Sermon on the Mount: Key to Fullness of Life

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Dear Folks,
February 1 the Sunday readings begin the Sermon on the Mount. We only get three weeks of it before It is superseded by the early beginning of Lent. However, I suggest that a good way to strengthen one’s Lenten Journey would be ongoing reflection on this Sermon. It is too easy to hear this text read, recognize that it sounds good, or maybe a bit confusing, and then move on untouched. That is a terrible waste.
Matthew 5-7 opens Jesus’ public teaching in the Gospel of Matthew. Prior to that, it mentions he was teaching in the synagogue, and that He was saying “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand,” but this is where we start going into what the Christian is called to be. Matthew 23-25 gives us His final public teaching in Matthew, and it centers around judgment on how one has answered that call. In between, one may want to see some principles from the Sermon applied.
To understand how Matthew presents the Sermon on the Mount, it is essential to understand the giving of the Torah to Israel and the role of the Torah in the life of Israel. It is the first five books of the Bible, and is central to their relationship with God, and held in great reverence. It is usually translated “Law” though it could be better called “instruction.”
When the Bible makes reference to “statutes,” “precepts,” ”decrees,” or “the law of Moses” that refers to the Torah.
Psalm 1, and Psalm 119 for those who want to read more deeply, are hymns to the Torah. They both start with “Blessed,” living the fullness of life. Matthew’s readers would have immediately seen the connection between these psalms and Jesus’ beatitudes. Psalm 1 describes this fullness of life as being “like a tree planted beside flowing water whose leaves will never fade and all that he does shall prosper.” The Bible has repeatedly used the image of flowing water as a sign of God’s abundant life (Genesis 2:10; Jeremiah 17:5-8; Ezekiel 47:1-12; John 4:10-14; John 7:37-38; Revelation 22:1-2). I would suggest continued reflection on Psalm 1 during one’s continuing reflection on the Sermon on the Mount.
The classic presentation of the giving of the Law is Exodus 20 and following. It shows Moses going up a mountain and receiving the law, first the ten commandments (pocket sized version), and then more elaborate rules. Jesus goes up the mountain and gives the beatitudes (pocket sized version) and then more elaborate principles. This echoes the giving of the Torah, but Christians would not say that the Sermon on the Mount is the new Torah, but Jesus Himself is the new Torah (“I am the way, and the truth, and the life” [John 14:6], but this is a vision of living according to that Way. We notice that Jesus does not give us rules, a set of dos and don’ts, but a vision of what sort of person we are to be. In our union with Jesus, we become more and more able to live according to this vision. We cannot simply choose to “hunger and thirst for righteousness”, but the closer we
grow to Jesus, the more He transforms us into people who do.
I’ll be going deeper into this, if you want to come with me.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

The Marriage of the Bride and the Lamb

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Dear Folks,
In our readings this Sunday, God tells Isaiah, “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” John the Baptist says, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
In the Gospel of John, it is emphasized that John the Baptist’s major function was to introduce Jesus. John uses two main images to describe Him: The Lamb (of sacrifice) in John 1:36 and the bridegroom in Jn 3:26-30. These two images will be brought together at the end of the story in the wedding of the bride and the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-10, 21:9). We remember these truths at every Mass as the priest says, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.” They teach us that Jesus gave Himself to us completely, holding nothing back, out of pure love for us.
The image of the lamb emphasizes Jesus’ suffering and dying to save us. He faced overwhelming agony- mental, physical, emotional- enduring the full brunt of the evil in the world to undo the power of evil in us. The image of bridegroom emphasizes Jesus being faithful day in and day out, during good times and bad, never wavering in His love.
We are called to be a light to the nations, drawing people to Jesus. What is our message?
Our atheist, materialist friends will tell us that core reality is matter and energy, that personhood is a blip in the unfolding of matter and energy, and that love is a byproduct of the mating instinct. In this view, we are nothing but collections of chemical reactions in temporarily self-sustaining systems. Some may object to my description, but I don’t see how they can logically escape it. I don’t find that very inspiring.
In the Christian view, Divine Personhood is the core reality, and His essence is love. The Father is eternally giving Himself in love to the Son, who is eternally receiving and returning that love, and the love that passes between them is the Holy Spirit. Love is by nature fruitful, so He created us to receive His love and love Him in return, thus knowing the fullness of Joy, and created matter and energy. The universe is the stage of salvation history. The whole universe is a love story.
The essence of the Gospel is the gift of self in love. The Lord gives Himself to us and invites and enables us to receive that love and give ourselves. God gave His people marriage and taught His people to offer sacrifice so that we could learn to become gift. This, of course means following Jesus and the path He laid out. We are to be willing to suffer and to lay down our lives when the situation calls for it (John 15:12-13). We are called to love our neighbor in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, faithfully day by day, year by year. Jesus’ gift of Himself is at work in us as we seek to give the gift of ourselves to Him and one another.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Baptism of the Lord: Putting Things in Order

