Luke 14:1,7-11 Real Humility

Luke 14:1,7-11 Real Humility

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At the home of one of the leading Pharisees, Jesus told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table…When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor.  A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man’, and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place…For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

I was worried this Halloween.  I was worried that I would run out of candy.  So on Wednesday afternoon, I went to Albertsons to buy a few more bags of candies just to be safe.  While I was driving, I was thinking to myself, “Let’s see…there are approximately four thousand parishioners here.  We have nearly nine hundred kids in our school…They all know me…I’m gonna need a lot of candy.” 

I bought nearly one hundred dollars worth of candy.  I bought the good stuff:  Kitkats, Reeses, Hersey bars, Hersey kisses, etc…  

I ripped open a few bags and put the chocolates in a large container.  I sat down and waited for the storm to hit. 

6:00 pm:  All quiet.  I thought to myself, “Well, it’s still early.  The kids are having dinner.”  7:00 pm:  Nothing.  I reasoned with myself, “They must be getting ready.”  8:00 pm:  Not a living soul.  I questioned myself, “What is going on?”  I checked the outdoor lights.  9:00 pm:  What the…!!!

Not a single kid showed up at my door.  This coming Monday, I will throw all my candy at them!

I thought I was popular.  I thought I was the only one.  I thought I would get inundated with little hands.  I thought there would be a line at my door.  Instead, I got nothing, no one, not a soul, not even an emergency call!

The Lord said, “When you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’  Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table.’”

What a practical tip.  What a helpful hint.  But is it really that?  Is the Lord writing a self-help book full of “techniques” to help his followers to “appear” more humble?  Theoretically (or theatrically) , is it not possible that a very arrogant man could intentionally sit in the back only to be told to come up to the front?  Isn’t seeking attention part of the problem with humility?

The Lord is not offering us some practical tips or helpful hints to be more humble.  The Lord is offering us a humble way of life.  Humility is based on the truth.  And the truth is:  We are nothing without the Lord.

Doesn’t St. Paul sound a bit arrogant in his letters?  In one of them, he writes: “Be imitators of ME for I imitate Christ” (Eph 5:1).  Wow!  Is it humility to equate oneself to Christ?  It is!  But only if you are a saint; that is, if Christ lives and breathes and works through you.  In today’s reading, St. Paul writes:  “That I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.”  Wow!  Imagine for a moment if I went to your house and told you, “You should feel blessed to have me in your presence!”

Any sane person would throw me out the door.

The secret to humility is not found in any self-improvement book.  Rather, it is found in the person of Jesus Christ. 

The secret to humility is found in TOTAL obedience to God’s Will. 

When a humble man acts on a good decision and it doesn’t work out, he will not resort to breaking all the commandments to get what he wants.  Instead, he will trust that the Lord has an alternate plan for him.  He knows (and accepts) that God’s plan is always the better plan.

It’s not so much what we say or do, but how we live.  That’s what made Saul, Paul and Paul St. Paul.

Mt 5:1-12a All Saints

Mt 5:1-12a  All Saints

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When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.  He began to teach them saying:  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted…”

These words have become so common that they have nearly lost their significance.  But they are the nine steps to holiness.

Why am I here?  To be a saint.  Everything else - all other goals - is a waste of time.  Really!  What else could possibly be worth living (and dying) for?  What does it mean to be a saint?  It means to love God above all other things and to love your neighbor as yourself.   It means to say what Christ said, do what Christ did, and live like Christ lived.  A saint is another Christ. 

The saints were normal people that did something about it.  Yes, they were regular people, but they never settled for that. And although they came in different shapes and sizes and from just about every imaginable background, they all shared one thing in common:  they were all sinners.  And here lies the difference between us and them:  they did something about that.  They worked hard not to be more like us, but to be more like Christ.  They desired not to melt in but to stand up. 

St. Paul was a sinner, and arguably the worst of sinners.  St. Angela Merici was a sinner.  So was St. Dominic Savio.  Even Maria Goretti was a sinner.  But they all did something about it.  They really tried to love God above all things and to love their neighbors in an uncommon way.

