Giving God our everything

Jul 28, 2023

 How important is Jesus to you? I mean, how do you show it and not just say it?

It is common enough to admit, confess or worry about how we don’t make God enough of a priority in our lives. It’s common enough in my life. Not giving God enough time in prayer or adoration, cheating God a bit by not giving him the whole of my heart and mind — that’s just as much part of my confession as yours. It’s just the way it is, I guess. Merely finite creatures trying to love an eternal God, we’re bound to blink, bound to tire, to falter. It is what it is. Sometimes we just don’t give God what he deserves — our everything.

Which is why the saints astound us. St.  Francis stripping naked , giving up everything; St. Anthony the Great hearing the Gospel just that one time and then vanishing into the desert for 20 years;  missionaries , nuns and monks giving it all up to serve the Church: all of it is amazing, and at once, it inspires and intimidates us. It’s beautiful to see that saints do radical saintly things. But why can’t I do that? Why can’t I give God everything? What’s holding me back?They are questions like these that I wrestle with whenever I come across parables like some of those we hear this Sunday. Jesus says the kingdom is like a merchant searching for  pearls , who when he finds the most beautiful pearl he’s ever seen, “goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” He gives up everything for the kingdom; that’s the point. But that’s also exactly what I have trouble doing, tied down by the worries of the world and my own disordered priorities. Do you see what I mean? Do you see why parables like this make me uncomfortable?And the next parable only makes me more nervous, the one about the “ net  thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind.” The good fish are kept; the bad fish are thrown away. But what sort of fish am I? If I haven’t given everything up for the kingdom like a St. Francis or  Mother Teresa , then what hope do I have of being counted among the good fish? Again, you see what I mean?

Jesus is trying to tell the people right in front of him that the  kingdom  is at hand, and that they need to take this seriously, that they need to realize this is the most important thing in their lives, that they need to drop everything and change everything because of it. But how did people hearing all this respond? Well, the results were mixed: a few followed, others hated him for it and plotted his destruction while most just probably walked on by because they were either too busy or had better things to do. That’s the way the kingdom of God is announced, as something you can either accept or reject. It all just depends on what you make of it — whether you see it for what it really is, whether you think it’s important enough for you to change your life for the sake of it.

Which I suspect is the challenge of these particular parables. We say God is important, that he matters, but does he really? Have I given everything? Has my life changed at all because of my faith in God, or is my Catholicism really just a bunch of words or family heritage or mere feelings? The invitation these parables offer is the invitation to take faith seriously. Which is to allow our faith to change us, to give up what’s not of Christ. Because Christ is more important than everything, especially whatever’s keeping you from following him fully.

July 30 – 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12

Ps 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130

Rom 8:28-30

Mt 13:44-52

 

This article comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.

Big “T” traditions

15 Sep, 2023
Traditions are important to families. Singing the family birthday song, making grandma’s banana bread, praying in a special way at holiday meals — traditions are the foundation on which strong families are built. Likewise, the Church was built upon the rituals and traditions of the apostles and the early Christian communities. This body of ritual and teaching is called Tradition (with a capital T), and it serves as a unifying force in the Church today. This Tradition is so important that the teaching office of the Church, called the magisterium, safeguards it. We believe that that sacred Word of God is found in both Scripture and Tradition. In fact, the Tradition of the Church was in place before the Gospels were even written. It’s true! We practiced our faith long before we wrote about our faith. The first Christians were already meeting together, mostly in homes, celebrating the Eucharist, sharing the teachings of the apostles and encouraging one another at the time the New Testament was written down. This was the beginning of St. Paul addressing his letters to these early Christian communities. Those who argue that Scripture alone should be the source of Christian teaching fail to recognize that in the first several centuries of the Church there was no “Bible” in the form we have today. Early Christian communities read from the Old Testament writings, the prophets and from the letters from leaders like Peter and Paul. The earliest writings in the New Testament reflect the belief and practice of the early Christians as the Holy Spirit guided the Church and her leaders. If we truly wish to understand Scripture, we must understand the context in which it was written — the Tradition of the Church.

The reality of sin and forgiveness

15 Sep, 2023
by Catherine Cavadini

September 15, 2023

15 Sep, 2023
Jn 19:25-27 Luke 2:33-35 Today, we pray the Sequence Sabat Mater, which means the mother was standing. Mary stands at the foot of the cross on which her son hangs. She remains with him until the end. Years before, Simeon had told her of her son’s destiny and her own suffering. Mary stood with Jesus through it all. This content comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.

We are not orphans

15 Sep, 2023
"We are not orphans, we have Mothers: Mother Mary. But the Church is Mother and the Mother Church is anointed when it takes the same path of Jesus and Mary: the path of obedience, the path of suffering, and when she has that attitude of continually learning the path of the Lord. These two women — Mary and the Church — carry on the hope that is Christ, they give us Christ, they bring forth Christ in us. Without Mary, there would be no Jesus Christ; without the Church, we cannot go forward". – Pope Francis   Reflection: Today is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. What is your typical response to pain or extended times of difficulties? How do the two women – Mary and the Church – offer you hope in the midst of suffering?   This content comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.
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