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Dear folks,
Now we come to the Baptism of the Lord, the end of the Christmas season.
Isaiah speaks of a servant who is working quietly, “to open the eyes of the blind and bring out prisoners from confinement…”. We remember that our sins blind us and imprison us, and the grace of God enables us to see the truth and be free. Our Enemy has convinced a lot of people that to be Christian is to live a cramped, diminished life in the hopes of a reward from God. Our job is to show that living according to the Gospel is a freer, more abundant way to live.
In our Gospel John the Baptist knows something is out of place with Jesus requesting Baptism. We, of course, know that Jesus had no sin and so did not need a baptism of repentance for Himself. However, this is the beginning of His taking on the mantle of sinner that we might be freed from our sins. When Jesus says, “Allow it now, for thus is it fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” He is talking about putting everything into right relationship.
Our relationship with God, with each other, and with the earth itself were thrown into chaos by sin (See Genesis 3), and this diminished the flourishing of life. Bringing order out of chaos so that life could flourish is going to take sacrifice, and we shall see it again and again in the Gospel of Matthew.
We the baptized are united with Jesus in His mission. We will often face situations that are unfair. We shall have to help clean up messes that we didn’t make, fix things we didn’t break, and be blamed for things that are not our fault. As we go through the Gospel this year, we see how Jesus faced that. He always stood for what was true and right and often suffered unjustly for it. He never let it stop Him.
After His baptism, He would go to the desert to face temptation and then started proclaiming the Kingdom of heaven. As the Christmas season ends, we get to ordinary time, the time in which most of the work gets done.
There was an article in Wordonfire.org called “Catholic Call to be the Soul of the World” by Tim Glemkowski. He quotes the 2nd century “Letter to Diognetus”: To sum up all in
one word—what the soul is in the body, Christians are in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world.” This is similar to Jesus’ call to be salt of the earth and light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16).
We, the baptized Christians, are called to seek union with Jesus to be transformed so that we can transform the world. It’s a tall order but let us not underestimate the power of the Gospel. We may not see all the results but let us trust that God is at work. May we have a fruitful year.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Seeking Mystery

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Dear Folks,

As we continue to celebrate the Christmas season, we now come to Epiphany. The word epiphany means “appearance” or “manifestation.” The coming of the Magi tells us that Jesus is meant for the whole world, not just His family, town, or nation. The Magi were not of the nation of Israel but were seekers of mysteries. We have a natural hunger for mystery, but many lose track of it chasing after superficial things. The human exploration of mystery lead to many who explored new territory, studied natural phenomena, or asked ultimate questions. Like many hungers, it can be awakened by the right stimulus. Imagine being so focused on tasks that you don’t notice dinner time, but suddenly you smell (insert favorite food here) and then you have hunger pangs. 

As the star drew the Magi, so we are meant to be stars to other people. That means we are to draw people to the mystery of Jesus. While we are called to be good examples so that seeing what we do people will praise God (Matthew 5:16), our central message is not that we are such wonderful people. It is about a mystery infinitely greater than we are.

