Reading 1: Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22
I, John, heard the Lord saying to me:
"To the angel of the Church in Sardis, write this:
"'The one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says this: "I know your works, that you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Be watchful and strengthen what is left, which is going to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember then how you accepted and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not watchful, I will come like a thief, and you will never know at what hour I will come upon you. However, you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; they will walk with me dressed in white, because they are worthy.
"'The victor will thus be dressed in white, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name in the presence of my Father and of his angels.
"'Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"
"To the angel of the Church in Laodicea, write this:
"'The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the source of God's creation, says this:
"I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, 'I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,' and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments to put on so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed, and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.
"'Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne.
"'Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5
R. (Rev. 3: 21) I will seat the victor beside me on my throne.
He who walks blamelessly and does justice;
who thinks the truth in his heartand slanders not with his tongue.
R. I will seat the victor beside me on my throne.
Who harms not his fellow man,nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
By whom the reprobate is despised,while he honors those who fear the LORD.
R. I will seat the victor beside me on my throne.
Who lends not his money at usuryand accepts no bribe against the innocent.
He who does these thingsshall never be disturbed.
R. I will seat the victor beside me on my throne.
Gospel: Luke 19:1-10
At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost."
Really, the emphasis is on the passage from the Book of Revelation, and I made my own emphases in the bolded print. First, we see that God is calling us out on our hypocrisy and misunderstanding. All of us would claim to be alive, because our bodies are, in fact, alive. But we can easily be “alive” on the outside, but dead on the inside. Many of us have voluntarily or inadvertently “killed” our own spirits, stifled our souls, and are only living as animals… with a biological, living body, and nothing more. God is trying to tell us to look in the mirror! We are not as “alive” as we claim to be! But in every harsh word and reality check from God comes the hope. He says that it is never too late for any of us. “Strengthen what is left.” It is only after our death on this earth and after being cast into Hell that it is “too late.” There is always “something left” that we can cling to and strengthen. “Remember then how you accepted and heard; keep it, and repent.” Surely, all of us have felt something in our lives that turned us to God. Even if it was for a short while, surely all of us have had within us that glimpse of true faith. We have that memory in us so that we can go back to that time and re-do it and then make it stick.
Next is my favorite part. This should be the alarm clock going off loudly, without a snooze button. It should be the annoying smoke detector that won’t seem to turn off. It should be the emergency broadcast system on your TV that keeps interrupting your show. This should be the wake-up call. "I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” It has been written for almost 2000 years, but this is such an important time! The modern world is becoming increasingly secular and it doesn't want to hear the Truth. Even in the United States, our most cherished freedom, religious freedom, is threatened. It is time. No more “Cafeteria Catholics.” The “a-la-carte Catholics” and “Camouflage Catholics.” The “ChrEasters,” nominal, non-practicing, and lukewarm Catholics. The Catholics by name or association instead of by action and lifestyle. Jesus doesn’t want them. They leave a bad taste in His mouth, and He spits them out. It is not good enough to just call yourself a Christian or a Catholic, and maybe practice it for one day a week within the walls of a church. It's not enough to post on Facebook that "God is good! :)" and leave it at that, without constant prayer, without constantly striving for spiritual perfection, without constantly having God on your mind, and without that deep desire to love everyone and bring others to God. Christ should reside in every fiber of your being.
His words may sound harsh again. But as before, and as always, with every reality check comes the message of hope. "'Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.” If someone looks in the mirror and sees someone who is lukewarm, that is great! You can’t change something that you don’t acknowledge! But upon acknowledging, you have a decision to make. Do you then hear Jesus behind the door, knocking for you to let Him in? He knocks at the door to your heart. He is always there to rush in and greet you with loving arms, but only if you hear the knock and open the door. Do you open the door, or continue to ignore His knock? Or even yell at Him to go away? Will you be hot with love, with a heart set on fire by the Holy Spirit? Will you be cold and try and live without the love and mercy of God? Or will you continue to stand still, dragging your feet in the mud, going neither here nor there?
Well..?
God love you!
No comments:
Post a Comment