Someone once told me that if St. Angela were alive today, she would have been a great business woman.  I told them that if St. Angela were alive today, she would have been a holy nun and a great business woman.  Let’s not fool ourselves.  Her vocation, her life mission, her goal in life, her dreams and her drive all came from a love for God.  Yes, she did amazing work for young girls, but she loved God above all other things, even the girls she educated.  Thank God!  Because she loved God, she saw a problem and made it smaller, not bigger.  You see, it’s not enough just to love your neighbor.  It’s not enough to see a problem and want to solve it.   Without God, you may actually end up harming your neighbor and making a problem much worse.  Some of our best intentions have made our lives more dangerous and our problems much worse.  Some of our best intentions have killed our children!

The best ways to solve the worst problems start by loving God above all things; seeing things from His perspective, and solving the problem with His help.

Life is hard.  Life is incredibly hard.  As I wrote yesterday, “we are not as strong as we think we are.”  Everyone faces tough choices in life.  Everyone faces hardships and difficulties.  Most marriages are hard to keep.  Most children are hard to rise.  Most promises are easy to break.  The difference between the saints and the sinners is not the hardships they faced but how they responded to them.

“Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?  …My Lord, you are the one who knows.”  He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress…”  (Rev. 7:13-14).

A few days ago I spoke to a family I know who live in New York City.  They told me they had prayed to God that He protect them from the storm.  Their home and their lives were spared.  I asked them if they had prayed that God protect the others as well.  They were silent.  Imagine for a moment if their house was the only house standing?  I wonder how they would feel about that?

Blessed are the poor in spirit (humble).  Blessed are they who mourn (those who do not take anything or anyone for granted).  Blessed are the meek.  Blessed are the merciful.  Blessed are the clean of heart.  Blessed are the peacemakers.  Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness.  Blessed are they who are insulted because of the Lord.

Nine steps to holiness.  Nine bridges that lead to God.  Take one each day.

Yesterday, I spoke to a couple that went around the world in 30 days.  It was a very expensive trip.  They were part of a group of nearly fifty people.  They went all over the world.  You would think they would have mentioned the sites they saw.  Instead, the first thing they mentioned to me was an elderly woman who was drunk every day and night.  They told me she made them late, she made them sick, she embarrassed them, she harassed them, she delayed them and she made the trip unbearable.  At a certain moment, the organizers of the trip warned her that if she were late again, then they would leave her behind.

I asked the couple if anyone helped her.  They were confused.  So, I asked again:  “Did anyone try to help her?  Did anyone talk to her or ask her if she was going through some tough times?”  No. 

Yes.  It’s easy to be a bystander.  It's tough be an "upstander"; to stand up.   It’s easy to judge.  It's easy to condemn.  It's a different story to love:  it's called a love story.  That’s the difference between the saints and the sinners.  They wanted to be part of a love story. 

They didn’t know everything.  But they did know when to help.  They didn't go blind when someone was going through hell. 

The Saints understood that God’s great and amazing plans (for them) always include lost souls, even when they're on vacation.

Oh Lord, may we never be content with just being who we are, but strive to be more like who you are.  We ask this in your Holy name.  Amen.
 

Luke 12:8-12 Acknowledging God

Luke 12:8-12  Acknowledging God(Click here for readings)

Jesus said to his disciples:  “I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.”

Jake Finkbonner is the reason why Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, a Native-American Indian who lived in the 17^th century, will be declared a saint by the Holy Father tomorrow morning in Rome.

In 2006, Jake Finkbonner was so close to death after flesh-eating bacteria infected him that his parents, Donny and Elsa Finkbonner, had last rites performed and were discussing with doctors donating the 5-year-old’s tiny organs. 

Fr. Sauer, who performed the last rites on Jake, four days after he cut his lip, said he immediately urged the family and the congregation back on the Indian reservation to pray to Blessed Kateri, thinking that maybe their shared faith and Native American heritage were relevant.

The Finkbonners are Native-American Indians and devout Roman Catholics.  Over the years they have felt a little ostracized by some on their reservation for being Christian.  [There’s a strong movement on most reservations for Indians to return to their ancestor’s spirituality.]  Regardless of it, the Finkbonners didn’t budge.

