve hurt that He brings to my mind and heart. I told him that it would take more than Advent to do this, and He let me know that He had eternity and if I refused it may effect my eternity.
How can I say no to that?
He also asked me to share this with all of you because what could be a better gift to give Him than peace, especially this time of year? And of course Love will automatically be part of the deal because there is no way that any of us could sincerely do this without love, love for God, those we’ve hurt and even for ourselves. And guess what? JOY will result! So let's truly seek Love, Peace and Joy this year during our preparations for His birth.
May God give me the Grace, courage and love to give Him, who’s given me everything, this token of my appreciation and love as a Christmas gift. AMEN!