The enemy the first reading wants us to "mow down" is not people,
but anything and everything that stands between us and the Kingdom of God.
And one of those enemies is discouragement: "We can’t do it."
Notice the role of Moses: he stands up high, praying. You and I pray for one another.
We all need to have our arms held up.
This is a reason we come together at Sunday Mass:
We come to hold up each others’ arms in prayer.
Are you discouraged? You and I have no right to be discouraged!
In Afghanistan, and Iraq, brave men and women are putting their lives on line for us.
It’s exhausting and couldn’t be more dangerous.
We hope for the best—and they are giving their best,
and, as we all know, they give their all.
But what does the future hold? No one but God knows.
But you and I as Christians—we do know our future!
We don’t know how long General Motors will be around,
but we know Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!
Today is World Mission Sunday, reminding us that we are in this world,
just as God’s People were in the desert: they were passing through;
and we’re passing through, on our way to the Kingdom.
As we go you and I want to make sure, first, that we make it;
and second, Christ commands us to bring all we can with us.
There’s a world full of people who don’t know Him; we’re here to tell them.
Again, we get discouraged: "They won’t listen"; or we say, "Not today."
Our schoolchildren are not discouraged— and they’re not waiting for another day.
Do you know what they are doing? They are raising $7,000 to build a house in Haiti.
They are well on their way to doing it!
We don’t have to go to Haiti to go the missions, however.
Some folks see empty seats at Mass and get discouraged.
Fill those seats! Bring people with you!
This city, the houses around your house, your family: these are our mission field.
We have a Bible Study every Wednesday. You come, and bring someone with you.
We have Cursillo—a great opportunity to grow in faith.
Soon, we’ll have discussion groups on the Pope’s book, Jesus of Nazareth.
We have RCIA sessions every Monday evening: Come, and bring someone with you.
We have a 24-hour chapel; Come, and bring someone with you!
It’s our turn to help the Bethany Center;
The boy scouts and girl scouts need help.
When we have Bingo, it’s filled with non-Catholics!
You come, and bring someone with you!
My point is, you and I can easily be missionaries, right here in Piqua. What holds us back?
Not "the enemy"—armed with Faith in Christ, you and I can mow him down!
Only one thing can defeat us—and that is us, our attitude: "We can’t do it"; "why try?"
Why do we get discouraged?
I suspect one reason we get discouraged is we look to ourselves—
we draw on our own strength. And that works—
for awhile, until we use up our reserves; until we get to the end of our own strength.
That’s when we realize we needed to look elsewhere:
to the Lord who made heaven and earth.
The time we spend with the Lord, the time we spend on our knees in prayer,
is not wasted time, and it’s not a luxury; it’s a necessity, to renew our strength,
to stride into battle.
If you are discouraged today, realize why God brought you here today:
Look to the Lord; He is your strength.
4 comments:
Encouragement is so important along with perseverence..
Hey Fr can you put a link to me?
Mrs Jackie Parkes:
Got 'er done!
That was excellent, Father. It is a common mistake to think the mission fields exist only in the far-off reaches of third-world countries. They are there as well, certainly, but you nailed it - there are needs right here at home as well. As we'd say in my line of work, it's an "and" thing, not an "or" thing.
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