WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:04.959 Well, as we wrap up this week on Saturday, come, Holy Spirit, come. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:07.200 Hope you did your homework this week. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:16.320 But as we wrap up this week, one of the most dangerous things that can happen to the soul is not outright rebellion against God. 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:21.920 It's hesitation, half belief, half surrender. 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:30.079 Standing close enough to hear Jesus, but never close enough to let him truly change you. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:33.280 That's exactly what we see in today's gospel. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:42.719 The chief priest, the scribes, the elders approach Jesus and ask him, By what authority are you doing these things? 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:46.240 Now the irony is almost painful. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:52.320 They're standing before the Son of God, truth himself, with a capital T. 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:59.439 And instead of seeking truth honestly, they're calculating politically. 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:01.359 Notice their conversation. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:04.239 They are not asking what is true. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:08.000 They're asking, what answers protect us? 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:10.799 And that changes everything. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:18.879 Because once a person becomes more concerned with protecting themselves than surrendering to truth, the heart begins to harden. 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:22.319 That's why their final answer is tragic. 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:23.920 We do not know. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:27.680 But the reality is they did know. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:30.159 Or at least they suspected. 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:42.319 They saw the miracles, they heard the authority in his teaching, they witnessed the holiness of John the Baptist, but accepting the truth would require conversion, humility, and change. 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:45.439 And that is why they resisted. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:48.799 And honestly, we can do the exact same thing. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:53.599 Because sometimes we already know where the Lord is calling us. 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:56.239 We know the relationships that need to heal. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:01.120 We know the sin that needs to go, that addiction, that vice that we keep falling into. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:04.400 We know that prayer life we keep postponing. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:08.400 We know the compromise that we just keep justifying. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:13.439 But like the religious leaders, we hesitate because conversion costs something. 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:15.439 That's why this first reading from St. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:17.439 Jude is so powerful today. 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:21.599 Build yourselves up in your most holy faith. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:24.319 Keep yourselves in the love of God. 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:27.439 You see, faith is not something passive. 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:30.960 It must be protected, strengthened, fed. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:40.000 Because the world constantly pulls us towards cynicism, compromise, confusion, distraction, and spiritual laziness. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:41.039 And then St. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:42.960 Jude says something beautiful. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:46.400 On those who waver, have mercy. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:52.479 I love that line because it reminds me that many people are struggling quietly. 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:55.199 Some people in church today are wavering. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:04.800 They believe, but they're tired, they're exhausted, they're wounded, they're confused, they're carrying disappointments with God and the church. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:07.680 So what does the scripture say? 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:09.680 Well, have mercy on them. 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:13.120 Not contempt, not arrogance, mercy. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:22.240 The Christian life is not about standing above people, it's about pulling each other out of the fire. 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:26.960 And then the reading ends with one of the most beautiful, comforting lines. 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:31.599 To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling. 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:33.840 Notice that carefully. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:38.159 Your salvation does not rest merely on your own strength. 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:40.319 God himself is holding you. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:42.400 God himself is sustaining you. 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:46.560 God himself is fighting for your soul even when you're weak. 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:49.759 Well, that doesn't mean we become passive. 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:52.560 It becomes we stop living with despair. 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:56.159 Because some people think holiness means never struggling. 00:03:56.319 --> 00:04:01.919 No, holiness means continuing to return to Christ even in that struggle. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:05.280 The saints were not perfect because they never fell. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:08.960 The saints were people who stopped running from the truth. 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:11.439 Maybe that's the question for us today. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:14.960 Where am I resisting God's authority in my life? 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:20.879 Because every one of us has an area where we prefer control over surrender. 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:32.319 But peace only comes when we stop negotiating with God and finally trusting Him enough to say, Lord, not my will, but your will be done. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:37.040 And when that happens, faith stops being theoretical. 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:40.319 Faith now becomes transformational. 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:41.600 Amen.