Many have learned about church in a way that loses the great sense of mystery. Some think that Christianity is basically a collection of belief statements to repeat and commandments to follow. Some people have said that Christianity is basically about being a good person. This breaks my heart. They have been robbed. They have been cheated. They have been deprived of an enormous treasure and given a superficial substitute. Then the Mass would be seen as just a community gathering that gives us a good experience and a good feeling. It is a doorway to the Infinite and the ultimate. The celebrant is a failure if he is about drawing attention to himself. Liturgical musicians fail if they draw attention to the music for its own sake. The celebrant, the music and all the ritual are to draw people into the mystery that is beyond what we see. Our faith is an infinite mystery into which we enter. We encounter the central truths of reality and of life, and they can transform us to the core of our being. Imagine someone having a nuclear power plant and only using it to reheat their coffee. 

When I was a young priest, an older priest told me he was “bored” with the Gospel of John. When I looked shocked, he said, “When you’ve been a priest for 35 years, you might be bored with it too.” Well, now I’ve been a priest for thirty-eight years, and have never gotten bored with the Gospel of John. In fact, the more I learn, the deeper I go, the more I study it the more amazing, the more fascinating it is. Of course, the reading that was available at that time was more about deconstructing the text than seeing deep connections. We didn’t have authors like Brant Pitre, Scott Hahn, John Bergsma and Jeff Cavins. I learned a lot of wonderful stuff in the seminary, and I will be forever grateful for my teachers and what they taught me, but there is so much more. 

We are called to be seekers of mystery, and the more deeply we seek, the more we can make sense out of life, the universe, and everything. 

The star beckons. If we follow, we can be a beacon to others.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Getting Along

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Dear Folks,

As we continue the Christmas season, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family.

This year, we will be doing Cycle A readings, which means lots of the Gospel of Mat-

thew. I’m challenging everyone to look at the Gospel stories through the lens of God

bringing order out of chaos that life may flourish. The Gospel warns us that if we seek to

follow, there are some things we can expect:

It will cost us; there will be sacrifice. We will face opposition, sometimes from

those we most expected support. Sin will bring chaos. God will let bad things hap-

pen. Notice how often family is the way the plan happens, even though these fami-

lies are not perfect, often very messed up. If we trust in God, He will do great things

in their proper time.

Genesis chapter one shows our story beginning with God bringing order out of chaos that life may flourish.

The Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy. It shows generations of families, each with their own stories. Some we know the stories, and others are just names. What we do

know of the stories tells us there was a lot of chaos going on. Looking at the overall sto-

ry, however, we notice there are three sets of fourteen (twice the divinely perfect number

seven). This is a hint that God is carrying out a well-ordered plan, though it would not

have seemed like it at the time.

Many have observed that families can have a lot of chaos in their daily lives, but also that great things can happen in families. People learn basic things about how to function,

what is right and wrong, what is of value and what is worthless. It also gives us connec-

tion to something bigger than ourselves that is still there even when it’s really difficult.

This is a fuller way to live than dedicating ourselves to material possessions and pleas-

ures.

In “A Christmas Carol” Scrooge disconnected from relationships, likely because they

had caused him pain and that he feared poverty. He saw his wealth as a security against

the pain he had suffered when he was younger, and, as vices do, his greed consumed

him. During his ghostly wakeup call, he reconnected with that neglected aspect of him-

self. He was able to see life greater than the pain of his past. He no longer let his grief

over losing his little sister Fan stop him from connecting with his nephew Fred. He even

saw his employee, Bob Cratchet, as not simply an instrument for conducting business,

but saw him and his family as human beings, and formed a more human relationship with him. He would, short term, see his profits decrease, but he would see that in perspective.

Besides, perhaps this more fully expressed self would enable him to connect to people

better in business, and he might find his profits increasing.

Our families are all flawed, and they can give us wounds as well as treasures. If we re-

spond in faith, in hope and in love, maybe we can unlearn bad habits, do some healing,

build on what we were given, and do a bit better than the last generation, leaving the

world a little better.

God Bless us everyone, and God bless our families,

Fr. Jim

Dare to Hope!

