WHAT DOES GOD ASK OF YOU? — Transcript

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1. 0:15In the name of the Father and of the Son
2. 0:16and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
3. 0:19One of the questions that Jesus
4. 0:21continuously asks us,
5. 0:24he says, "What are you willing to give
6. 0:26to obtain the kingdom of God?"
7. 0:29And he calls us to ask this of
8. 0:31ourselves,
9. 0:33to address this question to our own
10. 0:35hearts.
11. 0:37What worth, what value do I place on the
12. 0:39kingdom of God?
13. 0:41What am I truly willing to give to
14. 0:44obtain the kingdom of God?
15. 0:47When we look at the
16. 0:49the fourth chapter of the Gospel of St.
17. 0:51Matthew,
18. 0:52we read there of the calling of the
19. 0:53apostles.
20. 0:55We see how
21. 0:57even as Christ came to them in the
22. 0:58flesh, standing before them, before
23. 1:01he had performed any miracles
24. 1:03before them,
25. 1:06they responded immediately. They
26. 1:07abandoned their nets, their boats,
27. 1:10their livelihoods,
28. 1:12everything that they had worked for so
29. 1:13long
30. 1:15that could offer them worldly security,
31. 1:19they abandoned it to follow Christ.
32. 1:22He stood there in the flesh,
33. 1:25and they were willing to abandon all in
34. 1:27order to follow him.
35. 1:30But we
36. 1:33we are called by Christ resurrected.
37. 1:36We are called called by Christ ascended
38. 1:39to the throne of God. We are called by
39. 1:40Christ who sits in heaven at the right
40. 1:43hand of the Father.
41. 1:46How quickly, we should ask ourselves,
42. 1:49do we respond
43. 1:52to his call, his call to
44. 1:55to conversion, to repentance,
45. 1:58to change.
46. 2:01How quickly are we willing to
47. 2:04put our entire trust, everything that we
48. 2:07have, and everything that we are, in
49. 2:10him?
50. 2:12He tells us, warns us of
51. 2:14of the approaching judgment.
52. 2:18And yet,
53. 2:20in our pride,
54. 2:23we continue to cling to the world.
55. 2:26We refuse to risk
56. 2:28what we have in the world
57. 2:31for the things that he promises.
58. 2:35Now, as
59. 2:37St. Gregory the Great says to us,
60. 2:40we hold on to what we love.
61. 2:43Every one of us.
62. 2:45We hold on to what we love.
63. 2:50When we look at the lives of the saints,
64. 2:53we see in them
65. 2:55a willingness to abandon everything
66. 2:58for the kingdom of God.
67. 3:01And we must ask ourselves,
68. 3:05what is it I must abandon?
69. 3:08What is it God is calling me to let go
70. 3:11of?
71. 3:13To be willing to abandon in order to
72. 3:15obtain the kingdom of God.
73. 3:19Now, as we
74. 3:21we begin to grow in our faith,
75. 3:23of course, we see it isn't just
76. 3:26the external, the the worldly things,
77. 3:29the material things that we have to let
78. 3:31go of.
79. 3:34In many ways, our our wealth, our our
80. 3:36material possessions,
81. 3:39are the easier part.
82. 3:43God
83. 3:45God weighs the heart,
84. 3:48not not material wealth.
85. 3:51He sees struggle and effort
86. 3:53where the world values gold and silver.
87. 3:58It is It is the precious metals that the
88. 4:00world values.
89. 4:02But to God
90. 4:04it's
91. 4:05it's the condition of the heart
92. 4:08that has true value.
93. 4:12And so to our question
94. 4:14of what we must abandon,
95. 4:18we must abandon
96. 4:20everything that chains chains our heart
97. 4:22to the world.
98. 4:25Everything that
99. 4:27is preventing us
100. 4:29from seeking the kingdom of God.
101. 4:33And we are called
102. 4:35to lay our offering
103. 4:38our spiritual offering on the altar of
104. 4:40God
105. 4:42as a sacrifice of praise
106. 4:45as it says in the Psalms.