But every day the prognosis for little Jake got worse.  Donny Finkbonner recalled, “I remember the last day that we met with the whole group of doctors, my wife didn’t even want to hear what they had to say.  She just got behind me and was holding on.”  But rather than bad news, the doctors said the infection had suddenly stopped.  “It was like a volcano that was erupting, and they opened him up and it was gone.  It had stopped.  It was an amazing day.”

It took the Finkbonners several years to realize that the turning point had come a day after a friend of the family – a nun named after Kateri – had visited them in the hospital, prayed with them and placed a relic of the soon-to-be saint on Jake’s leg.

They went back to their calendar and noticed that the day the nun arrived and prayed with them was the day the infection stopped.

The similarities between Jake and Blessed Kateri are remarkable:  Just like the Finkbonners, Blessed Kateri was ostracized by her tribe for having held on to the Catholic faith.  She was badly scarred at the age of four during a smallpox epidemic.  Jake’s illness has left many physical scars as well.  

The doctor’s at Seattle Children’s Hospital told the family they should pray for a miracle.  They were the first to tell them they had no scientific explanation for their son’s healing.

To be a saint does not mean to live like Christ.  It means to live in Christ.  It means it is no longer I who live in me but Christ who lives in me.   I acknowledge the Lord in all the good I do because He lives and breathes and moves in me.  The goal of every Christian is to be another Christ:  a Saint.  Yes, we are sinners.  Yet sinners do become saints.  And history has proven that all saints are made from the same raw material:  sinners.

St. Kateri, pray for us.

Mk 8:27-35 Crucifixes and Christians

Mk 8:27-35 Crucifixes and Christians

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Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”  They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.”  And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ.”  Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him…He summoned the crowd and with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”

A lesson learned is a lesson well taught.  If we have not learned our lessons well, then it’s because we have not been taught well. 

In the past three days, I’ve been meditating and reflecting on the cross.  As I mentioned before, the cross is only half a symbol of Christianity, for it is missing a very key component of Christianity:  Christ. 

It should be obvious to all that Christ is not the cross, for Christ was nailed to the Cross.  Rather, the cross is a symbol of the sinner; that is, it is a symbol of me.  Therefore, the real symbol of Christianity is not the cross; it is the crucifix.  This is the true symbol of Christianity for it is the fullness of Christ’s ministry.  Christ nailed himself to us, and He refuses to be separated from us.  He is forever near to me, next to me, nailed to me.  And that is very, very reassuring.  Christ will never depart from me.  He’s got my back FOREVER!

But with the loss in the meaning of the Cross, comes the loss in the meaning of the Christian.  Let us never forget what the Christian does best:  He follows the Lord, everywhere.  Where He goes I must go.  Where He leads I must lead.  “If you wish to follow me, then pick up your cross and follow me.”  Christ did not die for us so that we would have nothing to do for Him.  He died for us so that we could die like Him, for our neighbor.

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?  …So also faith of itself, it is does not have works, is dead.  Indeed someone might say, “You have faith and I have works.”  Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.”  (James 2:14-18)

Many Christians have not learned their catechism well!  They think that an easy life is a blessed life.  If you are one of the many who think that, then I invite you to think again.  After all, there is no denying that the Lord lived a blessed life and a very difficult life almost all his life. 

Is being a millionaire a sign of being blessed?  Think again.  I do not know of a single Saint that became a millionaire.  I do, however, know of many Saints who were millionaires and gave their millions to enter a convent or a seminary.  So, why do we think that in order to be blessed, we have to be filled with cash? Or, in order to be blessed we have to have a lot of free time.

If I have nothing to do, then chances are I will do nothing in my life.  But if I have a ton of things to do, then chances are I will accomplish something in my life. 

Take a good look at your life.  Take a look at the decisions you’ve made.  Now, take a good look at Christ’s life.  Take a look at the decisions He made and the words He said.  Analyze Him alongside yourself.  Do you notice any differences in focus, interests, discipline, direction and decisions?  If so, then bridge the gap!  Bring yourself closer to Christ.  If you do so, I guarantee you an immediate improvement in the quality of your life. 

