Finding The Courage to Say: “You Are Wrong”
So many things are happening in our world that have crept in under the guise of “love”, “compassion” and “inclusiveness” that have been traditionally condemned. This isn’t new. People have been deceived before.
And it isn’t new for Christians to finally realize they are perishing because of the lack of truth in our culture, and start to oppose the corruption of society by these ideas.
We are still the Church Militant. The Devil still goes about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. We still must put on the armor of Truth, and fight the good fight as long as God gives us the privilege of serving Him and His Truth.
written by Laura Weston, widow of Deacon Michael
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So we have a second day in a row where we have St. Paul talking to the Galatians and giving examples of being fairly obnoxious. He described it yesterday twice. He went up to Peter and told Peter, "You are wrong!" And then, as you were smiling, "Oh you stupid Galatians!" He doesn't mince words. And then we have combined with that the gospel readings where yesterday Jesus gave us a version of the Our Father, and today He is telling us about prayer and God's response to prayer, and that we are to be persistent.
So what is the message that we are receiving here. What is going on? And the responsorial says, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. He has come to His people… He has come to His people to set them free." He has come to His people to set them free.
So what is there behind that? We have Paul taking somewhat obnoxious positions. Using language that isn't the most temperate. We have Jesus telling us about prayer. And we have, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has come to his people to set them free."
So we have encompassed in those things first of all the humanity and divinity of Christ. "God has come to His people."
The second, the crucifixion. Paul loves to preach Christ crucified. That is the act by which He has come to set His people free.
And we have what St. John refers to as the Word. The coming of the Word in Christ.
And in all of those things we see God coming to us and giving us the means for salvation.
How does that lead to Paul's position. Paul, like our clergy, like your priests here, like the deacons, like the whole Catholic Church, has one purpose. One purpose alone. That is to bring people to God. To bring them to spend all eternity in Heaven with God. That's his purpose.
So when Paul sees Peter, and the Galatians, saying, "Okay, yeah we believe in God. We believe in all of these things, and then going off on a tangent that does not contain the truth necessary for the salvation of souls, he gets upset.
"Wait a minute. Just stop. Okay. I gave you the truth. What are all these things that are going to cause people problems. Why are you taking them away from the Truth. Peter, you know better. You know that circumcision is a problem and you know that all of these things that the Jews impose upon themselves don't need to be transferred over to the salvation of souls. Why are you doing it? Stop." "O stupid Galatians! I come and tell you the truth necessary for your salvation and what do you do? You stray. You come up with embellishments." That's what Paul is all upset about.
Did you listen to what Francis said yesterday on the issue of abortions? He equated, and there is a translation question on that, he equated abortionists and the people who get abortions equivalent to someone who goes out and hires a hit man or contract killer. That is not a statement of sweetness and light. Because again you see the variance from the truth.
And what is the truth that we are dealing with? And how do we see that in what Jesus is teaching us in the gospel of yesterday and today? Jesus says, "I love you. I'm going to die for you. I want to do everything necessary for your salvation." And they go, "Yeah, but how do we pray?" And he tells them, “I'm gonna tell you how to pray.”
He is doing the same thing today. He says, "Look, I'm human. I understand. I've lived with you. I am part of you. I am human. I am of human condition. I know sometimes it's hard to pray. I gave you a prayer. It's easy. Let's go there.”
But the other thing is. Don't give up! All of this is for salvation. I am proclaiming the kingdom of God. I am giving you the means to spend all eternity in the kingdom of God. Don't start praying and stop. Be persistent. Pray constantly. Prayer works. The efficacy of prayer. Why would you stop?
“Oh, it gets boring.” Or, like I gave you the example of the lady yesterday who thought the rosary didn't work for her because when she was all tense and started praying the rosary, she fell asleep.
Don't stop. Now, it’s a test sometimes when you have children. "Why should I have to pray for them even now." They are 65 years old, or 68 years old in John's case. He's still praying for John Michael.
Pray constantly because God is not going to give you something bad. He's going to hear you. He may not respond on our time, but he is going to hear you and he is going to respond. Jesus said, "If then you who are wicked know how to give good gifts to you children how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him." Ask. Constantly.
And what are we asking? In the combination of what Paul and Jesus is saying. We are asking for the truth of Our Lord Jesus Christ encompassed within His Holy Catholic Church.
We have the truth. "Stop varying from the truth, Robert." That's St. Paul. We have the truth. Pray to God because He is the Truth. Pray to Him constantly. "Here how you pray." That's Jesus. Pray constantly because all of this, all of this that he is saying, all that St. Paul is saying, is for one purpose. That you and I and every single person who has ever lived on the face of the earth or will ever live anywhere… who knows, we may have a colony in Mars… the whole purpose is that those people at the end of their earthly lives can come and spend all eternity with God in heaven.
That's it. And we need to keep in mind when we read about Paul and we read these readings about Christ and prayer, when we look at the gospels, we look at the teachings of the Church, that is the single purpose. That's why we are doing all of this. This is why you are getting the food to give you the strength get you through this day. Because the Church is here for our salvation. The Church's only purpose is to bring Robert and Margene and me and John and everybody to spend all eternity in heaven with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
September 11, 2018