Take Out The Trash
In
the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
> From the first letter of the Apostle Paul to Timothy.
1
Timothy 3:14-16
"Dear
brother, I am writing these things to you in the hope of coming to
see you soon. But if I'm late, I want you to know from now on how you
should act in the house of the living God, which is the Church, the
pillar and foundation of the truth. Truly great is the mystery of
God's love that has been manifested to us in Christ, made man,
sanctified by the Spirit, contemplated by the angels, proclaimed to
all nations, accepted in the world through faith and raised to the
glory."
The
Word of God.
R:/
We praise you Oh Lord.
>
The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke. +
Luke
7:31-35
At
that time, Jesus said, "To
whom shall I compare the men of this generation? Who do they look
like? They look like those kids who sit at playing in the square and
shouting at each other. We play the flute and they haven't danced. We
sing sad songs and they haven't cried. Because John came the Baptist
who neither ate bread nor drank wine. And you said, "That one's
possessed. And the Son of Man is coming who eats and drinks and says,
this man is a plotter and a drinker, friend of publicans and sinners.
But only those who have the wisdom of God they are the ones who
recognize it."
The
Word of the Lord.
R:/
Glory to you Lord Jesus
-------
Well,
lets start by looking at a common phrase that says:
"People
are never satisfied."
Whatever you do, whether right, or
wrong, they always talk and criticize, right?
Human beings have
that tendency in them. Is one of our flaws, if we're honest.
We
often dont know what we want.
If something is blue, we want it
black.
If it's black, we want it blue.
I mean, we're never satisfied,
because we always seek what we think is, "perfection." We
get it in our minds that what we have it is not perfect, that we lack
some elusive, "perfect."
Here I don't mean
improving oneself, like through education. This is something else.
I'm talking about how we get it in our heads that what we already
have
is not good enough.
So, what's going on with
this?
Well, that is the point of this gospel today.
Jesus
says, "John came, he didn't eat and he didn't drink,...and they
all said , 'this man is possessed by demons.'
But then Jesus came, one who eats
and drinks...and they said, 'he's a glutton, a drunkard, and he's a
friend of sinners. What is it that he wants?'
It is always
like that - if you strive to satisfy others, you're never gonna make
it.
Eventually they will always talk. Always.
What the Word
of God is teaching us today is this:
Review your conscience and
your life in the light of a godly wisdom. But do not to get into that
dynamic of trying to get along with everyone.
Because they will
always say something that is going to hurt.... even if they say
something positive, its not long that something contrary follows
it.
That happens a lot in the family, too. I mean, whatever
you do, they're going to talk, and "mark" you. If youre late a
few a times, youre marked as always being late. Then, if you ever
arrive early, they'll annoy you by saying, "Oops, what happened?
Youre on time?!"
Arrive early, arrive late, youre already the
topic of talk
So stop worrying, or striving to look good
with the others, because they're never going to get it.
That
causes us a lot of harm.
We stop being happy when they come to mind.
We stop making decisions that help us, because we wonder what
they will say.
And no matter what we end up doing, people are
going to talk anyway.
So the goal is to know in your own
conscience, "I am doing well. They're talking, ... they're maybe
going to keep talking. But checking my life, and checking my
conscience, I am doing well."
That's the idea of doing
it right.
So here comes the last line of this gospel reading,
and we need to pay attention:
The wisdom of God will cause only those
wise in God's ways to
recognize what is good and bad.
This why I recommend you to put yourself in the hands of a spiritual
advisor, someone wise in God's ways who can help you review your
life.
That person can be a model and a reference, someone who
helps you to evaluate your life, and who might expose weak spots.
They are the ones you want to hear say, "You are doing
well."
The great invitation today is to let
ourselves be molded by the Lord above all things. Let us abandon our
life, or our place in life, into the hands of the Lord, through a
spiritual advisor. And when that person of wisdom says, "You're
doing well, your efforts are for the good," you can value
that, and be calmly at peace.
You will have to seek this person, as they don't just fall from trees. Look for someone with Godly wisdom, because only those who have the
wisdom of God are going to recognize the good and
the bad that is in you.
And when you find such a person, let yourself be guided by him. Listen
to him. If he says something to critique you, say, "I didn't
realize that, let me see how I can correct that."
Dont be hurt or crushed when the
comments aren't always glowing, trust that wise person and in the
Lord.
These comments are spiritual edification; their aim is to help
you grow. Listen and participate in this effort.
We should also mention that, many times, we carry around in our mind a lot of mental
garbage, phrases, gossip, other people's hurtful words and so on – crap
that doesnt help us grow, but which tears us down.
So don't feed
on that... Throw it away.
Just stick with what the wise people
tell you. The people who have the wisdom are those who recognize the
good and the bad in you, and want to help you me.
The others are
just venting frustration, or venting their rage; they're just dumping
all the junk they're not able to deal with others. The actually LOOK for ways to spread it around.
Be very careful with those "garbage cans,"
always throwing out negative things that destroy, instead of building up.
A good way to know who helps and has the wisdom of God is to
start looking at how people talk to you, how they approach you. Ask yourself: "Is
what comes out of their mouth building me up, or tearing me
down?"
Remember, Christ said that you may know the heart of the
tree by its fruits.
If what they say honestly builds you up, then
those, "fruits," have the wisdom of God behind them and their owners are Godly
wise.
If what they say doesnt build you up, it's trash. Move on
from that.
The idea is not to do whatever we want. No, the idea is
to make our life grow in holiness, and to discern and listen to those who want
the best for us.
Glory be to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
As
it was in the beginning, now and always, forever and ever. Amen.
The Lord be with you and the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son and May the Holy Spirit descend upon you and accompany you always. Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Newark, N.J.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YqkwS6QHv4
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