107. 4:48We must see beyond this world and
108. 4:50and offer our heart to God.
109. 4:54Offer the heart to God as an act of
110. 4:57sacrifice. Offer the heart
111. 4:59on the altar of God.
112. 5:02But again,
113. 5:04how do we do this?
114. 5:07How do we realistically do this?
115. 5:10And again, we must look to the saints.
116. 5:13How did the saints do it?
117. 5:18Our hearts are offered to God
118. 5:22when we love him
119. 5:24and we love our neighbor.
120. 5:27It is love
121. 5:29love
122. 5:31that is the sacrifice of the heart to
123. 5:33God.
124. 5:34There is nothing more precious, nothing
125. 5:36more worthy as an offering to God
126. 5:40than a heart that loves.
127. 5:44And love
128. 5:46love means caring for everybody.
129. 5:50Friends, neighbors, even our enemies.
130. 5:55This is the sacrifice that God calls us
131. 5:57to, to love even our enemies.
132. 6:03It means becoming a neighbor to
133. 6:05everybody as we read in the Good
134. 6:07Samaritan.
135. 6:09The true sacrifice to God
136. 6:13is the soul's offering of itself.
137. 6:17It's overcoming of its own desires.
138. 6:20Offering of itself. Sacrificing
139. 6:23its own needs, its own preferences,
140. 6:27its own feelings.
141. 6:32Now,
142. 6:34it's impossible to make such a sacrifice
143. 6:37to God
144. 6:38so long as the heart still clings to the
145. 6:40things of this world.
146. 6:44We must remember that
147. 6:46worldly cravings
148. 6:49create everything that opposes the
149. 6:51kingdom of God, opposes our seeking of
150. 6:54the kingdom of God.
151. 6:56To crave the things of the world
152. 6:59allows to grow in us jealousy,
153. 7:03envy,
154. 7:04pride.
155. 7:09The saints show us what it is
156. 7:12to desire nothing in this world.
157. 7:15Their love is so great
158. 7:17because they want nothing for themselves
159. 7:21of this world.
160. 7:23This is the heart of a saint.
161. 7:26To want nothing that this world can
162. 7:28offer
163. 7:29for ourselves.
164. 7:31To have a heart so full of love for
165. 7:33others
166. 7:34that it is the needs,
167. 7:37the concerns of other people that burden
168. 7:39us,
169. 7:40not our own selfish desires.
170. 7:46And it is in the saints that we see this
171. 7:48alive.
172. 7:51We
173. 7:52must be
174. 7:54Well, we must struggle to become as
175. 7:56guileless
176. 7:58and as simple as we see the saints are.
177. 8:01And the way
178. 8:03the way we truly venerate the saints
179. 8:06is to imitate them.
180. 8:08Imitate their example.
181. 8:14But let's also be realistic about
182. 8:15ourselves.
183. 8:17Let's be realistic about our
184. 8:20our weakness,
185. 8:22our sinfulness, our selfishness.
186. 8:25We know what we are.
187. 8:28We are a weak generation as we often
188. 8:30say.
189. 8:33When we read of how the saints lived,
190. 8:36how easily we can become discouraged and
191. 8:38say, "Well,
192. 8:40I don't even know if I'm capable of
193. 8:42of an ounce of this,
194. 8:44a fraction of what these great saints
195. 8:46do."
196. 8:49Well, do not despair
197. 8:52ever.
198. 8:54If we can't let go
199. 8:56of our own riches,
200. 8:58then at least
201. 9:00avoid envying the riches of others.
202. 9:04If our hearts
203. 9:06don't have love,
204. 9:09then at least drive out hatred.
205. 9:12Refuse avarice.
206. 9:14Refuse envy.
207. 9:18We must
208. 9:19We must move slowly to perfection.
209. 9:23Let us move slowly to perfection.
210. 9:27As God
211. 9:29accepts the sacrifice of our hearts,
212. 9:33he will transform them.
213. 9:36He will transform our hearts.
214. 9:39But
215. 9:41only that
216. 9:43which is truly given to God
217. 9:48will be perfected.