SPEAKER_00: Today the church celebrates the feast of Saint Catherine of Siena.
SPEAKER_00: Some of the most important decisions in the life of the church are not made in meetings, they're made in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Listen carefully to what we just heard.
SPEAKER_00: While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Not while they were strategizing, not while they were debating, not while they were trying to figure things out, while they were praying.
SPEAKER_00: That sometimes could be uncomfortable for us.
SPEAKER_00: Because we want clarity before we commit.
SPEAKER_00: We want a plan before we move forward.
SPEAKER_00: We want guarantees before we act.
SPEAKER_00: But the early church saw something very different.
SPEAKER_00: They prayed, they fast, they listen in a very concrete way.
SPEAKER_00: And then the Holy Spirit speaks.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit says, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul.
SPEAKER_00: And notice there's no long explanation, not a five-year plan, no detailed roadmap, just a call.
SPEAKER_00: And then, just as simply, they respond.
SPEAKER_00: They pray again, they lay hands on them, and they send them.
SPEAKER_00: That's how mission begins, not with certainty, but with absolute obedience.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if we connect that to the gospel, Jesus says, I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.
SPEAKER_00: Not might understand everything.
SPEAKER_00: Not might have all the answers, but might not remain in darkness.
SPEAKER_00: Because you see, we often think of darkness as ignorance, but in the gospel, darkness is something deeper.
SPEAKER_00: It is living without direction, living without truth, living without God at the very center.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says, I came to pull you out of all of that darkness.
SPEAKER_00: But then he says something that should stop us.
SPEAKER_00: If anyone hears my words and does not obey them, in other words, hearing is not enough.
SPEAKER_00: You can sit in church, you can hear the gospel, you can hear a wonderful homily, you can even agree with it and still remain in darkness.
SPEAKER_00: Because the light only changes you when you walk in it.
SPEAKER_00: This is where everything comes together.
SPEAKER_00: The earlier church did not just hear the spirit, they obeyed the spirit.
SPEAKER_00: They did not say, let us think about this.
SPEAKER_00: Let's see how this all fits.
SPEAKER_00: We gotta really understand it.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't say any of that.
SPEAKER_00: Because they moved, the word of God spread.
SPEAKER_00: This is exactly the life of Saint Catherine of Siena, whose feast we celebrate.
SPEAKER_00: She did not wait until she felt ready.
SPEAKER_00: She did not wait until everything was clear.
SPEAKER_00: She listened.
SPEAKER_00: She acted.
SPEAKER_00: A young woman, no power, no position in her day, no official authority.
SPEAKER_00: And yet she speaks to popes, she calls the church to conversion, she steps into chaos with clarity.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because she was not guided by her own voice.
SPEAKER_00: She was guided by his voice.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the question for us today.
SPEAKER_00: Are you actually living in the light?
SPEAKER_00: Or are you just hearing about it?
SPEAKER_00: Because there's a difference.
SPEAKER_00: There are people who hear the gospel every single week and never change.
SPEAKER_00: Then there are people who hear one word from God and it begins to reorder their entire life.
SPEAKER_00: The difference is not intelligence, the difference is obedience.
SPEAKER_00: And let's be honest, most of us, most of us are not struggling because we do not know what God wants.
SPEAKER_00: We're struggling because we do not want to do it.
SPEAKER_00: We hear him.
SPEAKER_00: Forgive, you got to be patient, let go of that sin that you keep falling into.
SPEAKER_00: Trust me in this situation.
SPEAKER_00: Stop living like that.
SPEAKER_00: Stop being ugly.
SPEAKER_00: We hear it.
SPEAKER_00: We know what we got to do, and we hesitate, we delay, we negotiate with God.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says, I did not come to condemn you, I came to save you.
SPEAKER_00: But then he adds this the word I spoke will judge.
SPEAKER_00: Meaning the very truth that could save you is the truth that exposes you if you refuse it.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the invitation today.
SPEAKER_00: Not to hear more, but to respond.
SPEAKER_00: What is the last thing God asked of you that you haven't done?
SPEAKER_00: That's the place of darkness.
SPEAKER_00: And that is a place where the light is trying to break in.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the Holy Spirit is speaking all the time, not just to prophet and saints.
SPEAKER_00: He's speaking to you in prayer, in silence, in the quiet convictions you can't shake.
SPEAKER_00: And the question is not whether he is speaking, the question is whether you will move.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you do, everything changes.
SPEAKER_00: The word spreads, grace moves, life expands beyond what you could have planned.
SPEAKER_00: You see things differently.
SPEAKER_00: The church in Antioch prayed, and the world was never the same.
SPEAKER_00: Saint Catherine listened, and the church was renewed.
SPEAKER_00: And now it's your turn.
SPEAKER_00: Step out of the darkness.
SPEAKER_00: Walk in the light, not tomorrow, but right now.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.