I think that most of us know by now that a life filled with pleasure often led to a life full of regrets and emptiness.  Whereas (and most surprising of all), a life filled with struggles, pain, difficulties, and trials often led to a more meaningful, more romantic, more grateful and more powerful and purpose-filled life. 

Tell me if you think I am wrong.  But I have seen both cases far too often to doubt it anymore.

Christ nailed to the Cross teaches us four important life lessons:  (1) there is no Christ without a Cross. (2) There is no Savior without a sinner.  (3)  There is no love without sacrifice.  (4)  There is no resurrection without crucifixion.  Therefore, let us do as the Lord would do.  Do not shrink from pain, difficulties or trials.  Face them!  Face them head on!  Nail yourself to your cross.  Or as St. Paul puts it:  “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.”    

Every time I nail my triumph with Christ, I nail my future with His glory.  Every time I nail my sin into Christ, I nail my faith, hope and love in His mercy and compassion.  Every time I give God the last word, I turn my tragedy into triumph.  Every time I die to myself, I rise with the Lord. 

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”   

John 1:45-51 Under The Fig Tree

John 1:45-51  Under The Fig Tree

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Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”  But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth? ...Jesus saw Nathanael and said to him, “Here is a true child of Israel...Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”  Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” 

Putting things together is an important part of being a Christian.  Nathanael knew the scriptures well.  He was able to piece two important oracles together:  the fig tree and Nazareth.  The fact that he was “called” while sitting underneath a fig tree recalls how neighbors will “invite” one another under their “fig tree” in the messianic age (Zech 3:8).  And the fact that “branch” that will sprout from David is a term linked to the word Nazareth. 

When two truths join together, amazing things happen.

This morning I was driving out to Sky Ranch to celebrate Mass for the Senior girls at Ursuline Academy.   As I was heading down Walnut Hill, I got pulled over by the police.  To my “amazement”, I got pulled over because I was going a bit faster than the speed limit.  As soon as I pulled away, I kept asking myself over and over again, “Why do I do this to myself?  Why am I so stupid?  Why do I keep on agreeing to celebrate Masses that are so far away?” [Sky Ranch is about an hour-and-a-half from St. Monica.  It’s a long drive for one mass].  But in all honesty, I wasn’t asking the right questions.  Or better yet, I wasn’t allowing myself to put the right “two and two” together.  The problem was not with me being generous.  The problem was with me being devilish!   Of course I would love to be able to convince myself that generosity and sacrifices are not worth the time, the expense or the effort.  But the reality is that one can be generous and reckless at the same time.   

Either/Or or Also/And:  What makes Christianity so remarkable is its balanced approach to just about everything.   Take holiness and sinfulness as an example.  Most of our secular foes think that there is a great divide between the life of a saint and a sinner.  If there is, it isn’t our fault; it’s there’s. Most sinners would love to call themselves saints.  But it is the saint who is the first to call himself a sinner.  Christians would do well in reminding those who love to judge us that, in order to be a saint, the saint must first declare himself a sinner.   The question of holiness and sinfulness is not a question of either/or, but rather also/and.

Or take, for example, the atheist, who cherishes the use of his intellect to insult, on the grounds of reason alone, every single believer.  For him, it’s a simple question of either/or:  either you use your reason to liberate you, or you keep the faith that enslaves you.  But for the Christian it isn’t a matter of “either this or that”; it’s a matter of “both this and that”.  The Christian does not need to separate faith from reason; in fact, he believes in faith and reason; he believes that faith extends the arms of reason. 

Now every Christian knows that he has a touch of atheism in him.  After all, if he did not doubt, then he could not have faith.  Faith, by definition, requires a reasonable amount of doubt.   Of course the atheist will never admit he doubts himself.  He has too much confidence in himself.  On the other hand, the Christian should feel no shame in his weaknesses and doubts.  Humility is an essential ingredient to being a better Christian.  Paradoxically, if he did not doubt in God, he would turn himself into god...or an atheist (the two are not so far apart as you would think).

