The Vatican and others like the Pew Foundation have recently put out reports about the Catholic Church. Have you see some of the trends. The conversions going on are amazing.
The Catholic Church is on fire.
After a long sharp decline in membership in the Catholic church, the growth in conversions into the Church has been astronomical with conversions around the world. The Kingdom of God is expanding greater than most of us have ever seen. We are now over 1.4 billion people.
And many leaders and famous people have stepped up and pointed to Jesus as their Lord and given public testimony. Actors and sports figures. God’s name is invoked again in the public forum.
And now we have Catholic lay people and Bishops and Priests and religious infusing the Gospel message on social media…meeting people on the very platforms they spend so much time on. And it’s working.
So many pointing to Jesus Christ.
And that is what we see in our Gospel today too. The forerunner. The one crying out in the desert to make way for the coming of the Lord. The people heard about him and went to see this man dressed in clothing made from camels hair and known for eating a diet of locusts and wild honey. He was definitely seen as a character of sorts.
John the Baptist pointed to the lamb of God. To Jesus Christ.
That was his thing.
Mary our mother in heaven also points to Jesus Christ. She too was a character.
She followed God’s will and abandoned the normal life. She was pregnant in a most unusual way, and in that small town she was from, I am sure there was talk. Anyone who has lived in a small town knows what I am talking about. Mary was the first to point to Jesus and say do whatever he tells you at the Wedding in CaNA.
So, on this second Sunday of ordinary time after moving through the celebrations of Advent and Christmas, and the Epiphany and the Baptism of Jesus and just immersing ourselves with who Jesus is and where he comes from.
…we must ask ourselves:
What does my life point to? We have the Gospel and the church to help us understand who Jesus is for the world and us.
What are we doing about it?
pause
When we meet someone new, we try and get a handle on what is unique or different about them. It helps us remember them. When I was growing up someone would say, what’s your thing man?
They wanted to know about their work, their politics, their lifestyle… how they fit into the world around us.
So today the question is What is our thing?
What has colored our life? What are we known for?
Are we a character of sorts like John and Mary who because of our faith is out of step with others around us?
All the cool saints are you know.
If you have read about most of the saints, you know they are all characters. People who were different from others around them. They stood out.
St Augustine who had such a wild life in the beginning must have had a long line of friends who wondered what happened to the one who used to party and spent most of his time carousing and now…is focused all on Jesus Christ…just as his mother always prayed he would do. He changed completely and spent all his time now pointing to Jesus Christ. Jesus was his passion.
Where do we spend most of our time? Where do we spend most of our passion and enthusiasm?
Work.. sports… travel… what’s our thing?
And how does that compare to who Jesus is in our life? Who or what do we honor and point to?
Our world seems to honor and point to the rich and famous. Most people exult and glorify movie stars and millionaire athletes. The Internet praises influencers and personalities.
Our leaders and politicians compete for time in front of our screens. And rhetoric gets crazier every year. All pointing toward themselves.
But when it comes time to stand before Jesus Christ, he will know what we have pointed to, and what we have chosen as a priority in our life. What we have put first. What was our thing?
I believe Jesus will not judge us as we might think. He will give us what we chose in this life, what we prioritized as first in our life. What we seek and what we honor today. We choose while we are alive where we are headed after we leave here. Either with God and for God, or not. And that really is what Hell is about…not being with God.
Christianity is growing today but so are the forces of evil. The chasm between believers and everyone else is getting wider. Those in the middle ground who claim to know Jesus but do not live by his commandments, will find things difficult. It will be harder and harder to say we are followers of Christ soon if we aren’t living for Christ.
Today John points to Jesus to remind us of who he is for the world ….and for us.
We are all called to be saints. What’s our thing? What are we known for? Who do we point to?
Lastly, where are we headed? U
Deacon Tony Pynes 
Leave a comment