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Dear Folks,
Dare to hope!
opeSometimes, fear of disappointment may tempt us to give into despair, cynicism, and settling for the status quo. We then say, “That’s just the way it is.” We throw up our hands, tired of being hurt, and retreat into a protective shell. It can be hard to believe that God could bring good out of this situation. He’s brought good things out of many awful situations, but this one seems too tangled, too deep, too messy to have be an occasion of grace. This seems to be King Ahaz’s response in our first reading in Isaiah 7:10-14 .St. Joseph could have responded that way in our Gospel (Matthew 1:18-24), but he stepped out in faith, and great things happened after that. It was not going to be easy orwithout pain, but it would lead to glory. It will require patience and perseverance that we couldn’t understand in the beginning. I believe in lower expectations short term, higher expectations long term. God is more patient than we are.
We look at the number of people who were raised Catholic who have left the practice of the faith, and those who maintain a minimal connection to the faith. This is not how the
Church was founded to be. This is not being on track with the task of making disciples of all nations. Some people shrug their shoulders and say, “That’s just the way it is, and we just have to accept it.” Some have actually said, “We can’t expect any better because of the state of our society” which suggests that the Gospel message is not powerful enough to advance in a hostile culture. This, of course, can be comforting in that it absolves us from responsibility. But Jesus calls us to a bolder response. The early Church began with a handful of people, very few resources, and were surrounded by an extremely hostile culture. They grew like a grease fire. The mightiest empire the world had ever seen was helpless to stop them. If we truly believe that the Gospel message, the Catholic faith is true, then we believe that it is the most powerful transformative force in the universe.
For this to happen, we must be willing to go where God leads, as the disciples did (eventually) in the Scriptures. God often would lead people where they did not expect to go and would prefer not to go. That requires trust. Those who trusted would see great
things happen, greater than their own abilities could accomplish.
It all begins with taking some time to get to know God better, to fall more deeply in love with him. May that happen to all of us, that our Advent can be fruitful.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Gaudete: Rejoice in Jesus’ Abundant Life

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Dear Folks,
Today is Gaudete Sunday, and Gaudete means rejoice! We rejoice, not because everything is great now (I expect we all have our list) but because Jesus is coming, and we are confident that what we are doing is worth doing and pain will turn to glory.
We live with an “already” and a “not yet.” Jesus is here and Jesus is coming. We are participating in eternal life now but not experiencing it in fullness. “Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live (John 5:25).” When Jesus comes in glory His followers will recognize Him as one they have known, but never known as fully, as gloriously, or as wonderfully as they will then.
“Love never fails. Prophecies will eventually cease, tongues will become silent, and knowledge will pass away, for our knowledge is partial and our prophesying is partial; but when we encounter what is perfect, that which is imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, think like a child, and reason like a child. However, when I became a man, I put all childish ways aside. At the present time we see indistinctly, as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. My knowledge is only partial now; then I shall know fully, even as I am known. Thus, there are three things that endure, faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:8-13).”
Jesus came that we might “have life and have it more abundantly (see John 10:10).” To live for eternal values, to live in union with God, to give of ourselves in love is a much more abundant way to live than living for gratifying immediate desires. Such a life can be very hard, discouraging, frustrating, even agonizing. But during the worst times, we know that for the faithful sorrow is not the last word, that we do not face it alone, and that even our pain can have meaning in the kingdom. During the most joyous times, of course, we recognize that the joy is a foretaste of the ultimate joy, and that makes it more powerful even as it passes for now.
“See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it does not know Him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We know that when it is revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as He is pure (1 John 3:1-3).”
David Goggins wrote a book called “Can’t Hurt Me.” (warning: language is rough!) He went through navy seal training three times and then decided that he wasn’t pushing himself hard enough (!) He did things like run ultramarathons (100 miles in twenty-four hours). He said that a lot of people plan great things while they are comfortable, sitting on their couches drinking iced tea. But when the pain and the exhaustion hit, they start asking, “Why am I doing this?” Many then drop out, because they are not deeply enough rooted in their why.
The promises of the world fail us sooner or later. Christmas has a special way of teaching that lesson. Sometimes toys are not nearly as much fun as they seemed in the store. Sometimes they break and can’t be fixed. Sometimes they are fun for a while, but the thrill fades. Over time, we notice that toys pass away, but love endures. But the toys are so enticing, we have to have a good grip on our “why” to keep going. If you’ve read the New Testament (which I highly recommend) it is surprising how often they talk about the importance of endurance. Let us focus on our goal, sharpen our desire for the Kingdom, and not let distractions loosen our grip on our hope.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Hard Messages to Hear

