SPEAKER_00: Today in the first reading, Saint Paul says, I consider life of no importance to me.
SPEAKER_00: If only I may finish my course and the ministry I receive from the Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: What an incredible statement.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is not saying life has no value, he's saying something deeper.
SPEAKER_00: My life is not about me anymore.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the world tells us something very different.
SPEAKER_00: Protect yourself, build your comfort, secure your success, avoid suffering at all costs, curate your image, make your life bigger, better.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, No, my life has become a mission.
SPEAKER_00: And notice the context.
SPEAKER_00: He's not speaking these words from success, comfort, and applause.
SPEAKER_00: He says imprisonment is coming, hardship is coming, suffering is comfy.
SPEAKER_00: And his answer is almost shocking.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to finish the race.
SPEAKER_00: That's the language of someone who has found purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Because once you find your mission, suffering changes.
SPEAKER_00: It does not disappear, it receives meaning.
SPEAKER_00: Parents know this.
SPEAKER_00: You stay awake all night with a sick child, you sacrifice, you lose sleep.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because love gives suffering purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Priests know this.
SPEAKER_00: People in service know this.
SPEAKER_00: Spouses know this.
SPEAKER_00: Anyone who truly loves eventually learns this lesson.
SPEAKER_00: Love always costs.
SPEAKER_00: And then the gospel becomes incredibly beautiful because we hear Jesus praying to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: This is one of the most intimate moments of all scripture.
SPEAKER_00: We're almost standing on holy ground listening to the Son speak to the Father before the passion.
SPEAKER_00: And what does Jesus say?
SPEAKER_00: I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the works that you gave me to do.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that line.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus measures his life not by popularity, not by success, not by comfort, not by possessions and things.
SPEAKER_00: He measures his life by faithfulness to the mission.
SPEAKER_00: I accomplished the works you gave me.
SPEAKER_00: That success in the kingdom, and maybe today is a good examination of conscience for all of us.
SPEAKER_00: What work has God given me?
SPEAKER_00: Because everybody has one.
SPEAKER_00: For some it's raising children, for some it's caring for an aging parent, for others it's teaching, it's it's ministry, it's building up a parish.
SPEAKER_00: For some it's carrying a cross with dignity.
SPEAKER_00: The tragedy is not dying tired.
SPEAKER_00: The tragedy is reaching the end and realizing we never lived the mission God gave us.
SPEAKER_00: One day our lives will not be measured by how much money we made, how many followers we had, what title we had before our name, or what people thought about us.
SPEAKER_00: The quiz the question may simply be, did you finish the course?
SPEAKER_00: Did you accomplish the works I gave you?
SPEAKER_00: Did you love?
SPEAKER_00: Did you remain faithful?
SPEAKER_00: Did you give me everything?
SPEAKER_00: Paul today is standing at the end of his journey looking backwards.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus in the gospel is standing at the threshold of Calvary looking forward.
SPEAKER_00: And both are saying the same exact thing be true to the mission.
SPEAKER_00: Finish the mission.
SPEAKER_00: Because the life spent for Christ is never wasted.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.