From the desk of Fr. Bline

Whether or not you realized it, we’ve been reading through the Gospel of St. John, chapter 6, for the past five weekends. We’ve tasted every crumb of the Bread of Life discourse, the part that makes what WE celebrate as Roman Catholics, who we really are and so vitally different than virtually all the other religions. Today, we hear even many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening say, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” And then Jesus’ challenging question to them of "Does this shock you?" It seems God has always asked such questions of wondering how much His chosen ones will actually believe and actually want to stay with Him even when things don’t make sense and bad things happen. As Joshua asked the people of God with his dying breath: “Today, whom will you serve?"

It’s probably safe to say that most of us first agreed to “serve” the Lord because we inherited our faith from our family or someone else. But, in spite of this bequeathed gift of faith, there must come a time when we really need to make our own choice to continue with our Catholic traditions or not…because if we don’t…all this really isn’t ours and it can all seem pretty empty and pointless at times.

None of us who are Baptized can ever really avoid Jesus’ question: “Do you also want to leave?” My brothers and sisters in Christ, too many have left our Church for reasons that should never have been. Some because of the actions/evil that came from leaders of our faith that had no right leading, or family members who were all about rigorism and force, over mercy and love. Other times it is because people never committed to the faith because sports or sleeping in became a priority over the faithfulness of getting up and going to a Church they don’t seem to "get anything out of."

“Do you also want to leave?” has been asked of anyone who has ever walked into this church or left for reasons not always based on truth, but on hurt or anger or never really understanding why.

Jesus is with us in the Sacred Scripture & teaching of the Apostolic Church and He is with us in the Holy Eucharist and the Sacramental Life. If you are frustrated and done with it all, just for today don’t throw it all away. Take the time to ask someone who knows, hear His Sacred Scripture spoken to you, pray with His Blessed Sacrament because Jesus wants to be fully with you. At every Mass, God renews His covenant with each of us, setting before us the awesome gift of the Bread of Life/The Sacrament of Salvation.

Even when we don’t have all our questions answered, may we be amongst those who remain when others have left. Because here alone we have His ways and words of eternal life.

Pax,
Fr. G. David Bline