We have been taught to believe that confident people do not doubt themselves.  Nonsense!  This is like saying “confident people do not surprise themselves”.  Only those who watched the Olympics know what I am talking about.  The reality is quite obvious: confidence and doubts go hand-in-hand.  We all doubt ourselves once in a while.  Thank God!  If you didn’t have doubts in yourself, then you could never surprise yourself.  And you would take away one of the greatest joys in life.

Recently, two strong-willed women died.  Both sought to protect women’s rights.  Helen Gurley Brown, a writer, was a lifelong warrior for the Pro-Choice cause.  Nellie Gray, a lawyer, was a warrior for the Pro-life movement.  These women, who died within days of each other, were worlds apart in their views of women’s rights.   We often think of the Pro-Choice cause as synonymous with women’s rights and the Pro-life movement as synonymous as children’s rights.  This is not correct.  It is a deliberate tactic of the Pro-Choice cause when speaking incorrectly of the Pro-Life movement.    The real difference is that Brown believed you could separate the two (baby and mother).  Gray believed you could not. 

When our foes speak against us, they always use the tactic of divide and conquer.  It’s always an either/or for them.  But the Christian view of humanity is the most humane view of all.  It does not allow for anything less than also/and.  The pro-choice cause would like to consider themselves the movement for women’s rights (at the exclusion and expense of the child).   The Pro-Life movement is not a baby’s rights movement (at the exclusion and expense of the mother).  Rather, it is a movement that insists on the rights of mom and child.  This is who we are.  This is what we have always believed in.  That all life is sacred is the most humane and Christian way to respect all life.

We have more in common than in what separates us. 

Mt 16:13-23 Experiencing God

Mt 16:13-23  Experiencing God

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Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.  Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord!  No such thing shall ever happen to you.”  He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are an obstacle to me.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

This morning, while preparing for a Mass at a Carmelite monastery, I asked myself this question:  How does a Jewish woman, who later became an atheist, become a Carmelite nun, a martyr and a Saint?

Today is the feast day of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, a Carmelite nun who, prior to entering the Carmelite order, was known in the world as Edith Stein.  Edith Stein, along with her sister Rosa Stein (a Third Order Carmelite), were gassed in Auschwitz and buried in a mass grave in 1942.

Edith Stein was the last of eleven children born in 1891 to Siegfried Stein and Auguste Courant.   Although her parents were observant Jews (and her mother remained loyal to her faith her entire life), by the age of fourteen, Edith made the conscious decision not to pray anymore.  She distanced herself from the Jewish faith and from God. 

How did she discover God?  Through philosophy.  Edith was a brilliant student, with an amazing craving for knowledge.  But how did someone so studious, so intelligent and so analytical become so spiritual? 

Edith obtained her doctorate (summa cum laude) in Philosophy in 1918 under the guidance of the world famous phenomenologist, Edmund Husserl.  There are four core disciplines in philosophy.  Ontology is the study of beings or their being – what is; Epistemology is the study of knowledge – how we know; Logic is the study of valid reasoning – how to reason; Ethics is the study of right and wrong – how we should act.  If we were to add Phenomenology to our list, then it would be the study of our experience – how we experience.

Edith Stein became a believer in phenomenology.  Her problem with God was simple:  If God exists, then how would we experience Him?

Her answer came one evening in March 1921.  While visiting the home of philosopher friends, the married couple Theodor and Hedwig Conrad-Martius, she came across the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila.  She read the entire book in a single night and found the answer to her question.

How do we experience God?  By dying to oneself.

“God forbid, Lord!  No such thing shall ever happen to you.”  No wonder why Jesus’ reaction to Peter’s concern was so swift and so brutal!  “Get behind me Satan!”  The worst thing that anyone could ever pray for is to undo God’s Will!

How do we come to know God?  Yes, intellectual knowledge of God is important.  Reading about God is important.  But if we really want to come to know God then we must experience Him ourselves.  And the only way to know Him and love Him is to serve Him.  “If anyone wishes to follow me, then they must pick up their cross and follow me.” 

Saint Edith Stein, pray for us!

