Him Whom We Seek
This past week I read an article about the rise of Satanism in the United Kingdom, but this is not the Satanism that we might think about when we hear the term. This “religious expression” is not about the worship of the father of lies, directly, but rather about what one newer adherent referred to as a “journey of self-realization.” This nouveau Satanism is about the worship of one’s own self and the push to meet every personal want, need, or desire. This is a destructive path, not just because it inadvertently still leads to the devil, but because a life lived totally inward is a life that will never be fulfilling. God made us to live lives that are focused beyond ourselves and ultimately towards Him.
The same day that I read the article I mentioned about, I also come across an excerpt from an address given by Pope St. John Paul II at World Youth Day in 2005. Our late Holy Father said: It is Jesus you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.
This Sunday’s Gospel gives us the call of the first disciples as recorded by Matthew; it also tells us that Jesus continued proclaiming the message of John the Baptist to repent but now with a greater meaning and urgency. None of the Gospels tell us that Jesus explained to his disciples what their discipleship would demand of them until later on. Unlike the disciples, we know what this call demands, to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow after the Lord. There are moments when these demands may seem surreal, moments when we say to ourselves “I did not realize that it would be this difficult.” We must remember that He who has given the call also gives the grace needed to answer the call. Let us use the grace given us to answer the daily demands of discipleship, small or large, and, as Pope St. John Paul exhorted the Church so often, to not be afraid to open the doors of our lives to Christ!
Grief Share
I will be assisting Theresa Hansen of our parish in hosting a grief share group starting in February. The group sessions will be opportunities for assistance in dealing with grief as well as maybe getting some answers to questions of faith that can confront us in times of loss. Grief share will be done in three session modules quarterly, with the first module running on Saturdays Feb. 11th, 18th, and 25th, at 10AM in the parish center. For more information please contact the parish office.
Blessings to you and yours for the week ahead!
Father Chris House