Author Topic: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live (Read 1779698 times)

cassini · « **Reply #65 on:** August 14, 2024, 08:28:11 AM »

Fr Sean again.
Are You Living Wisely or Foolishly?

Wisdom is the quality of knowing how to make good judgments. A good judgment is a decision or choice where you gain much more than you lose, especially in the long term. Gaining or losing must be measured by what brings us closer to God or moves us farther away from Him. Biblical wisdom is the proper ordering of one’s life in accord with the rules of Faith in God. The long-term gain is eternal happiness. Foolishness is the living of one’s life in accord with the rules of the world. The long-term gain is eternal misery.

The Holy Spirit warns us: “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord … Giving thanks always and for everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father” (Eph 5:15-20). God spoke to His people about the importance of wisdom: “To the one who lacks understanding, she (Wisdom) says, ‘Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding’” (Prov 9:1-6). Knowledge and understanding of the truth, Jesus Christ, is intellectual and spiritual food and drink.

I think that everyone would prefer to be wise rather than foolish, making the most of every opportunity to make good decisions. No one deliberately makes decisions they think are bad for them. What makes the difference is how we define “good” versus “bad.” These are evil days in the Church and in the world that confuse people as to what’s good or bad, wise or foolish, right or wrong, just or unjust. Nowadays people view truth, morality, as relative to them. That makes them their own god telling them that they are deciders of what constitutes good or evil. Satan loves this state of affairs because it gives him the opportunity to tempt people to think that there is no objective good – no one God who is all good and the Determiner of what is good or bad, right or wrong, true or false, wise or foolish. The Psalmist (34:2-7), guided by God’s Spirit, knew that there is only one God who is all good and the source of wisdom. He shared his experience of the One, True God: “I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears…When the poor man called out, the Lord heard, from all his distress He saved him.” A lack of understanding of the truth always leads to making foolish decisions, which in turn lead to fears and distress. Wise decisions, on the other hand, lead to confidence and peace.

We see how this lack of understanding led to unwise decisions when Jesus revealed to His listeners (Jn 6:51-58): “I am the bread of life that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Instead of asking Him how He would make that possible, they decided that because they knew Him and His family and where He lived that He was just like them so they concluded that He wasn’t making sense. Because they viewed him as like themselves, they said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So they decided to leave His company and walked away from the only One who could give them a life of eternal happiness. They made a foolish decision because they decided what Jesus couldn’t do rather than trusting in Him that He could do what He said. They were stupid. How did Jesus respond to them? He doubled down on what He already said, warning them: “I say to you, unless you each the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you…my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will have life because of me … Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” Their lack of understanding and unwillingness to order their lives according to what Jesus was teaching led them to live foolishly rather than wisely. The same is true for you and me. To whom or what do we look or rely upon to decide what is wise and what is foolish? Is it Jesus or is it the world?

Those people knew Jesus and saw Him performing all kinds of miracles but they didn’t bother to try and understand who He really was, what He came to do, and how He was going to accomplish what He said. The inspired words of St. Paul warns us: “Do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.” It is the will of God the Father that we follow in the footsteps of His Son, Jesus Christ, if we want to enter Heaven. Jesus Himself revealed that, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent” (Jn 17:3). “Knowing” a person biblically is to have an intimate relationship with him or her. Therefore, to “know” God and Jesus Christ is to have a personal relationship with them. This personal, intimate, relationship finds its highest and holiest expression in the Holy Mass where Jesus, through the ordained priest conformed to Him, changes bread and wine into His flesh and blood to be consumed by the Baptized faithful. Therein God the Father and His people as individuals and as a community enter into a Holy Communion with one another initiated by Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Just as in the days of Jesus Himself, many today walk away from the Holy Mass or try to reduce it to a symbol, thereby acting in ignorance and depriving themselves of the life Jesus wants to give them in and through the Holy Eucharist. The Catholic Church makes attendance at Sunday Mass obligatory because every Holy Mass is about “giving thanks always and for everything in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father” (Eph 5:20). In justice we owe that to God. We owe God all our thanks especially for the opportunity to live in Jesus and to have Him live, both physically and spiritually, in us through His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist which is the only way the faithful can receive the gift of Himself as “the Bread of Life”. This act reflects a person’s true understanding of Jesus, present in His Church, and how He gives us the gift of His life that transcends death. Thus a person lives wisely and not foolishly. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #66 on:** August 21, 2024, 02:32:48 PM »