Mt 20:20-28 Ignoring The Past

Mt 20:20-28  Ignoring The Past

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The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and asked Him, “Command that these two sons of mine sit at your right and the other at your left.”

Though it may not be uncommon for a mom to seek the best for her children, it is uncommon for her to seek or accept what needs to take place for it to happen.

We can all agree on what’s wrong with society.  It’s another matter to agree on what it will take to fix it. 

“Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”    If we are looking forward to the “future”, it would be wise to take a look at the past.  If we are planning for the future, we should bring along with us some lessons learned from the past.  We all have a tendency to say that the future is the brightest. And the reason why we say it is not necessarily because we believe.  I think it is because we want to believe it!  And the best way to believe it is to turn our backs on our past mistakes.

There’s nothing wrong with moving forward, but to do so, without ever correcting past mistakes, is a big mistake.  Maybe that’s why we find ourselves repeating history every seventy years, or in a lifetime.

I am amazed at how intelligent Marcel and DC comics are.  I mean, you would never think that Marvel or DC comics would have something more to offer mankind than just plan entertainment.  I am stunned at what I am about to say.  I think these two organizations would win an award for advancing the slowing down of science!  If you have seen any of their movies (Avengers, Captain America, Batman, Spider Man, etc…), you will find a common thread that runs through all of them:  The threat of unmitigated scientific research. 

Science can be a very dangerous thing to mankind. 

In DC comics latest hit, “The Dark Knight Rises”, Bruce Wayne unilaterally decides not to commercialize one of his greatest inventions:  a fusion machine; a machine that simulates how the sun shines and that would guarantee clean and reliable energy on earth forever.  Talk about current event issues!  Talk about not being politically correct!  Imagine for a moment a machine like that!  Think of its potentials!  How all wars over fossil fuels would come to an end; how natural resources could be preserved and conserved.  Think about what it would do to the Green Movement (and its political wing).  It would turn red with envy and with all sincerity!  It would finally show its true radical and communist colors! 

Now why in the world would Bruce Wayne hide this machine to the world?  In the movie, he makes his decision very clear.  He says, “If this machine ever got into the hands of the wrong people, it could destroy the world.  I won’t release it until society is ready for it.”   I won’t release it until society is ready for it?  Wow!  Amazing!  DC and Marvel understand history and human nature better than anyone else.  They understand that powerful toys in the hands of irreligious and unethical men could be a very dangerous thing.  It seems as though they understand how bright the future could be:  either as bright as the Son or as bright as an atomic explosion!

While I was a student at RIT, I remember a group of pacifists (nuns included) marching on campus and calling for an end to NATO and the CIA.  They were convinced that the end of Communism, the cold war, and Berlin Wall should mean the end of national security.  I would have loved to have seen their faces on September 11^th, 2001. 

“A bright future” will always make for great propaganda, especially for those who tend to ignore past lessons and mistakes, like December 7^th, 1941.  Never letting our guard down is one concrete lesson learned from our past that would help secure a bright future.

If you wish to bask in the sun, then be prepared to be baked in the sun.  That’s a hard taught lesson from our past.  Sacrifice, dedication and perseverance will always be necessary ingredients for greater glory.  The mother of the sons of Zebedee learned that lesson well, if she lived long enough to see it happen to her two boys. 

There is no Christ without a Cross.  There is no resurrection without a crucifixion.    

Why do we read Scripture?  To learn from the past and hope for a brighter future. 

If we keep ignoring God in our families, in our schools, in our entertainment and in our conversations, then how in this world will we have a brighter future?  Talk about creating high expectations for our kids with the idea of heaven on earth and leading them to a hell on earth!

One reason why we keep failing in our quest for a brighter future is because we keep ignoring the brighter moments of our past. 

There are two ways for an archer to hit his intended target:  either by shooting an arrow through it or by changing his mind.  The only reason why we keep thinking we are doing better is because we keep redefining what “success”, “life”, “marriage” and “family” mean.    But beware!  If we can play this game, than others can too, and with words like "freedom" and "liberty". 

Let's put an end to wishful thinking not by putting an end to happy endings but by putting to rest the mistakes of our past.