Tag Archives: Gospel

The Whole Truth – Make it Plain, Brother!

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You don’t usually get to hear a Lutheran congregation holler an, “Amen” or “Preach it, Brother. ” Today was no  different, but the minister seemed to want one.  I was visiting with the Lutherans and the minister confessed that the one time he could remember that someone called out, “Amen, Brother”, it caught him so by surprise that it totally threw him into confusion.  Now, however, Jesus was talking plain in the Gospel and the minister felt he could use a reminder from the pews to, “Make it plain; make it plain!” He was preaching John 3:16, “the Bible in a nutshell.”

The evening before, I heard a priest of the Roman Catholic Church preach it.  He truly kept it simple.  He said,
“Life is short. Hell is for Eternity. Think about it!”  He sat down.  That was it! Talk about nutshells.

My Lutheran friend said a bit more, before remembering his injunction to himself, “Make it plain!”  The plain fact was that “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.” The minister said that the love He bore us was not the stuff of  “warm fuzzies” but “agape”, that  to die for love that willing died for all mankind; sparing not a drop of blood, or leaving a breathe unspent.

The sermon in my head reminded me, Jesus plainly and emphatically proclaimed that verse, now made famous by placards at football games and  verse17: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” However, not many people finish the message.  Jesus’ “make it plain” message,  was also recorded by John in chapter 3:18-19.

No “warm fuzzies” here, either, only the uncomfortable part of the Truth, John 3:18-19.

“Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.”

Jesus spoke the whole Truth and so should we because:  “Life is short. Hell is for Eternity. Think about it!”

“Borne by Angels to the Bosom of God” – St. Therese of Lisieux

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From The Story of a Soul, The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux:

“Dear Mother, I have still to tell you what I understand by the  “sweet odour of the Beloved.” As Our Lord is now in Heaven, I can only follow Him by the footprints He has left–footprints full of life, full of fragrance. I have only to open the Holy Gospels and at once I breathe the perfume of Jesus, and then I know which way to run; and it is not to the first place, but to the last, that I hasten. I leave the Pharisee to go up, and full of confidence I repeat the humble prayer of the Publican. Above all I follow Magdalen, for the amazing, rather I should say, the loving audacity, that delights the Heart of Jesus, has cast its spell upon mine. It is not because I have been preserved from mortal sin that I lift up my heart to God in trust and love. I feel that even had I on my conscience every crime one could commit, I should lose nothing of my confidence: my heart broken with sorrow, I would throw myself into the Arms of my Saviour. I know that He loves the Prodigal Son, I have heard His words to St. Mary Magdalen, to the woman taken in adultery, and to the woman of Samaria. No one could frighten me, for I know what to believe concerning His Mercy and His Love. And I know that all that multitude of sins would disappear in an instant, even as a drop of water cast into a flaming furnace.

It is told in the Lives of the Fathers of the Desert how one of them converted a public sinner, whose evil deeds were the scandal of the whole country. This wicked woman, touched by grace, followed the Saint into the desert, there to perform rigorous penance. But on the first night of the journey, before even reaching the place of her retirement, the bonds that bound her to earth were broken by the vehemence of her loving sorrow. The holy man, at the same instant, saw her soul borne by Angels to the Bosom of God.”

Obama Silencing the Voice of Conscience

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Obama silencing the voice of conscience? Not!

“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” Matt 22L 21, Mark 12: 17, Luke 20: 25

When something is repeated in the Gospel as this is by three Evangelists, it means this is supremely important.  Of course, when you don’t like what the Gospel says, you simply leave the Church or come up with a version of church that makes you the Magisterium.  In other words, you become the Voice of the Holy Spirit.  Convenience, but not conscience!

Repealing this rule is, of course, one more issue of conscience vs. having none.

Here’s the NY Times report:

The rule prohibits recipients of federal money from discriminating against doctors, nurses and other health care workers who refuse to perform or assist in abortions or sterilization procedures because of their “religious beliefs or moral convictions.” Its supporters included the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Health Association, which represents Catholic hospitals.

Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican minority leader in the House, said, “This is the third action taken by Washington Democrats in the past 38 days to weaken American rules that are meant to safeguard the sanctity of human life.”

“The “separation of Church and state” does not mean – and it can never mean – separating our Catholic faith from our public witness, our political choices and our political actions.  That kind of separation would require Christians to deny who we are; to repudiate Jesus when he commands us to be “leaven in the world” and to “make disciples of all nations.”  That kind of radical separation steals the moral content of a society.  It’s the equivalent of telling a married man that he can’t act married in public.  Of course, he can certainly do that, but he won’t stay married for long.”

Tell the Story!

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I’m beginning today with a question: How did the first Christians do it?

In a world of propaganda and hype, of relativism and materialism, I ask myself what do I have that can change darkness into Light?  In truth, I have what Christians have had from the beginning.  I have the Savior of the world. Jesus words after His Resurrection from the dead were:

“Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” Mark16: 15

In effect, go tell My story!

It is more than a story.  It is power.  It is the single most important act in all of human history with eternal consequences.  The world has run after other gods.  I have run after other gods.  That’s not the end of the story though.

Tomorrow begins Lent.  For myself, I’m resolved to tell the story everyday of Lent.  Lent will change me and then the world.  Like the first Christians,  we must begin by telling the story of  Jesus’ death on the Cross and His Resurrection from the dead.  Proclaim it!

“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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of  God.” John3:16–18

Paul told us we don’t need to be polished and eloquent.  To the Corinthian Greeks, Paul writes, “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2

That is my story.  I’m resolved to tell it today.

Who’s the Leper Now?

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The Leper, who comes to Jesus in today’s Gospel (Mark 1:40-45,) is often seen as an embodiment of those who are the “untouchables” of  our society (the poor, the weak, the unwed mother, the addict.)  The Leper, in another view, is one who is “outside the camp”.  The leper is the one cut off from worship and cut off from community.

In the United States today, the Leper is 75% of those who call themselves Catholic, yet no longer celebrate Mass or practice their Faith. No matter the reason that they left the Church (disbelief, anger, lifestyle, boredom), they are now “outside the camp.”

The tragedy is that our worship, while directed to God, has an effect on us.  Worship orders the one who worships.  Worship grounds the worshiper once again in the Truth of Who it is he worships.  It prepares a man for battle, so to speak.  “Happy the people that know the joyful shout!” (Psalm 89:16)  Without worship, the World becomes the voice that lies to him, tempts him and in the end may even conquer him.

The poor and the weak are in the Lord’s camp. The true outsider is one Jesus calls home. “I do will it.  Be made clean.” (Mark 1:41)

In a World of Soundbites

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In a world of soundbites and video-clips with the mainstream media supplying morsels of immoral madness and pathetic pop-psychology for quick, thoughtless, consumption,  is it any wonder that so many are lost?  I ask how culpable am I?  Do “the many” even know when they’re off track or even lost?  I don’t know about you, but I have little clue where even those close to me have wandered.   As far as I can tell,  they are all  well meaning.  Is “well meaning” enough to inherit eternity?   It’s the old thing of , if  you aren’t growing, you are dying.   Misled means spiritually unfed.  Anyway, that’s the way it seems to me.  My hope is, “He knows how we are formed;  He remembers that we are dust.’ Psalm 103:14.

From the Gospel for the day:

When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd;and He began to teach them many things.  Mark 6:34

Is it any wonder that we, along with our children,  move the heart of God to pity?  Hope, though, is all around us.  The Church is at prayer.  When I go off to Mass each day,  I can look forward to hearing soundbites of true substance, sanity and solace.