Fr Sean again.
Understanding Leads to Staying or Leaving the Church

Understanding is about grasping the meaning of some event whether it’s a word or an action. Meaning is that which the word or event intends to convey. Understanding is the act of knowing clearly what is being conveyed. That is why asking God questions to clarify what is said or done and giving good feedback to make sure that the intended meaning is grasped by the listener is essential for good communication. The content doesn’t always do justice to the intent, and it’s the intent that matters. The intended meaning of words and events isn’t always clear so we need clarification. Words and events, when taken superficially, don’t always mean that we understand what is intended. Just as the proverbial proof of the pudding is in the eating, so the proof of communication is in the understanding. Things get easier once we understand. Every time we ask “What, why, when, where, or how?” we’re seeking understanding. Sometimes we can’t answer “Why” questions because we can’t fully understand and must accept the mystery. Understanding is the goal of our intelligence and the motivation to delve deeper into the mystery that is God, ourselves, and creation. Without it, relationships would wither and die. Like the rungs of a ladder, each degree of understanding gives us a foothold to scale the heights of truth about God, ourselves and one another. The chief cause of human problems today is that there is a dire lack of understanding of who God is, who we are as humans, and what is natural, and what Jesus meant His Church to be.

God spoke through Joshua (24:1-18) and called the people and gave them a choice: Him or false gods. Joshua declared his own faith and that of his household in God saying, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord for the service of other gods. For it was the Lord, our God, who freed us from slavery … Therefore we will serve the Lord for He is our God.” Worshipping God calls for subordination by the people. Subordination did not mean being slaves but rather revering Him and living an orderly life. St. Paul (Eph 5:21-32) extended this notion of subordination as something necessary for order in the family. He called his listeners to “Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.” That means when we revere Christ He empowers to respect one another. Then he talks about order in the family in terms of how roles complement one another: “Wives, be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord … Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed Himself over for her to sanctify her … Husbands should love their wives as their own body. He who loves his wife loves his own body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh… children, be subject to your parents.” The husband is the head of the household and the wife is the home-maker where both focus on serving one another as Christ serves them. A lack of understanding of this Scripture views this as treating a wife as lower in rank than the husband. Subordination here is about disciplining one’s own selfish desires in order to serve the good of the other. God expects the husband to serve the good of his wife by being willing to die for her. The wife is the conceiver, nurturer, and formator of the children, and is loved, protected, defended, and provided for by her husband. The relationship of husband and wife is an image of the relationship between Jesus and His Church.

The opposite of understanding is ignorance. There are two kinds: vincible and invincible. Vincible ignorance is due to ignoring available information about the true meaning of something. Information is available but the individual ignores it. Invincible ignorance is when we search but can’t find the necessary resources to help us understand. Vincible ignorance regarding what it means to be a faithful Catholic is rampant in the world and even within the Church herself. Bishop Fulton Sheen said, “There are not one hundred people (in the world) who hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they perceive the Catholic Church to be.” They haven’t sought to understand the true meaning of the mission of Jesus’ Church. Perception without solid information is very subjective and myopic, which leads to misinterpretation. Ignorance is the greatest enemy of Jesus’ Church. Satan loves people to be ignorant of Jesus’ and His Church’s teaching. He doesn’t want people to understand the Church and how she’s Jesus’ instrument of salvation outside of whom there is no salvation. Satan wants people to go to hell so he promotes lies, false perceptions and ignorance of the truth. As Hosea spoke on God's behalf: “My people perish because of ignorance!” (Hos 4:6). To understand Jesus is to be receptive to the Holy Spirit, listen to Him, heed Him, love and praise Him as He guides our human spirit through the Church and our conscience. To understand Jesus’ Church we must belong to her, participate in her Sacraments, especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and love her as Jesus’ Bride and our Mother within whom we are reborn in Baptism. Then the words of the Psalmist (34:2-3, 16-21) become real for us: “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord…when the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress He rescues them. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; and those who are crushed in spirit He saves.”

