The next step...

Wednesday Night Adoration Homily
Gospel
Jn 8:31-42

May the peace of Christ reign in our hearts

The Gospel today is rather interesting.. When you read the first sentence it says that Jesus is talking to the Jews who believed in him.... so you expect that it will be a pleasant conversation however it quickly goes in the opposite direction.

Yes the people Jesus was speaking to believed in him.
Belief is the first step in discipleship
However Jesus seemed to be asking them to take the next step and they balked.
They balked because they felt that as children of Abraham they were guaranteed a special place in God's kingdom

It may seem strange at first that a person would feel justified by their nationality or affiliation to a great religious leader in the past.... but when you think about it people still do that all the time

How often have we heard
"I'm Catholic"
even if I don't go to Church....
"I'm baptized..."...

Dr. Laura on the Radio once decimated a man who claimed to be Catholic but didn't go to church.
She said something like..." if you got a black belt in Karate when you were 19 and didn't practice it and then tried to use it when you were 39 it won't have the power to save you. If you don't use it you loose it"

All of us here go to church...
In fact you are even here on a Wednesday night at adoration...
(above and beyond the call of duty)

Yet holy ones it is also possible for us to just go through the motions.
It is also possible for us to claim I believe,
I go to Church regularly.... I'm a good person I'm set
Sound familiar

We have to be so careful that we don't fall into the sin of the Jews who "believed" in Jesus but didn't feel the need to go any further.

We have to be so careful that we go beyond just believing.

Jesus was trying to help the Jews understand that the next step is to remain in his word.

To listen to him
To enter into a relationship with him
To lives our lives constantly trying to live as he would have us live
and love as he would have us love.

When we meet someone important to us we listen to every word that falls from their mouths and we ponder them.

This begs the question.... How often are we that attentive to the Word of God and the living tradition of our faith.

If somehow we are able to transcend the rat race of everyday live... and remain in the presence of God, in other words remain in His Word.....
Then Jesus promises us that the truth will be revealed to us and we will be free

Free from loneliness... for we can never be alone
Free from what others think because we realize that it doesn't really matter
Free from our sins because the Gospel, the good news, promises us that we can be freed even from our weaknesses.

Just as Jesus was asking the Jews to take the next step...
So he asks us...
Have we incarnated our belief into our lives
Do we live it beyond the confines of weekly mass

Do we remain in His Word...