I
made a significant decision which I do not regret. Simply put, I decided I do not have to live my
life like everyone else. I will live my
own life. I will pursue things of
lasting value rather than the newest fads of society chased by everyone else.
It
sounds simple enough. Yet, countless
multitudes will never make this decision.
Instead,
many will succumb to the pressure to conform. They will live their life purchasing the
trendiest products and fashion released to the masses – not because they
actually need them, but just because their neighbors bought them. They will base many of their life decisions on
the celebrity spokespersons’ pitch of the day. They will waste their energy trying to keep up
with the Joneses ... all for the elusive purpose of conformity.[1] They just want to be like everyone else.
“Jesus
said to his disciples: ‘Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will
love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.’” (Jn 14:23) Jesus is seeking our obedience. Obedience is a tough go in our time. Obedience can simply mean following the
rules, or adhering to the law in practice alone. All too often we can be lulled into somehow
believing that “following the rules” or “checking all the boxes” earns us some
kind of place of privilege,[2]
whether at church, work, or peer groups.
We certainly can be a very confused people, can’t we? Now be careful here, don’t go around telling
everyone Deacon Joe said it was alright to break all the rules. Laws and rules have their place in society,
church and among peer groups.
Here’s
the one real rule: to be obedient to Jesus!
How do we do this, by living in his peace and in his love. We hear this at every Mass, as part of the
Communion Rite, right after the Lord’s Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, who said to
your Apostles: ‘Peace I leave you, my peace I give you. [the verse continues]
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.’” (Jn
14:27)[3] Not as the world gives do I give it [peace]
to you. Suggests Jesus’ peace is
something different, likely a bit more than our traditional fist bumps,
handshakes, kisses, and distant peace signs?
The
obedience, peace and love Jesus gives us, is one of holy remembrance and
anticipation. When we participate in
this Eucharistic feast we are remembering a God who loves us so much that he
came down to be with us, be one of us, vulnerable to the temptations of this
world and the tricks of the prince of deception. We remember and embrace the obedience of
Mary, the mother of God, Joseph his human foster father, and Jesus’ obedience
who accepted even death, death on a cross as the price for our salvation, so we
live in hopeful anticipation of joining him in glory with the Father when our
earthly sojourn is done.
John’s
vision in the Book of Revelations describes the holy city Jerusalem coming down
out of the heaven from God. He notes
there is no temple, because we are not bound by the brick and mortar of a building,
we are to be the living stones that are the many parts of the body of Christ
“the Church”, nourished by the bread and wine that are the body and blood of
our Lord and sent into the world to be living tabernacles, be the light of
Christ for this often very dark world, full of so many people who just want to
be like everyone else. We are called to
give them a brighter vision.
So
we all have a decision to make. We can
be just like everyone else or choose to “belong” to Jesus. Note I did not say “believe” in Jesus. Jesus did not say come “believe” in me, He
said come “follow” me. Believing in
Jesus is good, don’t stop, but even the demons believe in Jesus. So if you stop at just believing in Jesus
congratulations, you’ve just raised yourself to the level of demon, here’s your
cookie.
We
need to “belong” to him, which means we have to let his peace and love
transform us. We have to be the
model. Three things we can concentrate
on to help us with the challenge of obedience and let the world know we “belong”
to Jesus.
1.
Guard your thoughts. What we think, influences our behaviors. What are you thinking of right now? Preparing to enter into Jesus passion in the
Eucharistic Rite or are you somewhere else?
2.
Make wise choices. When we consider this we have to question
what we are taking in. It’s the old
adage: “Garbage in, Garbage out.” What
type of music we listen to, the shows we watch on TV say a lot about us. What we spend our money and time on are also
tell-tale signs of who we live for, belong to.
3.
Surround yourself with the right
people. Who inspires you to live the peace
and love of Jesus? This is the kind of
“guilt by association” we do need more of in this world!
New
American Bible, Saint Joseph Edition. ©
1986. Scriptures: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Rev
21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29.
[1]
Joshua Becker. Your
Life is Too Valuable to Live Like Everyone Else. www.becomingminimalist.com
© 2015
[2] Hungry, and You Fed Me,
Edited by Deacon Jim Knipper © 2012. “Whoever loves me will keep my word.” by Fran
Rossi Szpylczyn.
[3] USCCB. The Roman Missal,
Third Edition. © 2011, Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.
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