“Net-Working”

Almost every one of us is “connected” to someone else through social media. If we use email or Facebook or Twitter or texting or Instagram, we are connected. It may be to a few close friends and relatives or it may be to thousands of other cyber friends. The choice is yours but we call the process “networking”.

 In today’s first reading, Jonah travels to Nineveh with what he sees as an impossible task: spread God’s word: repent or the city will be destroyed. The people listened. God spared them. Jonah’s networking was successful. In the second reading, Paul seems to tell us to abandon our vocation in life. That is not what he is saying at all. Remember when this letter was written. There were lots of internal quarrels within the early church and Paul wanted those to be cast aside so that the people could embrace all possible opportunities for Christ. Their job was to spread the word—to “network”. Today’s Gospel carries over the story from last week when Peter and Andrew went out to see who this Jesus was. Today Jesus tells Peter and Andrew, James and John to put down their nets and follow him. Jesus was “Net-Working”.

 So, the message is this: will we put down our “nets”— whatever they may be and follow Christ with complete abandon? If the answer is “yes,” then our next calling is to begin “Net-Working” for Christ.

Take a few moments to listen to our newest message series "Pursuit of Happiness" and to reflect upon it with the Heart to Home Small Group material for this series.

What are you listening to?

In this busy world of ours, we are constantly bombarded with noise: Listen to this music; watch that TV show; listen to horns honking or people yelling; buy this; try that; lose weight; be more beautiful; seek the next techy device; you name it. Our ears hear it. That’s why quiet places refresh us so! Today’s three readings carry a fairly simple message:

• God is calling—always.

• Our bodies belong to him and everything we do reflects our intent to do good or not to do good.

• Answering God’s call takes faith, trust and the ability to tune out the noise.

We all have a calling in life—not a career, but a calling. For some it is to be the best spouse and parent we can be; for others it is a call to the single life or religious life. Our calling, however, doesn’t end with just one call. Our ears should always be open for God’s voice to tell us what other great things He has in store for us. Having said that, if we only use our ears to listen to the noise around us, there’s a voice we’re missing, “Can

you hear me now?” That’s the most important call of our life.

Take a few moments to listen to our newest message series "Pursuit of Happiness" and to reflect upon it with the Heart to Home Small Group material for this series.

We’ve Only Just Begun - Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Today we mark the end of the Church’s Christmas season, as we always do, with the Baptism of the Lord. We might think that is strange—why didn’t we end it last week with the Epiphany—the end of the magi’s journey? 

How easy is it for us to see endings as final. Even in our own spiritual lives, it’s easy for us to see things like Baptism or Confirmation or Eucharist as the end. It’s easy for us to say to ourselves: “Well, we are done with that; we are now ‘graduated’ from church.” How sad at the same time, because we miss spiritual opportunities that lead to growth and learning if only we could see endings as the start of something new! That’s the message for today. Things are only beginning. 

We are now at Baptism of Jesus and Jesus is grown up. He comes to the River Jordan and is baptized by John—strange as it may seem because John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance and forgiveness. Jesus was sinless but Jesus convinced John to proceed with the baptism because this was something they had to do together to fulfill God’s will. Jesus would take on the sins of all humanity in this baptism.

After a few seconds of going down into the water and coming up, the heavens opened and the Spirit descended upon Jesus. Then the Father’s voice affirms Jesus as His Son with whom He is pleased.  So, now what? Is the story finally over! Is this the end? Not really. The story is just beginning! From here we will follow Jesus through His public ministry all the way to His cross and resurrection.  The words spoken by God, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well-pleased!” are meant for us as well if we follow God’s commandments and become his disciples. So, for some, being “well pleased” can be read as “Good Job, take a break now!” But for us it should mean: “Good, job – now it’s time to really get started!”

Take a few moments to listen to our newest message series "Pursuit of Happiness" and to reflect upon it with the Heart to Home Small Group material for this series.

Blinded by the Light - Feast of the Epiphany

If you’ve ever driven at night in a rainstorm and looked at oncoming traffic, you realize how confusing lights can be. The headlights glow like bright stars and it’s difficult to see if it’s your destination ahead or just more blurry headlights.Life is like that—blurry headlights—things that seem like a good destination but lead nowhere.

The Jewish people  in the time of Jesus were driving in a rainstorm of sorts for quite some time as well. Most often they “drove” in   darkness and were confused not only about where they were going but how long it would take and when they would “get” there. Then the Light of the world came and they realized things were different. They were no longer in darkness. The message was clear: Jesus had come for all peoples— not just them. There may have been a few that were upset because they were no longer the only “chosen” ones, but we were all chosen. All we needed to do was find the right light and follow it.

The Feast of the Epiphany reminds us that the magi, educated men, astrologers, searched the skies for the sign that had been promised and once they found that sign, followed it until they discovered the Christ. What star are we following? Is it the light of Christ? Is it helping us to understand and follow God's wish for us in our life? Or are things blinding us that appear to be good but do not lead us to our ultimate destination?