We see an example of vincible ignorance in John’s Gospel. Jesus informed His followers, “I myself am the living bread that came down from Heaven … the bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world … If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (Jn 6:51-52). Many reacted, “‘This sort of talk is hard to endure! How can anyone take it seriously?’ From this time on, many of His disciples broke away and would not remain in His company any longer” (Jn 6:60, 66). Their doubts could have been resolved if they had asked Him to explain how He would make what He said possible, but they ignored Him. Thus in their vincible ignorance they walked away from Him. They acted out of their own biased perceptions, and chose not to accept that Jesus had the power to make possible what He taught. Many who call themselves “Christian” today also reject this teaching of Jesus through imposing their own misinterpretation on it and viewing Jesus’ revelation as purely symbolic.

Why do Baptized Catholics walk away from the Church as unbelievers or view the Holy Mass just as an obligation? It’s because they are closed to the Holy Spirit and lack the understanding provided by God’s gift of Supernatural Faith they received in Baptism. Jesus explained, “no one comes to me unless it is granted him by my Father” (Jn 6:65). True believers are those who open themselves to receive God’s Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit that gives us the supernatural faith to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and as the “Bread of Life” in the Holy Mass. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul tells us that, “…no one can say: ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except in the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12:3). The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth who, “When He comes, however, being the Spirit of truth He will guide you to all truth” (Jn 16:13). Jesus is the Truth, the Way, and the Life (Jn 14:6). It’s this Spirit who brings us the gift of understanding Jesus and His Church, which He guides as her Soul. The Spirit is the life-giving breath from God to us bringing “a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, counsel, courage and fear of the Lord” (Is 11:2) that enlightens our mind. It was this Spirit that motivated Peter to respond to Jesus when He asked His Apostles, “Do you want to leave me too?” (Jn 6:67). Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe; we are convinced that You are God’s Holy One” (Jn 6:69). Peter not only had knowledge of Jesus but he also understood Jesus because he was receptive to the Holy Spirit.

It is our understanding of Jesus that determines whether we join, remain, or leave His Church where |He is present. Hence the need for our bishops, priests, and deacons, the ordained leaders of the Church, to devote themselves to evangelize and catechize the people, thereby being faithful to Jesus’ triple command to Peter: “Feed my lambs … Look after my sheep… Feed my sheep” (Jn 21:15-17). When the lambs and the sheep are well fed where they are able to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord,” they will not wander away from the fold. The more we know the Lord the more we will understand Him and subordinate ourselves to Him. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #67 on:** August 28, 2024, 05:02:20 AM »

Fr Sean again.
The Wise and Intelligent Obey God’s Law

The purpose of law is to guarantee order in society. Order is essential for both the common good of society and the individual members. Order requires rules that are followed by everyone. Without order it’s impossible for individuals and society to uphold the common good because chaos undermines it. The common good is the pursuit of freedom, justice, love, and peace, individually and communally. But it’s important to ask, “Who defines the common good?” Is it the people, courts, politicians, governments, the culture, or God?

Does good follow from law or law follow from the good? If law defines the good, then it’s dependent on what legislators say it is. Law, then, would be the final arbiter deciding the good. In that case there would be no such thing as bad law. However, we know from history that’s not the case. Since death is never good, laws that legalize killing, such as abortion, euthanasia, assisted ѕυιcιdє, are bad.

The common good for creation can be determined only by the Creator. Law, whose purpose is to protect the common good, must protect moral living, which in turn flows from religion that gives structure to the relationship between the human and the Divine which is initiated by God. If the “good” of society contravenes the law of God everyone suffers. There’s a clear sequence here and with reason. The word “good” etymologically derives from the word God. God has revealed standards of behavior that uphold and promote the common good in both private and public life. A good law reflects the moral behavior, which human beings learned from their relationship with God that’s essential in maintaining their relationship with Him and with one another. Thus religion gave birth to morality, which defined the good to be protected and assured order in the life of individuals and society.

