WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.000 There's a sentence in today's first reading that's almost shocking. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:07.919 God says, I have had enough of your sacrifices. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:09.679 Imagine hearing that. 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:16.879 The very sacrifices that God Himself commanded His people to offer, He now says He can't stand. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:18.000 Why? 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:20.559 Had God changed His mind? 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:21.679 Well no. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:24.320 The problem was never their worship. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:29.199 The problem was that their worship had become disconnected from their lives. 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:35.200 They were offering sacrifices in the temple while living unjustly outside the temple. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:39.520 They were praying with their lips while ignoring God with their hearts. 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:44.399 They were religious on the outside but unchanged on the inside. 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:46.880 And God says something remarkable. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:49.920 Bring no more worthless offerings. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:52.159 Your hands are full of blood. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:53.840 Wash yourself clean. 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:57.280 Cease doing evil, learn to do good. 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:00.880 Notice what God does not ask for. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:06.000 He does not ask for more sacrifices, he asks for conversion. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:09.519 This is an important lesson for us as Catholics. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:16.159 Sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that practicing our faith is simply about checking religious boxes. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:21.040 I went to mass, I said my prayers, I put something in the collection basket. 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:23.040 Those are all good things. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:27.519 In fact, they're essential, but they're not the goal. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:34.000 The goal is that every mass makes me more loving, every confession makes me more humble. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:37.920 Every holy communion I receive makes me more like Christ. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:50.319 If my relationship with Jesus is real, then it must eventually change the way I treat my spouse, the way I engage my children, my co-workers, even the stranger I meet today. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:54.560 Otherwise, Isaiah asks us a different question. 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:57.920 Has my religion become merely external? 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:04.640 One of the greatest dangers in the spiritual life is what I would call comfort Christianity. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:07.760 We become familiar with holy things. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:16.159 The prayers become routine, the mass becomes predictable, the gospel becomes something we hear without allowing it to challenge us. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:20.719 We know the faith, but it is no longer transforming us. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:24.719 God is not interested in simply making us religious. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:26.800 He wants to make us holy. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:32.240 Then we come to what may be one of the most misunderstood passages in the gospel. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:37.360 Jesus says, I have come not to bring peace but the sword. 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:40.800 At first glance that sounds strange. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:42.960 Isn't Jesus the Prince of Peace? 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:44.400 Well, of course he is. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:45.919 So what does he mean? 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:51.520 Well, the sword Jesus speaks about is not violence, it's a decision. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:54.879 The gospel always forces us to make a choice. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:58.319 No one remains neutral before Christ. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:01.280 Think about his own life. 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:07.199 Some followed him, others walked away, some worshiped him, others crucified him. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:13.360 The truth has a way of dividing those who accept it from those who reject it. 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:17.680 That's why Jesus says that sometimes even families will be divided. 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:24.800 Not because Christians are looking for conflict, but because faithfulness to Christ sometimes costs us something. 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:30.400 Every disciple eventually reaches a moment when he must decide who comes first. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:39.360 My career, my reputation, my comfort, my things, my possessions, even my family, or is it Christ? 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:43.599 Jesus is not asking us to love our families less. 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:48.319 He's asking us to love him first and above all things. 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:50.400 And here's the paradox. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:58.400 When Christ is first, we actually become better husbands, better wives, better parents, better children, better friends. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:03:59.199 Why? 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:05.120 Well, because only Christ teaches us how to love as we were created to love. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:08.639 Then Jesus ends with something beautiful. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:17.199 He says that even giving a cup of cold water because someone belongs to him will not go unnoticed. 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:18.480 I love that. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:26.720 The kingdom of God is built not only through heroic acts, it is built through ordinary acts of love done with extraordinary faith. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:42.639 Word of encouragement, a smile here and there, a phone call to someone who's lonely, patience with a difficult coworker, forgiving someone who doesn't deserve it, helping a neighbor in need, listening to someone who needs to be heard. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:50.240 These are all small acts that can become great in the eyes of God because they're done for him with love. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:54.800 So today the Lord asks each of us two questions. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:05:01.279 First, is my faith changing the way I live, or is it simply something I just practice? 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:09.120 And second, if someone looked only at the way I treat other people, would they know that I have been with Christ? 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:18.399 Because in the end, Christianity is not measured by how many prayers we know, it is measured by how deeply those prayers have transformed our hearts. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:27.600 May every Mass we attend, every confession we make, and every holy communion we receive make us just a little bit more like Jesus. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:28.560 Amen.