I see a lot of arguing from experts about who goes to heaven and who doesn’t.
Most seem quite confident that if you don’t believe like they do, you will go to hell.
I invite you to remember that that judgment does not belong to us.
Not one person reading this would’ve predicted what Our Father did through Jesus or how He did it.
Not one of the people boldly proclaiming who will go to hell would be capable of praying “Father forgive them, they know not what they’re doing” from the cross.
Not one of them remind you to wash the feet of those who would betray and abandon you at your time of greatest need.
If the life, death and resurrection of Jesus doesn’t convince you that you have no idea of the mind of God or the limits of his mercy, then you have no place taking his job at judgment.
You may have memorized the Bible, but so did the devil.
You may know your catechism backward and forward, but so does the devil.
Most Christians don’t need more information, they need more humility.
To every pro lifer in Virginia:
Please, listen to the Bishop.
In Michigan, Planned Parenthood spent millions of dollars and flooded the airways to ensure we would enshrine in our constitution the most radical pro-abortion position possible.
Catholics lined right up and voted for it.
I’m not exaggerating when I say I have never recovered from it and I don’t know if I ever will.
You can’t know how horrible it feels to wake up one morning and watch the news and know that legalized murder is now the normative part of the life of your state.
I beg you, vote against this horror.
Do not let anything keep you away from the Booth.
Put it in your calendar, show up and vote.
The pro-life movement does not have the backing of any political party, they don’t have a government funded multibillion dollar industry like Planned Parenthood: their blood soaked hands are filled with money.
You won’t be able to use the media to tell the truth, it’s on you.
Share your heart and tell people that at some point, we have to draw the line.
If that’s not a human in the womb, then what is it? When does it become a human? What scientific criteria do people use to make that determination?
These are the only questions that matter.
Everything else is a distraction and a diversion.
Pray. Fast. Lovingly tell people the truth. Vote.
Going to heaven is not a reward for our virtue or rightness; virtue is its own reward. Holiness is its own reward.
Heaven is not an exchange, it’s a gift.
I worry that sometimes, we fight hard over the minutia of worship or morality so that we can pretend we’ve played some part in earning heaven.
It seems a big part of holiness is swallowing our pride and learning to receive all He wants to give with childlike innocence, expectation and joy.
It’s heaven all the way to heaven. It’s hell all the way to hell.
#talkedtotheboss
In I Kings 18, the pagans made an offering to their gods and nothing came of it.
Elijah made an offering to God: He accepted it and the faith of the people grew.
Today, I think God is calling each of us to offer Him a little sacrifice of some sort.
As you make it, trust that He’ll accept it, treasure it and make something of it that is beautiful.
Give Him yourself. Make a sacrifice of praise.
#talkedtotheboss
In John 17, Jesus prays that all who believe will so deeply united that it compels others to believe.
Man made unity is created by force and fear; bullying, shouting and cruelty.
Divine unity happens thru prayer and personal conversion only.
There is no other way.
Unity will continue to elude The Body of Christ as long as we talk more than we pray and as long as we focus our mental, emotional & spiritual energy on changing others.
Serve others, change yourself.
Pray for unity.
#talkedtotheboss
Six Days of Fighting, one day of Peace
So. St. Thomas is out and about.
The other disciples are locked in an upper room for fear. Jesus comes to them and shows them His resurrected self.
Thomas returns and finds everyone has lost their mind: Risen from the dead? That's crazy.
Then, for six days, nothing but a bunch of men yelling at each other in a crowded, hot upper room.
Ten guys saying someone came back from the dead, one guy saying no way.
Six. Days.
It had to be awful.
Thomas lays out what he needs: an encounter with Christ.
Jesus comes and declares peace.
He shows Thomas what Thomas asked for and nothing tore those men apart afterward.
They bled and died, His name on their lips, all in unity that they saw Jesus risen from the dead.
So, here we are, in a 2000 year stretch like those 6 days.
Yelling at each other in a hot, crowded social media world; Anxious to get everyone to think like us.
None of us are actually listening to each other, all of us hearing what we think the person believes, and then judging what level of offense it gives us.
One day, Jesus will come, declare peace, meet us where we are and lead us to Heaven if we let Him.
Until then, if you are a Christian, I offer you my hand to sacrifice, bleed, and die together joyfully proclaiming the risen Christ.
#talkedtotheboss #divinemercy
It’s frustrating that we repeat sins over and over.
It’s frustrating to go into the confessional & feel like we are making the same confession as last time.
We have to let that go and keep fighting.
When walking out of the confessional, if we focus on our frustration with our ourselves, we have missed the point.
If we focus on the extraordinary, boundless and joyful loving mercy of our God, then we have began to understand his words “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
Focus on His love and mercy. Keep fighting. Never give up.
#talkedtotheboss