SPEAKER_00: There's a dangerous illusion a lot of people have about Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: We think that if we're close to God, life should become easier, clearer, more comfortable, more acceptable.
SPEAKER_00: And yet the closer the apostles got to Jesus, the harder their lives became.
SPEAKER_00: In today's gospel, Jesus is brutally honest with his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: He does not sell them a fantasy, he does not promise applause, he does not tell them that the world will celebrate their fidelity.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, he says the opposite.
SPEAKER_00: They will expel you.
SPEAKER_00: They will hate you.
SPEAKER_00: There will even be people who think killing you is serving God.
SPEAKER_00: That's a shocking line.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is teaching us something incredibly important here.
SPEAKER_00: Sincerity alone does not equal truth.
SPEAKER_00: A person can be deeply convinced they are doing good and still be profoundly wrong.
SPEAKER_00: History proves that.
SPEAKER_00: Entire societies have justified evil while believing themselves righteous.
SPEAKER_00: People crucified Christ believing they were defending religion.
SPEAKER_00: Which means one of the most dangerous spiritual questions a person can stop asking is this Lord, am I actually following your truth or just my own preferences dressed up as truth?
SPEAKER_00: Because once a culture loses truth, eventually feelings become God.
SPEAKER_00: Opinions become doctrine, preference becomes morality, and people begin worshiping themselves while still using religious language.
SPEAKER_00: That's why Jesus speaks about the spirit of truth, not the spirit of comfort, not the spirit of popularity, or not even the spirit of self-affirmation.
SPEAKER_00: No, the spirit of truth.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit does not come merely to make us feel spiritual.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit comes to lead us into reality, into conviction, into holiness, into conversion.
SPEAKER_00: And this connects beautifully with the first reading.
SPEAKER_00: Paul arrives in Philippi and meets Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, a successful businesswoman.
SPEAKER_00: Notice what the scripture says.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord opened her heart to pay attention.
SPEAKER_00: That line is everything.
SPEAKER_00: Conversation begins when the heart is open, not when the argument is perfect, not when the preacher is charismatic, not even when the question is answered.
SPEAKER_00: The heart has to be open.
SPEAKER_00: You can sit every Sunday at Mass with a closed heart.
SPEAKER_00: You can hear the gospel for years with a closed heart.
SPEAKER_00: You can know all the theology, apologetics, philosophy, church history, and still remain internally closed off to God.
SPEAKER_00: And the scary part is eventually a closed heart no longer even realizes that it's closed.
SPEAKER_00: Lydia teaches us the posture of discipleship.
SPEAKER_00: She listens.
SPEAKER_00: She allows herself to be interrupted by grace.
SPEAKER_00: And once her heart is opened, everything changes.
SPEAKER_00: Her heart, her home changes, her household changes, her future changes.
SPEAKER_00: You see, real Christianity is never just private inspiration.
SPEAKER_00: It always spills outward.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel enters Lydia's heart, then enters her home.
SPEAKER_00: That's the pattern of evangelization.
SPEAKER_00: And honestly, this is one of the great struggles of our generation.
SPEAKER_00: We have access to endless information, podcasts, reels, commentary, influencers, motivational speakers, everything there at our fingertips.
SPEAKER_00: We consume content constantly, but rarely allow the word of God to penetrate deeply enough to transform us.
SPEAKER_00: Many people today are informed, but not transformed.
SPEAKER_00: And the danger is that we can slowly create a version of Christianity that asks nothing of us, a Christianity without repentance, a Christianity without sacrifice, a Christianity without courage.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus says something today.
SPEAKER_00: If you truly testify to him, there will be moments when the world does not understand you.
SPEAKER_00: A student trying to live chastely in college, a businessman refusing dishonesty, a young person protecting Sunday Mass in a culture of sports and busyness, a Catholic defending the dignity of life when it's unpopular, a person trying to forgive instead of retaliate.
SPEAKER_00: There are moments fidelity costs something.
SPEAKER_00: This is why Jesus gives us the advocate, the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Because Christianity is impossible by sheer willpower alone.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit gives courage when we're afraid, conviction when we're confused, strength when we're exhausted, truth when the world becomes noisy.
SPEAKER_00: The saints were not superheroes.
SPEAKER_00: They were people radically surrendered to the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: So maybe as we begin this week, the question is Is my heart actually open to God or only open to the parts of Christianity that are convenient for me?
SPEAKER_00: Because the Lord never forces the door open.
SPEAKER_00: He knocks on it, he invites you, he speaks.
SPEAKER_00: We're the ones that need to decide whether to let him in.
SPEAKER_00: When a heart is finally open, like Lydia's did, grace enters, truth enters, and an ordinary life becomes the beginning of something incredibly extraordinary.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.