Speaker 2: For a Catholic faith, mass is celebrated three hundred and sixty four days a year. The only day it's not is on Good Friday and you'll find that nowhere celebrated on Good Friday as the emphasis is on the death of Jesus. So, each day, lot of days are given special feast days. For example, for men and women, yesterday, October was the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, And of course, everyone knows the most famous saint day ever, March 17, Saint Patrick's Day. And we honor that with green beer and all the good stuff that comes with it as well but also the church designated special people, men and women but special theology.
On October 2, we celebrated the feast of guardian angels. Guardian angels. Now, we're all at different levels. Some of you talk too much probably to your guardian angel, But you have a devotion to the guardian angels. Others say, I never really think about it and others might say, no, I don't believe in that and yet, it is a feast day that supports the theology that Jesus talks about angels and the belief of the theology is everyone has one.
God gives all people a guardian angel for protection, for guidance, for leading in life. Everyone, no one is excluded from that. On the gospel on that day, I used was Matthew chapter 18. Jesus is asked, Jesus, who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? You know what the disciples meant, Who's the greatest?
Now, Jesus didn't choose someone who's popular, who's strong militarily, or one that has a lot of likes in social media, one that people just like, he chose a child and brought the child over. Now, you and I today would say, oh. Ain't that great? Because we love our children. You know, you love your children and grandchildren.
I see you sacrificing for them. I see you loving them. We dress them up. We care for them. We protect them and we lift up children and they even move our hearts.
But at the time of Jesus, children were insignificant. They were not contributors to society. They were so low. In fact, that when famine ever broke out, the last people to be fed were children. Children died at a high rate.
Not many of them made it into adulthood and children had no status at all. And yet Jesus chooses the child and says, be like this child and you will be the greatest and the disciples go, woah, woah, woah, woah, wait a minute. I signed up to be somebody, to be important, to have status, and you want us to be like a nobody? All of us, including me, are insignificant to the world. Once we die within a year, no one's gonna remember us.
That's just a fact of life. We move on. But god finds you significant. Each one of you and so, if god feels that way about you, how does that affect our faith? Well, for me, one of the ways that increases my faith in god is trying to find god working in people.
I don't know if you knew this or not but I don't like everyone. I dislike certain people. Some, unfortunately, for trivial reasons. Oh, you're a Dallas Cowboy fan? Don't like you.
Maybe I don't like the way you talk or you remind me of someone, but there are also times I dislike people for serious reasons. They stand for things that I can't stand or disagree with. Could be disagreement but some of it could be so strong that I find that they're against the gospel. And I don't like the way they behave and how they act. And it's not a sin to dislike people.
But let me tell you what happens when I dislike people. Something happens when I find out about their story. I don't like them, but I hear that they took care of a dying parent every day. And they were veiled to the end and they held their hand and that's hard. And you know what?
They win my heart and they go, oh man, you're so Christ like. Some I find out who I can't stand were foster parents. That was their goal and they did that for many years and still maybe doing it. I'm thinking, oh man, you won my heart. I still can't stand you but you've won my heart.
For others, you take people to the doctor. For others, you feed the hungry every week. I disagree with you politically. I disagree with you in the way you look at church and how church operates but darn it, you're there every week feeding hungry people. You know what?
You win my heart. And I think that's how god wants us to live. It is not a sin to dislike people but we lose faith if we don't see god working in every person. And if we simply cut him off and say, you are no good, you are a nobody, and I will never like you. Then, that's not faith.
Today's scriptures remind us that faith is not a feeling. If I had a nickel for my forty years of priesthood when people come up and say, father, I have no faith. I would be a trillionaire and here's what I tell you, get lost. You did not lose your faith. You have it there.
You've made the decision not to see god in your life and that does happen when people feel distant from god. Look at today's first reading from Habakkuk. He's looking all around and he's supposed to have faith in god and you all read it. You didn't fall asleep. You all moved your lips And in that, you said, violence is all around me.
Evil people, immorality, things are falling apart, and you ask god, where are you? And that's a good question to ask. Now, if you know Habakkuk, here's what he does and I'm being serious. He tells the people or Habakkuk, you know, tells the purple people to write on a billboard on the 101. It does.
It's a billboard that says, god's vision will continue and so when anybody ran by there, they saw that vision. And so what it says that we can ask the question, where are you god? I don't see god working in this person and they're supposed to have a guardian angel because I see god in them, it does not mean my world change and neither do they. I do see something good but they probably still struggle just like I do with sin and other brokenness and spiritual blindness that all of us struggle with. The other thing is we sometimes treat faith as an intellectual exercise solely.
I always find it interesting in social media. When people come up and say, I'm Roman Catholic now and then they go through why they were always wrong. And now they found the truth and the Catholic church has all the truth and that's why I became a Catholic. Don't tell me what you believe, show me. What state is the Gospel of Matthew from?
What state in the union? I've told you for years, he is from Missouri. The show me state. Right? What does Matthew say?
Don't talk a big game. Show me. And that's what increasing faith is about. We keep standing there and say, god, make me feel believe in you. Make me feel better.
Change the world around me. And it begins with me. And it begins with you. Think about the people you dislike right now. Leave me out of it for a moment.
But think about the people you dislike right now. Think about, unfortunately, relationships that have been harmed these last so many years, that you no longer talk. Do you see goodness in them? Do you see their guardian angel? Do you see god sees him as significant?
Now, god doesn't give someone a free pass. Those of you who know Monopoly, you love those cards, get free out of jail card, God doesn't do that. God holds everyone accountable to live what is right. God doesn't say, you're following my plan. You can be as evil, unethical, and moral as you want.
Go ahead because god is on your side and will protect you. No, he doesn't. He never calls anyone to sin because he loves us and guardian angels are there to protect us and god's spirit is there to guide us and we don't give people as Christians a free stance, a free get way, get out of jail card. What we do is say, this is how god calls us to live. And we want what is good for others.
And so I ask you then, how do you handle people you dislike? Do you only see what is lacking, what is negative? Will you not see the goodness in them? My friends, there are many people I dislike and disagree with, but man, they win my heart when they do something so Christ like. I can't not dislike them as much.
Because that's an increase in faith. Increase in faith, god doesn't mean knowing the catechism in and out. That doesn't impress god. It impresses when god, I can't stand that person but I know you're working in them And I choose to see that one little spark that you dwell in them, you love them, and see them as significant. This is exactly what our country needs to hear this day.
Our theme, Lord, teach us to pray, continues with many things we're giving. We just talked recently last week about devotions and understanding what devotions are but we have an app, a prayer app to share with you that I've asked Michael Cassavez to come forward and share. He is our coordinator of communication, and he'll give a brief explanation of what is called the hallow app that we can use to help our prayer life. Thank you, Michael.