Today the Church is reminding us that we have been created for something greater than passing comforts, empty pleasures, superficial popularity, and earthly achievements. We all want our lives to matter, to make a lasting difference in this world, not just a passing difference, a little scratch on the surface. But do we all want to live fully and faithfully under Christ's rule, firmly entrusting our lives into his care so that we can all reach our God given potential to make the world a better place, living in the imitation of Christ the King, experience fulfillment of purpose and the interior peace that follows. 
 
Jesus came to inaugurate among us the Kingdom of God. It is he himself who embodies the whole vision of the Kingdom by the way he lived, spoke, worked, taught, healed, liberated, and finally sacrificed his life in love for us.  He is our model, the one we are to imitate. There is no other who so completely reveals to us the truth of who we are and who we were made to become.
 
Colossians tells us that before all, he existed, and it is he holds it all together, sustains and supports the unity of creation. In him, we gain our freedom, through the forgiveness of our sins.  By him who frees us from the power of darkness, we are brought into his Kingdom to live freely what we now see clearly is our true identity. It is in him, the first-born of all creation that we see the image of the unseen God and ourselves. 
 
Yet, we find it so difficult to remain free and faithful. We are all too willing to hide who we are, what we believe and find that too easily we cede our influence to the knowing and the ignorant minions of the enemy. Bombarded by media messages that tell us to keep our religion to ourselves and out of the public square we effectively allow the world to be ruled by the shadow masters. If we truly believe that Christ is the Savior, that there really is one God who created us and redeemed us, we should not be afraid to bring that faith to action in the society around us. If we don't, others will fill the void. 
 

• If we don't defend and spread Christian values in society, what values will thrive there?
• If we don't continue to bring Christ into culture, what will culture become?

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4 Last Things: Part 2 (in brief)

​The manifest message of western culture today is to avoid thinking about the last things, the great truths like death and judgment. Accordingly, imbued with the cultural creed, the problem for many Christians is not so much anxiety about the end of our world but living as if there were an eternity of tomorrows and no judgement to come. The manipulative message of the YOLO creed tells us to enjoy ourselves while we can here on earth and, don’t worry – be happy.  Subsequently we get too focused on a future which is essentially uncertain and mortgage that future against final judgement. We have been indoctrinated to believe that all we have to do is take the right steps, get the right breaks and have enough money to guarantee a future under our control. That living the Christian life means fitting the Gospel into our chosen lifestyle and our chosen future. 
 
That is foolish. It is not the mindset for living that will lead to a face to face encounter with Jesus at judgement, where we hear the words 'well done, good and faithful servant'.

Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell

One very important theme we can draw from today’s Mass is that Jesus is the Lord of life. Life that isn’t ended by physical death, contrary to what the Sadducee’s believed.  But this truth is a such a central truth, we must consider its import for how we live our lives.
 
We know or at least we hope Heaven is real and that we’ll get there. We’re taught that hell is real, but we hope it isn’t, except for the folks we hate. We’ve heard there is such a thing as Purgatory but since we don’t understand it, we try not to think about it, much, unless we’re invited to pray for the souls in purgatory and since we have loved ones who have died, on the off chance this matters, we are willing to pray for them.
 
We don’t really like to talk about death and dying, even though we all know that moment will come for all of us. It’s uncomfortable. It forces us to consider our own mortality, choices, and salvation. It also forces us to consider the future and past loss of loved ones.  It may not be fun to think or talk about.  But we must.

​Let’s not forget the Final Judgement…
There will be a resurrection of all, as St. Paul explains in 1st Corinthians 15. Those who have been faithful to Christ will rise glorious, their bodies transformed on the model of the risen body of Christ. Jesus will come at the end of time to judge all human beings. This is called the parousia, His second coming. It was foretold by the angels as He ascended into heaven: "This Jesus who is taken up from you to heaven, will come in the way in which you saw Him going into heaven". Acts 1:11 The general judgment at the end of time simply solemnly confirms the particular judgments of each person, with the difference that then the body as well as the soul will receive what is due. 
 
If we were asked, what is really our ultimate concern, on what really do we base our lives, what would we say? 
 
Our relationship with God must be our ultimate concern.

Please don't judge me... God’s attitude towards those who sin, continuing the theme from last week.

The Gospel tells a story about a man named Zacchaeus, a rich collector of taxes and likely well fed. Then one day because he climbed a tree to see, the Son of God invited himself over for dinner! These guys, the tax collectors, not Jesus, usually got wealthy by destroying the lives of those upon whom they preyed – bleeding them dry through threats, extortion, and murder. Such is the stereotype, but maybe not true of this guy.

This might remind you of that time, in Revelations when St. John painted us a beautiful image of Jesus: “I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into his house and eat with him and he will eat with me”. Rev 3:20

The crowd, as we heard, was not impressed. They were shocked and scandalized, although maybe moved by some sort of jealousy as well: “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Sure, based on 'the norm' they might have been right, since to them it seemed like a sure thing in light of their lived experience; every tax collector is a crook and even worse a Jew stealing from Jews... the most detested person in the town! But 'the norm' isn't necessarily the truth about everyone. Have you ever been judged in this way?

Undaunted, but humble and fully aware of the meaning of the crowds judgement against him, Zacchaeus confidently tells Jesus what he’s really guilty of: “Half of my possessions I give to the poor; and if I find I have taken more than I should, I pay back fourfold.” Jesus, clear enough to be understood by the crowd, pointed out, “Today salvation, wholeness, has come to this house, because Zacchaeus is a son of Abraham.” ‘Son of Abraham’ was a title for a good-living Jew and sometimes applied to Christians in the early Church. “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost”. As we say today, never judge a book by it’s cover!  But, just like those folks in the Gospel, we often superficially judge others.

The words in the first reading, ought to be in our minds and on our lips as frequently, at least, as we are tempted to be more like the crowd and less like Jesus! 

“Lord, you love all things that exist,
and detest none of the things that you have made,
for you would not have made anything if you had hated it.
How would anything have endured if you had not willed it?
Or how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved?
You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord, you who love all that lives.”
And pray for others, along with St. Paul…
“We pray continually that our God will make you worthy of his call
and by his power fulfil all your desires for goodness
and complete all that you have been doing through faith;
because in this way the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
will be glorified in you and you in him,
by the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”