The Friar Podcasts - preaching prayer and spiritual reflections

We can be a culture obsessed with sports. The desire for our favorite team or teams to win is often quite strong. We hate to lose. But sometimes, when we go overboard for our sports teams, I think it is due to not recognizing the ultimate and most important victory: The victory over the world by Jesus Christ.

The apostle John, the Beloved Disciple, whose readings we have been hearing, has a deep and some would say mystical relationship with Jesus. The words he writes are for a struggling Church filled with danger for those who profess faith in Jesus Christ.

There is something really important for Catholics to learn. That if we love Jesus, we must, we must, tell others about our love for Jesus. Why? Because this is what Jesus tells us to do. "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

But there is also a reason based upon love. If we love Jesus, and he has made a difference in our lives, why wouldn't we wish to tell others? So, share your faith. So, share your love. Let others know you love Jesus. Talk about your faith. Let people know how much it is that you love God. Let people know what Jesus has done for you.  For it is in this, that God is pleased.

There is something really important for Catholics to learn. That if we love Jesus, we must, we must, tell others about our love for Jesus. Why? Because this is what Jesus tells us to do. "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

But there is also a reason based upon love. If we love Jesus, and he has made a difference in our lives, why wouldn't we wish to tell others? So, share your faith. So, share your love. Let others know you love Jesus. Talk about your faith. Let people know how much it is that you love God. Let people know what Jesus has done for you.  For it is in this, that God is pleased.

We live today in a skeptical age. We need to personally experience, see and touch. This has led us to fight about history and what it means. And if our hope is only in this world, then it becomes clear that there is no clear arbiter. There is no place to turn for authority, because too many people have determined they are their own authority.

There is a tremendous danger in not admitting God is our authority. Without the authority of God, we can throw away our dignity. Without God, we can lose sight that we are loved beyond all imagining. Without God, we can feel utterly alone.

One of the shrines I remain most impressed with is the shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. She was a wife and a mother, a convert, a founder of a religious community and a saint. What most impressed me however, was how Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton took the ordinary events of her life, and saw in them an invitation to become extraordinary.

Like so many, the great moment of conversion for Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton involved the Eucharist. In a church, she recognized in whose presence she was. And like so many, once she realized she was in the presence of Jesus, her whole life changed. She could face being a widow, she could hear the call to found a religious community of teaching sisters, and ultimately she could become holy.

Saint John the Baptist was a powerful preacher.  So powerful in fact that many wondered if he might be the Messiah. Some scholars suggest that this original belief is the reason why John the evangelist goes to some length to differentiate Saint John the Baptist from Jesus.

Saint John the Baptist continues this differentiation in today's gospel. He is clear about his role, to baptize with water, to prepare the way for Jesus, and to make clear he is not the Messiah. And in doing so he even recognizes that his goal is to decrease so that Jesus can increase.

Never forget you are a beloved child of God. There is a lot of brokenness in our world. There is a lot of brokenness in us. There may be a lot of brokenness in you. But remember, Jesus has conquered sin and death.

Most people who desire to become the person God has created them to be can easily recognize the brokenness. We can see all too easily, I think, our shortcomings, our failures, our sins. They are always before us. And when we feel this brokenness, we have a choice. We can pretend we are not broken. Or, we can admit our brokenness. Or, we can admit our brokenness and acknowledge what we are. We are beloved sons and daughters of God.

One of my favorite Geico commercials shows why Pinocchio would not make a good motivational speaker. Namely, it was not possible for him to be a liar. But in today's first reading, Saint John makes clear that the real truth comes from a person, namely Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

If you have a friend in the Blessed Mother (and you do) than you have both the model of a believer and a powerful source of prayer. Mary, the Mother of God wants to do all she can to introduce you to her son, Jesus. So let her.

Mary is the exemplary model of faith, and probably at no time for us more than today. We are busy, we move fast, we chase every brand new thing that comes along. We want it all. But often, despite all we have, we recognize that we really do not have what is most important.

When John writes about his faith relationship with Jesus, he is often dramatic to help us to see just what is at stake when we think about our faith. He tells us quite plainly that the end is near. And he warns us that there will be those who are working against a relationship with Jesus. So, be on guard.

But John is also quite reassuring. While the end is near, we also know the end. The Christmas season we celebrate is all about God's plan to save us. And, with Jesus coming to us in the flesh, dying for our sins, and rising from the dead, we are saved if we allow Jesus to enter our hearts, heal our brokenness and forgive our sins.