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Dear Folks,
In this second Sunday of Advent, we encounter John the Baptist, and his fierce preaching. We also meet the Pharisees and Sadducees, whom we will encounter later. They were very smart,
did a lot of studying, and did a lot of religious devotion. They did a lot of listening to each other, and despising those who were not a part of their group. Of course, if they all agreed on
their basic beliefs and just talked to each other, they would never be challenged serious. They would reinforce each other
In C.S. Lewis’ book “The Screwtape Letters” we see a senior devil (Screwtape) giving advice to his nephew (Wormwood) about how to lead a soul to hell. In letter 3 we see, “You must bring him to a condition in which he can practice self-examination for an hour without discovering any of those facts about himself which are perfectly clear to anyone who has ever lived in the same house with him or worked in the same office.” He’s talking about blind spots, and if we listen to those who think like us and discount those who don’t before really hearing them (because they are evil/stupid/lying) we protect ourselves from having our ideas challenged and our blind spots discovered. In the book “Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: How to Thrive in Complexity” by Jennifer Garvey Berger, Margaret Wakeley, et al. they talk about the trap of agreement: if our entire group agrees, we tend not to seek further input, and become trapped in our bubble. I have recommended Monica Guzman’s book “I Never Thought of it That Way” to understand how this works and how to counter it. In the book “Radical Inclusion” by Martin Dempsey and Ori Brafman they mention that modern discourse tends not to be about logical argument but competing narratives. People hear a narrative, find it compelling, believe it and proclaim it as if it were the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. They often do not consider if the premises are true, if he reasoning is valid, or if it is missing something. Then, when they hear something contrary to that narrative, they dismiss it, ridicule it, and attack it, without asking, “Might there be something here to learn?”
What if our Pharisee and Sadducee friends were so rooted in the narrative that their approach was the correct one, they were the good guys, and that no one else had anything to teach them. They reinforced each other in their beliefs and were quite sure they didn’t need to change anything in their thinking or actions. John gave them a severe talking to (I don’t think his methods would work today. We are too good at dismissing people we see as cranks.
In the book “The Practice of Adaptive Leadership” by Ron Heifetz et.al. they talk about protecting minority voices. Too often, minority voices get steamrolled and ignored by the majority, but they may have some wisdom to share. Even if we don’t accept all of their position, they may have insight that can help us refine our ideas. We remember that in 1905 Albert Einstein turned the physics world upside down with three groundbreaking papers, including one on relativity. Over time, however, the revolution became the establishment, and when the time came for the next step, quantum mechanics, Einstein was fiercely opposed. He came up with every argument he could to discredit it (and he was very good at that. Even though he was eventually proven wrong, arguing with Einstein helped the innovators refine their position, and it made the science better. Those who disagree with us are challenges, not enemies.
Heifetz also talks about getting on the balcony. Taking some distance to see the big picture, the picture that we can’t see when we are in the midst of the dance. If we can find a way to take a step back this Advent to see things from a different perspective, that could bear some fruit.
May we all have a fruitful Advent.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Waiting for God’s Peace

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Dear Folks,

Today we begin Advent, a season of expectant waiting. Waiting is not just stillness, but directed toward a future hope, and doing Advent well includes a keen focus on what we are hoping for, and how we are shaped by that hope. Our readings, of course, help us.

First, in Isaiah 2:1-5, we see a future in which God gathers people from everywhere. God is the great Gatherer. Jesus prayed in His great priestly prayer “I pray not only on behalf of these, but also for those who through their word will come to believe in me. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, may they also be in us so that the word may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely on, and thus the world may know that you have sent me and that you have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:20-23).” Do you want people to believe that Jesus is truly at work in the Church and that the Church is worth coming to? Jesus connects that to our being one. 

