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From the Pastor's Desk: July 2, 2023
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From the Pastor’s Desk: July 2, 2023
This Sunday offers us great opportunities to assess our lives, mainly what role Jesus plays in our lives. In the context of the Gospel message, Jesus gives us a very direct answer– “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” Jesus speaks of being a worthy disciple. But what criterion does Jesus give to be a worthy disciple?
He does not say that the worthy disciple was the one who was merely baptized. Although baptism makes one a child of God, it is not enough to constitute a worthy disciple. Jesus does not say that the worthy disciple is the one who merely keeps the commandments, who doesn’t speak evil of anyone or doesn’t harm anyone. Jesus does not say that the worthy disciple is the one who merely comes to Mass or who prays each day. Jesus does not say that the worthy disciple is even someone who considers Him important, who tries to live life in accordance with His teachings.
Jesus gives us the criterion in today’s Gospel, and it is not an easy one. “The one who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and the one who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. The one who does not take up his Cross to follow me is not worthy of me.” In other words, to be a worthy disciple of Jesus means two things: first, to love Him above all other loves with all our mind, heart, soul and strength; and second, to love Him so much that we will be willing to suffer for Him, taking up our Cross to follow Him.
These are demanding standards, and they call us to examine our consciences today about whether we really are in truth worthy disciples of so great a Savior.
On Tuesday, our nation celebrates the Fourth of July - Independence Day – one of the most important national holidays. This is a day to thank God for the political and religious freedom we enjoy and to pray for God’s special blessings on the leaders and the people of our country. It is a day to remember the basic principle underlined in the constitution that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is a day to remind ourselves that we have a duty to protect these God-given rights by living our lives with integrity that builds our character to reflect that belief that every human person regardless of color, faith, or orientation has inalienable rights.
Just to remind you that every First Saturday of every month, we celebrate the Mass for the Nation. Through the intercession of Blessed Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, we pray for the values of our faith that defines our existence, for the dignity and respect of human life as the most precious gift, for religious freedom and liberty entrusted to us from God and incorporated by the founding fathers of this nation as our inheritance.
"The challenge facing you, dear friends, is to increase people's awareness of the importance for society of religious freedom; to defend that freedom against those who would take religion out of the public domain and establish secularism as America's official faith. And it is vitally necessary for the very survival of the American experience, to transmit to the next generation the precious legacy of religious freedom and the convictions which sustain it." –St. John Paul II, 1995 Baltimore, Basilica of the Assumption
I pray that as people of faith we will stand in solidarity to protect and defend the freedom of religion in respect to God, the Founding Fathers of this nation, and one another.
May God bless America!!!!
With prayers,
Fr. Andy
