Listen to the Voice of Jesus, Not the Voice of the World

Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your soul. James 1:21

This verse from the book of James is a good reminder that in receiving the Holy Spirit through baptism, we have all been planted in the field of the Lord who is the only one able to save our souls.  Through baptism, we were forgiven of all sin and became a cell in the body of Christ the Church through which all grace, faith, and salvation flow.  But when we were baptized, God gave us another wonderful gift that is often overlooked.  

In his desire to share his life with us both now and for eternity, through baptism each one of us became part of God’s family, a brother or sister to Christ and an adopted child of God the Father.  While friends are an important part of life, we are much more than just friends of Jesus, we are his family.  Romans 8:16-17 puts it this way, “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”  

As children of God and siblings to Christ, it its important that we live a life worthy of such a glorious and heavenly family. Jeremiah reminds us that as part of God’s family when we sin, we separate ourselves from God; to remedy this, through the prophet God tells us, “Reform your ways and your deeds, so that I may remain with you.  Put not your trust in deceitful words.”  He goes on to remind us that in our pride and arrogance we sometimes think that as part of God’s family, as Christians, we are safe.  We think we can sin again and again without consequences, but God sees what we have done and knows when we are truly sorry for our sins and seek repentance and when we’re not and have convinced ourselves it doesn’t matter, thinking, "It’s all good, right Lord?"  

Sorry to say, it doesn’t work that way.  

As Catholics, we know that when we have broken our relationship to our heavenly Father through sin, we must humbly approach the Lord Jesus in the Sacrament of Confession and confess our sins, express our sorrow for them, do penance, and seek to change our life.  After Mass at our family retreat, anyone who felt called to had the opportunity to do just that and encounter Christ in the Sacrament of Confession. As soon as you are able, go get that heavy burden off your back and receive the grace and forgiveness of God.

In the Gospels, Jesus tells us the Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat.  While reflecting on this parable, the Holy Spirit helped me to look at this parable in a way I never have.  He helped me understand it in terms of a family.  I was reminded that when a man and a woman receive the Sacrament of Matrimony, the purpose is to establish a family by yielding children just as the purpose of a farmer sowing a field is to yield a crop (in this case, wheat).  As the crop grew, the weeds grew along with it putting the wheat at risk. Our children are growing among the weeds of negative influences in our culture putting them at risk and encouraging them to make decisions that will lead them away from God.  

In the parable when the weeds appeared in the crop the Master’s slaves questioned him saying, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?  Where have the weeds come from?"  In the same way, when our children go astray and abandon God, people may say to us, "What the heck did you teach those kids? Don’t they know right from wrong? Don’t they know their faith?" 

Of course, none of us are perfect parents, but most parents do their best to sow the seeds of faith in their children when they’re young, continue to teach them the faith as they grow, and strive to be good examples to them of what a strong Christian family looks like.  We try to protect our kids from all sorts of things, especially bad influences that might stunt or damage their physical or spiritual growth.  Like the farmer though, it is impossible to totally remove them from the dangers of the world because to do so would mean that we would have to remove them from the world.  Even though we try to limit the exposure of our children to the weeds, the things that might lead them from God, often we have no choice but to let them grow together.  

Have faith that they know a godly thing from an evil thing and while they may not always make good godly choices (and may even separate themselves from God for years) they know the way back to the Lord because they have been taught the way and observed it being lived out in their family.  

Brothers and sisters, the theme of our retreat today is Praying as a Family and while Jesus gives us his grace through the sacraments of the Church, the thing that draws us to God, that draws us to the sacraments is a strong personal relationship with Jesus.  And the way to build that relationship is the same way we would build a relationship with anyone we care for or love, by spending a lot of time with them.  Prayer in all its forms is nothing but spending time with God in a conversation.  That means we have to talk to him, and then we have to listen, that’s the hard part because that’s the part of prayer the enemy fears most.  

He knows that if we talk to God and then listen for his response, we might just hear him, and if we clearly hear him, we might actually respond by living the life he is calling us to live, not the life our culture or the world, the weeds, call us to live.  Prayer, especially praying as a family is what will separate our families, and our children, from the evil of the world and build a strong relationship with Jesus and our Blessed Mother.

My friends, if Jesus is not currently the most important person in your life, I encourage you to start changing that today.  You’ll be given some ideas on where you can start at this retreat but it’s not complicated, just pray and ask Jesus what he wants you to do.  Then listen for his response.  Of course, you can pray anywhere, you can talk to God anywhere, but the best place to talk to Jesus is here in the church where Jesus is fully present in every Catholic church, 24/7, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.  Just go to your parish and sit with him and ask him to give you the first step to moving you and your family closer to him.  In fact, just taking the time to go and sit with Jesus is the first step, and it’s a big step.  

Jesus is waiting, don’t be late.  Amen!