A Word from Your Pastor October 17

Dear Parishioners:

As you can imagine, one of the difficulties of “Preaching the Word” today is that some parts of God’s Message to us are “hard sayings.” The teachings of our Church are often very different from what is popular or what is easy for us to hear. We “all fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Nonetheless, all of us have a responsibility to “preach the Word in season and out of season.” As St. Paul wrote to our patron St. Timothy: “Proclaim the Word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.” (II Timothy 4:2) The month of October calls for a serious look at the Truth and a sober reflection on our response to what God calls us to be and to do. As you may have noticed, a few of my homilies lately have been attempts to invite this sort of soul-searching.

If you have been challenged by what has been preached, congratulations! You are listening and your heart is ready to hear what God has to say. God is loving and merciful and He understands our weakness. He is compassionate and forgiving and He will never turn us away. It is fair for each of us to say to God and to His Church: “Take me where I am, but don’t leave me there!” We can be sure that God will accept us as we are, but that, as God, He cannot help but change our direction. “God writes straight with crooked lines.”

When “hard sayings” are preached, it is never a judgment against us, unless we are closed to the message. Rather, it is an act of trust that invites us to growth. God intends for us to be more tomorrow than we are today. If we hear the Word and allow it to lead us to a new understanding, we are on our way to the new life that God has in store for us.

There are teachings of the Church that our fallen human nature rebels against. That does not mean that the teachings should be changed, but rather that we need God’s help to live in accord with His design. When we strive to put the Truth into practice, we give God room to work in us.