Podcast | Taking Away The Stone That Keeps You Numb (Episode 070)

We reflect on Lent through real life pressures and the Gospel of Lazarus, naming what keeps us spiritually numb and what it takes to come back to life. We connect the scrutiny gospels to baptism and daily conversion, then challenge ourselves to stop excusing sin and start moving the stone with Christ. 
• Lent as humble offering rather than perfection 
• The scrutiny gospels and how they point to baptism 
• Living water and the question of what we truly thirst for 
• Spiritual blindness and patterns that keep us stuck 
• Lazarus and the stones that block new life 
• Common stones like pride, ego, fear, anxiety, control, and lack of trust 
• Small sins that destroy the soul over time, especially gossip and judging 
• The lie of “this is just how I am” and the call to real change 
• Justice and mercy together, plus the real consequences of sin 
• Confession as a doorway to freedom and a clear conscience 
• Community and accountability as essential for growth 
• Daily prayer and examination of conscience as ongoing conversion 

Thank you for listening! Visit us at www.saintaugustinechurch.org

Transcript

Lent Check In And Grace

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Heart of the Hominy Podcast. I'm Michelle Lopez, your host, and I'm here with Father Goa, our pastor.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

How are you doing, Michelle?

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Doing great. Um, excited to get into this marvelous story from the gospel today.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Fifth Sunday of Lent already. Next week is Palm Sunday. Do you know that?

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Yeah, that kind of freaked me out. When you said it over the weekend, I was like, wait a minute, I'm not ready.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

I know. It it's in some way it went fast, but then other ways it was a good pace. At least for me. I think that um I can only speak for myself, but I I think that I did a better job this year than other years.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

How about you, did that's good to hear, Father. I'm in a season of uh a one and a half year old ruling my life. So um this is in a different type of lens. Yeah. Um, and it's funny, I've I've been like, okay, every now and then when I'm just not able to do what I'd like to do. Right. Like, you know what, Jesus, this is my offering that I can't, but you love me. And here I am.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

I agree. And I something I said something to someone recently, I said, your mom is mom. Your job is mom. Right. And that's the most important job. It's daughter of the beloved, daughter of of of the father, but also wife and mother. But your job is important.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Yeah. So I've given myself some grace to do my best. And then it's funny, I was talking to someone the other day and being like, you know, as a mom, it is Lent lent is different. It's not like this victorious end where you're like, yeah, that's interesting. You know, like conquered what I wanted to do, what I set out for. There's always it's very humbling. It's humbling being like, and I have great desires, but it doesn't always look the way I want them to, which is a good lesson in itself. It's not about myself. I agree, right? It's not about doing it perfect, but having uh that compassion to myself and knowing that the Lord looks at me with like delight. He's like, Oh, that was so cute of you to want to do so much. Or like, oh, that was so cute that you wanted to do that, and you didn't get to, but um, but it's moments where I just open my heart to God and say, like, okay, Lord, um meet me here.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Yeah, and when you're chasing a one and a half year old, that's kind of crazy.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

It is, it's very exciting. And the one thing that she's done for Lent is we have like this little toddler calendar. So every day we put up like something we hang something on this string.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

She is so good, Father. Really? Yeah, she knows. Every morning, like after she has her milk, she'll go over there and she'll point.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Like she wants to go hang it.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Yeah, I'll forget, but she's like, um, excuse me. Look at that. Which tells me she's gonna help me every Lent to do better and better. She's gonna be that one that's gonna be like, Um, Mom, that's chocolate, and you gave it up.

Lazarus And The Scrutiny Gospels

SPEAKER_00 2:29

I'd be like, That's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

So okay, but this gospel, Father, it's it's long, so we won't read it, but we um are opening up the story of the raising of Lazarus, which is again, has it so much richness to it. Um, and really you had a beautiful theme throughout the the story itself in your homily. Um, so we'd love to hear from you just like what was the inspiration to focus on particular things because it was very good.

Living Water Light And New Life

SPEAKER_00 2:53

A lot of richness. Um something that you know, but maybe some of our listeners may not know. Um, you teach OCIA. So the the gospels for the third, fourth, and fifth week are our scrutiny gospels. Um, in year A, everyone hears the scrutiny gospels. But when you have catechumens in your parish and you have them uh at a mass, or you have, you are able to use the scrutiny gospels. What what is that? The the woman at the well, the man born blind, and then the raising of Lazarus. And and it's all tied to baptism, which is so powerful. I I didn't go that route in in some of these uh in my homilies for the last three weeks. Um in some way, yes, right. So the theme is always somewhat the same. But if you look at it at baptism and you see that we're receiving catechumens and we're we're receiving a great number at St. Augustine, the church is fully live. It's so exciting to see so many young people wanting to turn to the Lord, wanting to enter into the church at Easter. Um, and so these are people who have never been baptized and who are now wanting to enter the church, give their lives to the Lord. Um, so that first, that third Sunday of Lent, the the theme, of course, is living water. And that's what we talk about to our catechumens, where Jesus is that water, where that woman at the well is saying, Lord, uh um, or she doesn't say Lord, but she says, I want that water. Give me that water, right? And um, and it's also uh an underlying kind of question that that is, what are you thirsting for? Again, we we connect it to all three together. You put all three together because then the fourth one is the man born blind. And it again, it's the Christ is the light of the world, and Christ is the one that brings us sight. And even in the early church, baptism or the the whole ceremony of bringing uh a catechumens into the church was called the illumination, right? Um, and so the theme is Christ as light. And then the fifth, of course, is the theme is resurrection and life, that it is through baptism that we die in Christ and to have new life in Christ. Um and so dying and rising in baptism, which I love the scrutinies and and and you've done a good job with our OCIA candidates, and we've talked a lot to them about what these three Sundays mean. But also, I tried to do that connection in the gospel, I mean in the homily this weekend, tried to tie it in and and how if you are um if you're if you're thirsting for something and you're you're looking for meaning and you're constantly searching and searching and searching until you find out that only Jesus Christ can fulfill that thirst. Right. And then when also when you're when you're blind to things, when you're blind to your own sin, when you're blind to your own behaviors and and patterns that are are causing your soul to die, you will, you, you won't be able to see it because it's right there in front of you, right? And then the last, uh, what I brought into the gospel for this week or for the hominy this weekend was if all of this happens, then you're just your your soul is dying. You could be alive, alive, right? And walking around existing, but dead to the world.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