God revealed that His law reflects His love for us and obedience to His law reflects our love for Him. Without God’s law we would not know how to love Him. This is why He revealed to His people that, “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the command of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eye” (Ps 19:8-9). Again He tells us that, “The love of God consists in this: that we keep His commandments – and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 Jn 5:3) because obedience stems from love. What we love is never burdensome. Because God loves us, what He asks of us is never burdensome because He provides us with the wherewithal to accomplish it. Our part is to choose to do it.

The tragedy today is that there’s an obsession on the part of many to dismiss religion, especially Catholic Christianity, as well as anything remotely related to it, as having nothing to do with the good of society, its order, protection, and promotion. Sadly, many philosophers and moralists have tried to separate morality from religious doctrine and base their definition of the good solely on human reason or feeling while ignoring Divine Revelation expressed in God’s Law as the ultimate source of what is real, true, good, and beautiful. Any time something is separated from its origin, it always suffers an identity crisis and becomes watered down losing its true meaning and purpose. The true purpose of law will become blurred or lost when separated from morality. In the same way, morality will become blurred or lost when separated from God and His Church’s Apostolic Tradition. Therefore, with the Psalmist, we must admit to God: “… Your law is like a lamp that guides my steps, a light that shows the path I should take. Your laws are good and fair. I have promised to obey them, and I will keep my promise.” (Ps 119:105-112). St. James urges us to “Humbly welcome the Word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves” (Jas 1:15-27).

We rely on God and the teaching of His Church for our understanding of what’s good and the rules that assure us we’re embracing that good in our thoughts and actions. People may belong to different religions and ecclesial groups, but still have certain basic principles in common. The major world religions recognize five basic commands from God to human beings: 1. Don’t kill. 2. Don’t lie. 3. Don’t steal. 4. Don’t practice immorality. 5. Respect parents and love children. (How Good People Make Tough Choices, Kidder, Rushworth M., Simon & Schuster). All of these are reflected in the 10 Commandments. Another work (Moral Rules: A New rational Foundation, Harper & Row) points out that humanity in general embraces a set of core values that seem to be universal. 1. Don’t kill. 2. Don’t cause pain. 3. Don’t disable. 4. Don’t deprive of freedom or opportunity. 5. Don’t deprive of pleasure. 6. Don’t deceive. 7. Keep your promises. 8. Don’t cheat. 9. Obey the law. 10 Do your duty. These basic moral rules reflect the aspirations of reasonable people listening to their consciences. Where do they come from? Certainly not from man-made law. Rather law comes from them. God has written His law on every person’s heart (Rom 2:12ff).

God’s Ten Commandments don’t contain anything that contradicts reason. They reflect an objective set of standards that are essential if human beings are to live ordered lives and build just communities. A non-religious person may not embrace the first three Commandments, which outline the minimum requirements for an ordered relationship with God. But even a non-religious person can accept that reason supports the notion of only one God who is All-Good and the source of all good. There can be only one leader in any organization. If there are more, it leads to division and weakness. The family of mankind needs one Divine leader who can offer the hope of achieving unity with one another. Reason supports respect for God. Reason supports worship of God. Because God is God, He deserves to be worshipped, not because He needs it, but because His followers owe Him in justice for all His gifts and need to publicly display that none of them seeks to be in competition with Him.

The last seven Commandments seek to ensure healthy, respectful, and safe human relationships with our neighbors. Honoring one’s father and mother is for the good of the family. Avoiding killing, adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting is for the good of everyone, both individually and communally. They insure order in one’s personal and communal life.

Moses addressed the people regarding the 10 Commandments: “Observe them carefully, for thus you will give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, ‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people'” (Deut 4;1-8). Twelve hundred years later Jesus criticized the people who prided themselves for their devotion to the observance of the law: “You disregard God’s commandments but cling to human tradition” (Mk 7:14-15). What did He mean? They replaced God’s rules with their own so they were serving their own interests instead of God’s. Their laws were subjectively motivated and they defined “the good” to suit themselves rather than the Good revealed by God. Jesus, quoting from Isaiah (Mk 7:1-13), described them: “This people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines mere human precepts.”