We see as people gather, their great desire is that God “may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” We call ourselves disciples, and “disciple” means “student.” To be a disciple is to be learning, that we may “walk in His ways,” that is, live according to His truth.  As they live this truth they will “beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks,” because fighting has become obsolete. The great promise is peace: everyone will get along all the time. Ahhhh.

Romans 13:11-14 reminds us that to get to that peace, we must “throw off” all the things we do that are not in keeping with God’s truth. This time of expectation and hope is a time of repentance. By the power of God’s grace, we seek to live like people who want that peace, and that means not only avoiding doing harm, but actively and intentionally building peace (Matthew 5:9).

Because we are sinful, flawed people, we are going to offend each other. We are naturally more aware of how others offend us than how we offend other people (That great big splinter in your eye looks so much bigger than that little plank in my eye). When we have a gripe against someone, we are called to be healers, even if we are sure we are not at fault (though more often than not, we have contributed somehow and need to be open to that possibility). 

We go to the person first and talk, not to attack, but to bring mutual understanding and healing. If we can’t make progress, bringing one or two more into the conversation to help (Matthew 18:15-16). Talking about people behind their backs, saying things about them that we don’t say to them, spreading complains to create a climate of hostility against that person, is a terrible poison that does immeasurable harm in communities. We must all remind each other because gossip is a terrible plague in the church. We are always to encourage healing. Talking to each other is so much harder than talking about them, but that is exactly the sort of sacrifice to which Jesus calls us.

Matthew 24:37-44 reminds us that God will call us to account for how we answer this call, and we are always to be ready.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Strength in Weakness: Christ the King

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Dear Folks,

This is the feast of Christ the King, the celebration of Jesus’ great victory over evil, over sin and death, and now He reigns supreme forever. Alleluia! And yet, our Gospel is of Jesus on the cross. He is being ridiculed, and He makes no reply. He cannot move His hands or His feet. He has to fight to breathe. This is not what humans think when we think about a great king in his triumphant moment. This cuts to the heart of the Christian paradox that the world cannot understand. Jesus’ mighty power is expressed most powerfully not in His amazing miracles or brilliant teaching, but His faithful suffering and death.

St. Paul understood this, saying “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that exhibit my weakness (2 Corinthians 11:30; see 11:16-30)” and “Hence, I will boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell within me. For this reason, I rejoice when I endure weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and distress for the sake of Christ. For it is when I am weak that I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9b-10; see 7-10).”

Some resist admitting a mistake or failing for fear it will make them look weak, but whom do we trust more: someone who admits when they fail or someone who always, always finds a reason why it is not their fault and not their failing?

Not only have I had to deal with the fact at my age that my biceps aren’t what they used to be, but I have had some particularly powerful lessons in weakness lately, with more on the way. I

have found that times of weakness can be great times of love, and God values love more than biceps.

We look at all the evil in the world, and it is overwhelming. We feel helpless. I find that is often when God does His best work.

Christians are never helpless. Even if we can only do a teeny, tiny bit, if we do that bit with everything we have, that is huge in God’s eyes (see the story of the widow’s mite (Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4). Even if we are completely immobile, we can pray, though this will put our faith in the power of prayer to the test. I find that God is quite willing to let our faith be stretched. If our minds go so that we cannot form a coherent prayer, God can still touch us on a deep level, as Psalm 8 tells us, “From the mouths of children and babes you fashioned praise to foil your enemy, to silence the foe and the rebel.”

The basic message of the book of Revelation, as well as Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, is that the world may fall apart and go horribly wrong, but Jesus is victorious, and if we remain faithful to Him, we will share in the victory (for example Matthew 24:13).

Bottom line: The more the world goes wrong, the more tightly we need to cling to Jesus. If we stay faithful to Him and do not give up, we can contribute to making things better, but He has the victory. He reigns supreme.

Blessings,

Fr Jim