14th Sunday of Ordinary Time

 

No one Knows that Father except the Son. Mt. 11:25-26

Is Jesus the Son of God or is He not?

Everything boils down to this one question.

If He is not then what are we doing here?

And if He is, then where is everyone?

It doesn’t matter what I say.

What matters is what Jesus says!

The ancient Greeks and Romans had lots of gods.

And until the Jews came along,

People could pick whatever god they wanted to believe in.

But ever since Abraham and Moses, the Jews taught that there is only one God.

And that the others are false.

And then Jesus came along and claimed

that “God the Father had given everything over to Him!” Mt. 11:27

“And that no one knows the Father except the Son,

And anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him. “Mt. 11:27

This clearly changed everything.

Jesus claims to have “everything the Father has”

And to Know the Father in such a way that no one else does;

And therefore only He is able to reveal the Father to others in a way no one else can.

Jesus clearly draws a line in the sand.

Either you believe Him or you don’t.

Either you believe that God the Father has given everything to Him

Or He hasn’t.

Either no one knows the Father except the Son or others do as well.

And either only Jesus chooses to whom He reveals His Father or others can reveal God as well.

Jesus leaves no wiggle room or other options.

Jesus claims the Father has given everything to Him

And therefore only Jesus knows the Father

And only Jesus reveals Him. Mt. 11:27

There are a lot of people who will tell you otherwise.

Pick whatever god you want to believe in

Follow any teaching you want.

Jesus however claims to be exclusive.

He says There is no one who knows the Father except Him;

And there is no one who can reveal the Father except Him.

It all boils down to,

Do you believe Jesus or not?

Because He doesn’t leave us any other choices.

Friday 13th Week of Ordinary Time

 God desires Mercy. Mt. 9:9-13

The Pharisees thought that God wanted a bunch of prayers and fasting and alms giving. 

And these are great sacrifices to make. 

But when we make them and fail to show Mercy to others in their sinfulness and weakness

That are empty sacrifices. 

God wants us to be merciful first

To the weak and the sinner. 

Only then will our sacrifices of prayer, fasting and alms giving

Bear fruit. 

Thursday 13th Week of Ordinary Time

 Put to the test Gen. 22:1-19

Every teacher gives their students tests. 

This is to see if the student has learned their lesson. 

God put Abraham to the test. 

God wanted to see how much Abraham loved Him. 

Did he love God more than anything or anyone else. 

So God asked Abraham to sacrifice His own son. 

Isaac however was not just Abraham’s son, he was also God’s son. 

He was teaching Abraham, about love. 

That one day God would show that He loved the world so much that He would sacrifice His own son to save it. 

Whenever God puts us to the test,

It is always to teach us about True Love

And to see how far one is willing to go for it.

Wednesday 13th Week of Ordinary Time

 

The devil leads to nowhere. Mt. 8:28-34

There were two men who were possessed by demons. 

What kind of demons we do not know. 

Were they Satan’s legions?

Were they demons of Anxiety or depression?

Demons of Violence. 

Demons of self destruction. 

There are all kinds of Demons that seek to control us 

And ruin our lives. 

Sometimes we have to sacrifice something valuable in our life,

As the two men sacrificed the valuable heard of swine,

In order to be free. 

But it is better to make that sacrifice 

And for them to go into the swine and run off the cliff

And drown in the sea

Than to lead us on the path to destruction. 

Tuesday 13th Week of Ordinary Time

 

Do not look back Gen. 19:15-29

Sodom and Gomorrah were known for their sinfulness.

So as Lot was fleeing Sodom he was told not to look back.

His wife however did look back and was turned to a pillar of salt. 

When one turns away from sin to follow the Gospel,

One should not look back at what one has left behind. 

For as Jesus said,

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven.” Lk. 9:62

Monday 13th Week of Ordinary Time

St.  Thomas the Apostle
The Foundation of the Church

The Church is founded on the Apostles and Prophets. 

At first thought that sounds like quite a firm foundation. 

Until one takes a closer look.

Thomas had his doubts. 

Peter denied the Lord. 

The other Apostles fled when Jesus was arrested. 

And then there are the prophets. 

Elijah just wanted to give up and die. 

Jonah was the reluctant prophet. 

Jeremiah felt he had been duped by the Lord and wished he had never been born. 

Its amazing the Church is still standing, 

With such a foundation. 

But that is because Christ is the cornerstone. 

And all the other stones of the Church,

Gain their strength from Him. 

So don’t worry if you have your doubts 

Or feel as if you don’t measure up. 

Neither did the Apostles or Prophets. 

For  Jesus will give us all that we need. 

13th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Cost of Discipleship Mt. 10:37-42

Jesus lays it on the line today;

“Whoever loves father or mother or son or daughter more than Him is not worthy of Him. “

So When Jesus called James and John to follow Him,

They had to make a choice. 

To stay with with their father in the boat or leave him and follow Jesus. 

They chose to drop their nets and left Zebedee their father and followed Him. 

St. Francis of Assisi had to choose between his earthly father and a comfortable life in the family business 

Or his Heavenly Father and a life of abject poverty. 

He chose to follow Jesus. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran Minister

Who wrote a book called,

The Cost of Discipleship. 

He wrote it from his own personal experience

Because his discipleship

Cost him his fiancée and his life

As he was killed by the Nazis 

For following Jesus. 

There is a Cost to being a disciple of Jesus. 

But Jesus is not asking us to do anything He hasn’t already done for us!

When Jesus calls us to follow Him,

He bids us to come and die with Him!

This sounds difficult, even harsh. 

The irony however is that everyone who is living for this world 

Is really dying,

While everyone who is dying with Christ

Will live forever. 

Now Jesus does not ask everyone to give up their father and mother, or son and daughter,

But if He asked you to,

What would you say?

There is a Cost to discipleship. 

Sometimes great 

But those who are willing to pay the price,

Jesus promises that they will not lose their reward!