1st Reading: Ez 2:2-5
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 123:1-4
2nd Reading: 2 Cor 12:7-10
Gospel: Mk 6:1-6
This past Wednesday the night sky was filled with many beautiful colors as our nation celebrated it's Independence. No matter where you found yourself you could hear the never ending boom that came with each firework that was shot into the air. When you think about the noise and the blast that happens when you shoot these into the night sky it is quite remarkable. It is remarkable that from a small object, such as a firework, that all of this can come about. Of course if you take a bottle rocket and hold it inside the palm of your hand nothing will happen. In order to get any results you have to light a match and place it to the wick in order to ignite the gunpowder that is found inside. Only after following these steps can anyone expect anything to come about when using fireworks. If any of these steps were to be left out the result would be nothing because you put nothing into it and thus you can get nothing out of it. Our faith can accomplish many things if we allow ourselves to put something into it.
Today's Gospel from Saint Mark gives us a glimpse into the lives of people who do not have the time nor the energy to place any work into their faith. Each of these people who were present inside of this passage had so much room for opportunity to take place within their lives and yet they did not take advantage of it. Jesus Christ was even present before them and yet they did not allow Him to work within their lives. It was not through the fault of Christ that miracles were not able to be performed, but it was due to the lack of faith that was present inside of the people. Only if these people had a little bit of faith great miracles would of been performed within their lives. They did not realize that they needed to put work into something if they expected to get anything out of it. Jesus was amazed at their lack faith because He knew the potential that existed for each of them that was being wasted. It was His desire for these people to use their potential to its fullest in order to bring these people to unfailing trust in Him.
Each of us present here today should have the same desire to have our faith set aflame by the Heart of Christ. We should not just sit back and relax and expect great things to happen to us while we put no work into the process. Going to Mass for an hour on Sunday is a great start for us, but we must do more. Christ is present within each of our lives and He is inviting us to do more then just come to Church for an hour on Sunday. He is inviting us to enter into a relationship with Him, so that our faith can ever be multiplied. To think how much we can accomplish if we can begin to trust in the healing mercy of Christ. If we can begin to trust in this manner we will be able to set a flame to the wick of our faith and allow it to grow to new heights that the world will begin to recognize. When we get caught up in the motion of the world and realize that nothing has developed in our journey of faith we have nobody to blame, but ourselves. Instead we must fix our eyes upon the Lord and allow Him to work within our lives.
We should join with Saint Paul who allowed the Lord to work within his weaknesses, so that he could feel the power of the Lord. No matter how many times Saint Paul was tempted to turn against the power of the Lord he continued to endure and to allow it to work within his life. This power that was felt by Saint Paul can be felt within our own lives if we allow the Lord to work within our lives. The grace that is given to us by the Lord is sufficient for each of us if we allow that grace to work within our lives. We must allow the Lord to work within us through all the hardships and constraints that we might experience, so that our faith may ever be strengthened within Him. Spending time as a family in prayer, praying before the Blessed Sacrament, taking advantage of opportunities to learn more about scripture and the faith that we profess are all ways to invite Christ to enter into more and more into our lives. Through these experiences we can draw closer to Him in an authentic relationship.
Our first reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel tells of the world's rejection of prophets. The experience that this prophet was sharing with the world is no different then our own relationship with the Lord. There are days when we desire the Lord to enter into all that we do and then there are days when we leave Him out of the picture. Instead of casting the Lord out of our lives we should desire to grow closer to Him each day as we invite Him to truly change our lives into something greater then we currently know. We should not remain a rebellious house who casts Christ out of our midst, but we should be a house that welcomes Christ to enter in and continue to dwell with us. Each time that we authentically gather for prayer we are drawing our strength from Christ and thus are getting we what receive from an authentic source of mercy. We are drawing upon this source of grace and are placing all of our desires and needs upon Him, so that we are able to work in union with His divine will.
Therefore my brothers and sisters in Christ if we believe in the importance of a relationship built upon the Lord we will allow ourselves to draw closer to Him and allow Christ to work within our lives. We will do all in our power to draw closer to Christ by giving nourishment to our relationship with Him. In doing this we will not be standing by while nothing takes place due to our lack of faith, but will become a beacon that draws the love of Christ into our homes. Only by being this beacon can we actually state that we have done anything with the faith that we have been given. By being this beacon we will draw upon Christ as our strength instead of having Him remain on the sidelines as our lives pass Him by. Through this profound relationship we will allow ourselves to have our eyes fixed intently upon the Lord who is the source and strength of our faith.
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