Last week it was the situation in North Korea that was the headlines on the news. \u00a0Then came the white nationalist activity in Charlottesville, VA. \u00a0Yesterday brought a car driving through a crowd of people in Barcelona Spain. \u00a0Today (August 18th) there has been a stabbing in Turku Finland with two dad and six wounded.<\/p>\n
What is it going to take to change all this?<\/p>\n
Here I think of the ministry of John the Baptist as told in Matthew 3:1-3<\/p>\n
In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>[and] saying, \u201cRepent,\u00a0for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!\u201d \u00a0<\/span>It was of him that the prophet Isaiah\u00a0had spoken when he said:\u00a0<\/span>\u201cA voice of one crying out in the desert, \u2018Prepare the way of the Lord,\u00a0make straight his paths.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Fighting does little to solve problems. \u00a0What is needed is a voice of reason and truth to be that voice of “one crying out in the desert.<\/em>” \u00a0There are too many people who are “hotheads.” \u00a0Trading jabs and threats doesn’t help. \u00a0We need to speak up for what our faith teaches.<\/p>\n
We live in a world of diversity. \u00a0People come from different races and geography. \u00a0People hold different beliefs. \u00a0Trying to live in a pluralistic society with so many different beliefs, relativism is becoming the popular approach. \u00a0Relativism says you can believe whatever you want as long as no one gets hurt. \u00a0This leads to many people being silent on many issues.<\/p>\n
The problem is that silence is often interrupted as either agreement or you don’t care. \u00a0If we want the world to change for the better, we must be willing to step out and be the voice of reason and God’s Truth. \u00a0At our Baptism, we are anointed as priest,\u00a0prophet<\/em><\/strong>, and king. \u00a0Some are called to be prophets like John the Baptist but not all but we can all work to “prepare the way of the Lord.<\/em>”<\/p>\n
“Preparing the way of the Lord” begins with telling people about Jesus and his love. \u00a0To tell them that Jesus died for our sins. \u00a0We can all do that much. \u00a0We can also pray for our bishops to be a voice for peace and for the dignity of all live.<\/p>\n
I strive to help people know the Lord in the words I preach, offer in my presentations, or here on my blog. \u00a0I also take seriously my responsibility as a priest in the Sacrament of Reconciliation to help people know God’s forgiveness. \u00a0I try to speak when prompted by the spirit to issues in our world ranging from the situation in North Korea that I spoke about in my homily last Sunday<\/a> to the issue of physician assisted suicide<\/a>. \u00a0I’m sure there is more I need to speak of in the homily and here on my blog. \u00a0Pray that I always offer the words that the Holy Spirit calls me to speak.<\/p>\n
Do you remain silent or do you offer the love of Christ to the world? You may not know or understand all church teaching but are you willing to say there is a right way and a wrong way and that God is the one that decides what is right and just?<\/p>\n
Peace,<\/p>\n
Fr. Jeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last week it was the situation in North Korea that was the headlines on the news. \u00a0Then came the white nationalist activity in Charlottesville, VA. \u00a0Yesterday brought a car driving through a crowd of people in Barcelona Spain. \u00a0Today (August 18th) there has been a stabbing in Turku Finland with two dad and six wounded. …<\/p>\n