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Living in today’s
world, in the cultural and social situation that we find
ourselves in, it has become easier than ever, to NOT count
the cost of what we are doing. And if you are blessed with
endless resources, then maybe you are afforded the luxury of
not counting the cost. But this mindset of wanting
everything now, without thinking about what it might cost us
in the future, hasn’t helped us as a society, and the costs
are way beyond just our finances. That mindset affects our
attitudes. Our government isn’t helping us with this
dangerous lifestyle, as spend way more than we can afford.
This past year we’ve paid for multiple bailouts, and loans,
and stimulus plans, and fought two wars. Who would have
ever believed just a few years ago, that we’d ever owe this
much as nation? We do the same thing with our health. We
continue every day in unhealthy lifestyles that we know are
making us sick. We like to pretend that there are no costs
to our actions. But there are! We do this to our
environment and the world’s eco-system. We conveniently
don’t want to hear about the ramifications of what we are
doing to this planet, and we want to keep doing it.
Something has happened to our culture and society where we
have quit considering and taking into account the cost and
ramifications of our actions. This is true even when it
comes to our souls! We’re not looking ahead. We’re not
thinking about the future. We have adopted the philosophy
of the microwave oven! We want what we want now,
instantly! We want everything to be easy and not have any
clean up. And we want it to taste good and make us feel
good! Because feeling good is very important today. It is
all about how we feel, even our religion. These are wild
days.
Today in our Gospel, Jesus
comes along, and He’s got a very different message from the one
that our world is giving us. St. Peter, our first Pope,
declares that Jesus is the Messiah. The problem that comes up
is that in fact, St Peter is declaring Jesus Messiah in worldly
terms. St. Peter is thinking about the glory, and the power,
and the rewards of being friends with the Messiah. And it looks
good, and it feels good too!
St. Peter can picture himself
sitting next to Jesus in His Kingdom, eating a turkey leg, and
listening to heavenly choirs. But that’s not the image of
Messiah that Jesus has, is it? Jesus talks about suffering, and
rejection, and being killed, and rising from the dead. And
this is all way too much for St. Peter. That’s not what St.
Peter’s looking for! Where’s the good times? Where’s easy?
Where’s the glory? Jesus is talking about the Cross and living
the Christian life in this world, and He is reminding us that
it’s not going to easy, or fast, or painless, or even glorious.
Jesus is talking about really living our Faith.
The reading from the
letter of St. James that was our second reading today is
reminding us of this same thing. Anybody can talk about being a
Christian. Anybody can put on a shirt, or a cross, or a bumper
sticker, and feel good. Anybody can get baptized, or join a
church, or go to church on Sunday. The way we live our lives is
so much more important. We are to pick-up our crosses too, and
follow Jesus. It’s time to go to work. My brothers and
sisters, being a Christian, especially a Catholic one, has never
been about easy, or quick, or feeling good. There is a cost to
being a follower of Jesus Christ. We don’t want to ever forget
that. There are ramifications to what we are doing. We’ve got
to live out our Faith. We’ve got to get involved. We got to
help out and make a difference. Our works matter a great deal.
It’s how we know our Faith is real.
Today’s our parish
council’s 2009 Ministry Fair. How are you going to show your
Faith and live it out this year? Stop by the Ministry Fair
today and find out. The cost, the price is worth it. Nothing
of value is free.
May God bless us today, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit…AMEN !!!
St. Maria Goretti…Pray for us
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