Just as the vision of the founders of a country is enshrined in its Constitution, so God’s vision for moral living and a lawful society is articulated in the Ten Commandments. Just as there are those who would try and change the Constitution to suit their own egotistical purposes, so there are those who would try to change God’s Law and the law of His Church. Those who would remove the 10 Commandments as the basis for moral living and the context for determining the good of individuals and society demonstrate neither intelligence nor wisdom. Thus today many leaders and those who support them are foolish and creators of chaos. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #68 on:** September 06, 2024, 04:41:46 AM »

Fr Sean again.
Be Sensible!

God revealed in the Book of Genesis that He created man and woman to be the high point of His earthly creation. After He created man and woman He declared them “very good” as distinct from the rest of creation, which He calls “good” (Gen 1:31). Creation is good while man and woman are very good. Another mark of distinction between man and the rest of creation was that God created them in His “image and likeness,” (Gen 1:26-28) while the rest wasn’t so privileged. God created man and woman as unique creatures and received the special purpose of subdue and filling the earth as its stewards (Gn 1:28). The tragedy today is that man and woman have become deaf and blind to the fact that they are accountable to God for how they treat human life from conception to natural death and that the earth is to be used for the benefit of all men and women.

Through human beings God puts His stamp, as it were, on His creation. This is why He created us in His image and likeness. Therefore, we must be continuously conscious of ourselves as God’s image and likeness to make sure that we are God’s instruments through which He continues to influence and direct His creation. If we are deaf and blind to God’s revelation we will stamp creation with our own human image and impose our own limitations and sinfulness upon it.

Our job, then, is to use creation in a manner that it too reflects the spirit of the Creator and shows that indeed we, as its stewards, show that we are God’s image and likeness on this earth. How do we know what it means to be the image and likeness of God? Who can tell and show us God’s image and likeness? God Himself made His image and likeness audible and visible when His Word took on human nature in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Jesus is God’s Word-made-flesh. Jesus is the visible Model of what it means to be the human image and likeness of God. Therefore to be God’s image and likeness in the world you and I must make it our business to turn our eyes and ears to Jesus Christ who is present in His Church until the end of time (Mt 28:20).

To live calls for exercising all our abilities and gifts. God has gifted us with the ability to think and to choose. Thinking involves the mind whose nature is to know the truth. Choosing involves the will whose nature is to choose the good. The will is very much influenced by the mind since the good that is chosen is what the mind knows. Knowledge of the truth is an essential pursuit if we want to choose what’s truly good. Ignorance sentences us to less than the best. Since God is truth and is omniscient, all-knowing, He created us to know the truth. It’s unnatural for a human being not to want to know the truth.

Knowing always begins with experience. Everything that happens to us begins as an experience – either as a word or an event in our life. If we don’t experience something, it has no meaning for us. How do we experience it? With our senses. To experience something we must see, hear, smell, taste, or touch it. God has created us as sensible creatures. The animal level of creation has senses too, but it’s limited since animals, birds, and fish do not have the ability to reflect and evaluate what they sense. Only humans can reflect on and make decisions on what to do with their experiences.

A sensible person is one who uses one’s his or her senses to the fullest in order to collect as much information as possible about his or her environments. When we describe something as “nonsense” we imply that one or more of the senses contradicts it. When I say that something doesn’t make sense, I’m implying that it doesn’t square with what I see, hear,, smell, taste, or touch. When parents tell their children to be sensible, consciously or unconsciously they want them to use all their senses to collect correct information so they can make good decisions. If God gave us at least five senses, He means for us to use them so that we can make good decisions based on the sense knowledge we have cleaned. Seeing and hearing are two of our most important senses helping us to be secure and productive.

