SPEAKER_00: There are moments in the liturgical year when the church looks at us and says, gently but firmly, you need to decide.
SPEAKER_00: And this is one of those Sundays.
SPEAKER_00: This Wednesday, we will celebrate Ash Wednesday.
SPEAKER_00: And today the Word of God refuses to let us drift.
SPEAKER_00: It refuses to let us hide in routine.
SPEAKER_00: It forces questions.
SPEAKER_00: Questions like, What direction is my life actually going?
SPEAKER_00: And everything that is happening in my life and in my life situation, where is my life going?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the first reading from Sarah puts it bluntly.
SPEAKER_00: Before you are life and death, good and evil, whichever you choose shall be given to you.
SPEAKER_00: It's not poetry, it's reality.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a culture that avoids that kind of language.
SPEAKER_00: We don't like to talk of life and death in moral terms.
SPEAKER_00: We prefer shades of gray.
SPEAKER_00: We prefer, I'm trying my best.
SPEAKER_00: We prefer sayings like, well, you know, no one's perfect.
SPEAKER_00: But the word of God is clear.
SPEAKER_00: Your life has direction.
SPEAKER_00: We heard last Sunday Jesus tell his disciples, you, you, you are salt.
SPEAKER_00: You are light.
SPEAKER_00: That your life has direction, that it's moving somewhere, that your life has purpose, that God created you and only you for all eternity.
SPEAKER_00: Every habit, every compromise, every act of courage, every act of charity, it's not done in isolation.
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, they're forming you, they're shaping your trajectory in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you plainly, are you becoming more like Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Or are you just spiritually treading water?
SPEAKER_00: Some of us have been coming to Mass for decades, and that's beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: But longevity is not the same as conversion.
SPEAKER_00: We can know the responses, we can know when to sit and stand, we can serve in different ministries and still not surrender our hearts to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Sarach says, Life and death are before you.
SPEAKER_00: Not someday, right now.
SPEAKER_00: You've heard me say it a million times.
SPEAKER_00: We live on this earth for three days and it goes by quickly.
SPEAKER_00: The Eucharist shines a light on that.
SPEAKER_00: When we come here, it's not to fulfill our Sunday obligation, just that.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just that.
SPEAKER_00: It's to step under divine scrutiny.
SPEAKER_00: God's word exposes us not to shame us, but to awaken us, to set that fire on us.
SPEAKER_00: And the Eucharist gives us food for the journey to strengthen us, to make changes, even the big ones, even uncomfortable changes.
SPEAKER_00: Now here's a second challenge.
SPEAKER_00: St.
SPEAKER_00: Paul reminds us that the world is passing away.
SPEAKER_00: The world feels permanent.
SPEAKER_00: Your job feels permanent, your stress feels permanent, your mortgage, your schedule, your deadlines.
SPEAKER_00: They feel ultimate.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm here to tell you they're not.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven is real, and heaven is not automatic.
SPEAKER_00: I want to say that again because it's not fashionable to say it.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven is not a default setting.
SPEAKER_00: God desires your salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Christ died for you.
SPEAKER_00: Grace is abundant, but you must choose heaven.
SPEAKER_00: And your life must reflect that desire.
SPEAKER_00: Or are we living as though the world is all there is?
SPEAKER_00: We get worked up about politics, we get consumed about sports, we obsess over our investments, our vacations, our reputations, and yet how much energy do we spend actually preparing for the ultimate eternity?
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, eye has not seen, ear has not heard what God has prepared for those who love him.
SPEAKER_00: There's something sobering.
SPEAKER_00: If you do not love the Mass, you will not love heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Because heaven is not some golf course under the sky, it's not endless comfort, it's worship, it is communion, it is the eternal liturgy where Christ reigns and the saints adore him.
SPEAKER_00: Every Sunday when we gather at the altar of the Lord, we're not rehearsing, we're participating, we're stepping into the liturgy of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: So my question for you this Sunday is do you come hungry?
SPEAKER_00: Do you come understanding what the liturgy is all about?
SPEAKER_00: Or are you distracted?
SPEAKER_00: Are you sitting here right now as you're listening to me, daydreaming about this or that, or what you need to accomplish?
SPEAKER_00: Are you really truly preparing your soul?
SPEAKER_00: Now here's a third challenge I want to give you this Sunday, which cuts a little deeper.
SPEAKER_00: Today's gospel, Jesus raises Bar, he does not abolish the commandments, he intensifies them.
SPEAKER_00: What does he say?
SPEAKER_00: He says, You have heard it said, but I say to you now, right now, it's not enough to kill not to kill, you must uproot anger.
SPEAKER_00: It's not enough not to commit adultery, you must purify desires.
SPEAKER_00: It's not enough to bring a gift to the altar, you must forgive.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not interested in surface religion.
SPEAKER_00: He is after your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us has reduced Catholicism to external compliance.
SPEAKER_00: I don't do this, I don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus looks inside.
SPEAKER_00: He's not content with behavior modification, he wants interior transformation.
SPEAKER_00: That's why the penitential rite begins every mass.
SPEAKER_00: This is why the precious blood is poured out for the forgiveness of sins.
SPEAKER_00: This is why the confession is not optional, it's necessary.
SPEAKER_00: So, my brothers and sisters, let me speak very plainly to you before we enter into Lent on Wednesday.
SPEAKER_00: If you're carrying a grudge, try to forgive.
SPEAKER_00: If you're living in a serious sin and addictions and vices, go to confession.
SPEAKER_00: If you've drifted into spiritual mediocrity, repent.
SPEAKER_00: If Christ is not truly the first thing, if it's not the priority in your life, reorder it.
SPEAKER_00: Now's the moment.
SPEAKER_00: You have breath in your lungs.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you have been waiting for the right time to go all in, the right season, the perfect situation, the perfect circumstances, the right feeling.
SPEAKER_00: Sirax Sirach says life and death are before you.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says the world is passing away.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says your heart must be purified.
SPEAKER_00: So here's my challenge to our beautiful parish.
SPEAKER_00: Before Lent begins, decide once and for all.
SPEAKER_00: Decide that this year will not be another routine Lent.
SPEAKER_00: Decide that this will not be another year of partial surrender.
SPEAKER_00: Decide once and for all that Christ will not be one priority among the many.
SPEAKER_00: Place him at the very center.
SPEAKER_00: Make a good confession.
SPEAKER_00: Reclaim Sunday as sacred.
SPEAKER_00: Pay attention.
SPEAKER_00: Listen.
SPEAKER_00: Allow God to speak the word he wants to speak to you.
SPEAKER_00: Pray daily.
SPEAKER_00: Remove from your life whatever is inconsistent, whatever is leading you away from God.
SPEAKER_00: Because one day, and it will come faster than you think, you will stand before Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And on that day your resume will not matter.
SPEAKER_00: Your bank account will not matter.
SPEAKER_00: Your titles will not matter.
SPEAKER_00: Only love will matter.
SPEAKER_00: Only whether you became holy will matter.
SPEAKER_00: And so, my brothers and sisters, we're not called to casual Catholics, we're called to be saints.
SPEAKER_00: The saints are not accidental, they are decisive.
SPEAKER_00: Life or death, heaven or self, conversion or comfort.
SPEAKER_00: You must choose.
SPEAKER_00: But as men and women who have decided once and for all to give their whole lives to Jesus Christ, I say do it now.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.