Jesus came to restore us to our senses, both physically and spiritually. This Sunday Jesus’ Church draws our attention to Him as He restores hearing and speech to a man who had lost the use of both (Mk 7:31-37). “He took the man away from the crowd, put His finger in the man’s ears, and using His spittle, touched his tongue. “He looked up to Heaven, groaned and said to the man, ‘Ephphatha – Be opened.’” Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy from Isaiah (34:5-7): “Be strong, fear not! Here is your God … He comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf be cleared … the tongue of the mute will sing…” Here we see how the impairment of one sense affects the others. The healing or development of one sense enhances the others. When a person is deaf his or her speech is also adversely affected. When a person hears well he or she is able to speak more plainly.

An old saying reminds that “There are none so deaf as those who don’t want to hear.” The same goes for seeing. Hearing is a very important sense when it comes to the Christian faith. The Holy Spirit reveals through St. Paul, “Faith comes through hearing and hearing comes through speaking the Word of God” (Rom 10:17). Deafness, not just physical but especially mental, emotional, moral, and social, causes faith in God to die because it guarantees that His Word is not heard. Reluctance to preach the Word by bishops and clergy causes faith in God to die. If the Word isn’t spoken it can’t be heard and if it isn’t heard it cannot remind and encourage the hearer to be what God wants him or her to be, namely His image and likeness in the world. Deafness to the Word of God and impediments to speaking it are sure causes of the faith crisis in the Church today.

As a result of not hearing God’s Word people become spiritually dumb and insensitive to what God offers them, namely freedom from sin, the ability to see Jesus in the Sacraments of His Church, especially the Holy Mass, companionship to the lonely, hope to the despairing, love to the, loveless, faith to the faithless, protection to the vulnerable, the orphan, the widow, and thwarts the wicked (Ps 146:7-10).

Our prayer daily must be, “Heavenly Father, please open the ears and mouths of the bishops and clergy of Your Church so that I might hear You and know how to speak Your Word to all I know, so that, using their senses, they might be filled with Your Love and realize that You have created them in Your Holy Image and Likeness to bring back the world to Him. I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen! (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #69 on:** September 11, 2024, 11:48:50 AM »

Fr Sean again.
Why Jesus asked, “Who Do People Say I Am?”

Have you ever wondered about how people perceive you? Who does your family, friends, co-workers, and the people in your neighborhood say that you are? Sometimes people claim they don’t care what others view them. What really matters is who God says I am! It’s important to realize that who others say I am determines the relationships we have or don’t have. In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mk 8:27-35). Why did He ask that question? Was He feeling insecure? Why did He care about how others saw Him? Because He knew that image was important in fostering relationships.

People who want to be popular put time and effort into developing an attractive image of themselves. Politicians spend lots of money trying to get people to view them favourably. The image they portray often makes the difference between winning and losing elections. Was Jesus interested in popularity? No. Was He interested in running for a political office? No. Why, then, did He ask the question about how others perceived Him? He wanted to know if the people really knew Him.

We collect information about the world through our perceiving functions. We tend to base our decisions on our perceptions; on how we see things. For many, perception is reality. If our perception is incorrect our reality isn’t real. Whether our perceptions are true or false will determine whether our relationships are real or fake. The problem with perceptions is that they’re affected by the limitations of our observations. Remember the old saying, “Don’t judge the book by the cover.” First impressions shouldn’t always be lasting. Perceptions or images always need to be examined objectively before memorizing them.

Who we say we are and who others say we are determine the strength or weakness of our relationships. We relate to one another based on the images we’ve developed of one another. We are imaginative creatures with an imagination whose purpose is to create images of reality. Our images are our ways of managing reality. We’re incapable of grasping the totality of reality, even of ourselves never mind that of another. All we know for sure about another is what he or she tells us either verbally or nonverbally. Since we can’t grasp the totality of reality, we must settle for pieces of it. The pieces of reality that we grasp are called images. When you and relate to one another we don’t relate to the fullness of who we are but rather to the image we have developed of one another. The reality of the relationship between two people is in proportion to how well the images they have of each other reflect the reality that is each person. If my image of you truly reflects you, and your image of me truly reflects me, then we can have a genuinely productive relationship. However, if the images we have of each other are false, a genuine relationship is impossible.

Jesus knew that people would relate to Him according to the image they had developed of Him. If the image didn’t reflect His true identity they couldn’t have a real relationship with Him nor let Him have a true relationship with them. We learn from the Gospel that the majority of people had a false image of Jesus, thinking He was an Old Testament prophet, Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptizer. He asked His closest disciples what their image of Him was. Peter answered on their behalf, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him, “Blest are you, Simon, son of John! No mere man has revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father” (Mt 16:13-17). Having a true image of Jesus requires divine revelation. St. Paul reminds us that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except in the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12:3). Therefore to form a true image of Jesus our mind and spirit must be receptive to the Holy Spirit as was Peter. Where does the Holy Spirit guide us? In the Bible interpreted by Jesus’ Church guided by the Holy Spirit. We cannot have a true image of Jesus without listening to His Church.

Even though Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, had a true image of who Jesus was, namely Immanuel, God-with-us, he still tried to make Jesus change His mission. He tried to stop Him from facing death in Jerusalem. Even though we have a true image of Jesus we all attempt to get Him to do what suits us rather than what He chooses to do in fidelity to His Father’s will.

This week Jesus asks you and me, “Who do you say that I am?” What is your image of Him? Your image of Him influences how you relate to Him, His Church, its purpose, and your role in it. Why do some people actively participate in the Church while others are simply observers? Participants have an image of Jesus as the Lord calling them to be His eyes, hands, legs, mouth, mind, emotions, body, etc. Those who are merely observers have an image of Jesus as someone who has come to save them but doesn’t expect them to do anything. Participators have an image of Jesus as the Lord who continues to save mankind from hell in collaboration with them through the community of His Church. Observers seem to have faith, but it is dead. “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (Jas 2:14-18). Faith in Christ based on a true image of Him MUST be expressed in good works. There is no room for observers and volunteers in the Roman Catholic Church of Jesus Christ. Every Baptized and Confirmed member of the Catholic Church has received at least one spiritual gift from God to be developed and shared. Therefore, every person has a ministry in the Church. If a member of the Church isn’t doing at least one of the Spiritual or Corporal Works of Mercy, then he or she doesn’t have a true image of Christ. Without a true image of Christ, there can’t be a true relationship with Him. That is why He said to the foolish virgins, “I don’t know you ...” and didn’t let them into the banquet hall ( Mt 25:1-13). We can’t have a true relationship with someone when we have a false image of him or her and so we can’t have the benefits of the relationship.

Sadly, there are too many in the world, and even in the Church, who have a false image of Jesus and His Church. He is viewed as “nice” and His Church as “the Church of Nice.” But salvation comes only from the real Jesus and His true Church. The real Jesus warns us that, “If a man wishes to come after me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and follow in my steps. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel’s will preserve it” (Mk 8:34-36). The real Jesus warns us that, “If anyone in this faithless and corrupt age is ashamed of me and my doctrine, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes with the holy angels in His Father’s glory” (Mk 8:38). The real Jesus reveals that “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn 14:6). Jesus is the only way to Heaven. You won’t find these Scriptures proclaimed from the pulpits of the Church-of-Nice.

Just as in human relationships developing a true image of one another is essential for true and genuine relationships, so is the development of a true image of Jesus and His Church essential in order to be a true Catholic Christian. Sadly, the image of Jesus and His Church that is promoted today by many in the Church is false because the Holy Spirit is being rejected so that Jesus is sanitized and His Church treated as another NGO. Let us turn to the Apostolic Tradition in which the Apostles hand on the true image of Jesus they developed of Him through spending three years in His company and guided by the Holy Spirit. Jesus founded His Church to faithfully protect and hand on that Tradition that contains the true image of Himself so that all people can come to know Him and form a true relationship with Him. Without the Church humanity and the world cannot know who Jesus truly is.

Reason tells us that if we want to have a genuine relationship with Jesus we must have a true image of Him. Our image of Him determines the caliber of our Christianity. Jesus said, “Where I am, there will my servants be.” If my image of Jesus is true, I will see Him as the One who has come to bring the world back to God and who asks me to let Him save the world through me. With that image of Jesus, I must ask myself, “What am I doing to make Jesus known as the only Savior of mankind?” (fr sean)

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