This emptiness, this numbness. How many people do we know that are just numb? Existing one day bleeds to the next. And if you ask them, they're in a funk. And I know a lot of people like this. Um, and that's why we want to help. We want to be able to say, give your life to Christ, a full, complete giving over to him, to trust him and to say, Lord, I want those, that living water. Lord, I want to be able to see, show me what's what's what is it that I need to do. And then that the last one is what's that stone? What is it, what's impeding me to grow or to draw closer to the Lord that's causing me to feel dead, to feel numb, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Yeah, the story with Lazarus is very um, I mean, it's so dramatic in what happens, but being able to connect it like you're talking about of um that we all have kind of stones that are obstacles to allowing Christ to do a mighty work, a resurrected work in our heart. Um, and realizing that we could be, you know, alive but spiritually dead, and that Jesus is the answer for that.

Naming The Stones Blocking Freedom

SPEAKER_00 7:39

And a lot of people are dead in the sense that they know a they know what needs to be removed. They know what stone or stones, because there may be a lot of stones. I know myself there are stones that are very hard to move and that are still there and that are stuck and that I'm working on. And um, and and it's it's that day-to-day, that daily kind of reminder, and and being able to look at the Lord and say, I need your help. I need to be able to move that stone, to have the courage to move that stone. Why? Because again, it's like I said, it Jesus has come, Lazarus, come out, but he still comes out bound. He has his hands are bound, his his feet are bound, and his face is covered. And so we have to get you could be alive but dead. And there's that whole, I need to have that, that make that decision. Okay, I'm alive, but I what is it that I need to do to take those that binding off.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

And Father, what would you say like the stones like of like fear and shame? Like, what are the stones that are most common that prevent people from taking like just that next step to really allow Christ to see them and to see their need?

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Well, I some of the bigger stones are the ego, pride. Those are some of the big stones that we fall into that we just can't seem to. We shift it a little bit, maybe move it out of the way a little bit, but it comes right back and slams that tomb or that cave shut. Um also, I I think the lack of trust can can imprison us, can keep us in the cave, and uh keep us from really moving forward because we're it's tied to fear, it's tied to anxiety, to frustration. And so I think trust also too is not believing that God has a plan for my life. And again, something that we've talked about so much is that wanting to control every aspect of my life. And so because I feel like I don't have control of everything, then I'm I feel numb. I feel uh like I'm not moving forward, like I'm not progressing, that something has me tied down. And so those stones could be so many things. And it could even be where you know that you need to forgive someone and you haven't done it. You know that there's that sin, there's that pattern, there's that habit that you keep falling into. And it could be something as little as gossiping all the time or or being a liar where you're just like a pathological liar and you're just doing it all the time. You don't even know where it's coming from. Sometimes it just comes out and you're like, wait, why am I lying? I don't need to lie, but it's it's it's a habit that's crept into your life. And so it could be like either in just like smaller stones, so some really big stones where um these are behaviors that you do that you know you're wrong and you need to get out of. It could be as something as gambling or taking money and resources that that your family needs for survival, or it could be having that affair that you're involved with that you know that's destroying your soul, it's destroying your marriage, it's destroying destroying your integrity. So there's like these really big sins with ego, pride, uh, lust, and and sexual sins. There, yes, that is, but there's also a lot of stones that are gonna destroy your soul if you take part in them. And a lot of times we see these smaller stones as like, it's no big deal. You know, yeah, I I take part in gossiping, I take part in judging, but yeah, I ask God to forgive me, or it's not that bad. It's all in in jest, and people know that I'm not all that serious. No, it is. Those are serious sins. So a lot of times people think that their sexual sins are the worst. I think that sins when you're you're assassinating someone's character and and and talking bad and and judging and accusing and and very quick to to be that judge, it's it's very, very dangerous.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Yeah. And so we're talking about Father 2. I feel like uh there's a temptation to say, well, like this is just how I am.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

This is just how I struggle. What would you say to that? Because I feel like that's a common, like that's a cop out.

Stop Saying That’s Just Me

SPEAKER_00 12:04

I think it's a cop out. I think it's a cop out because it's easier to say, well, this is just who I am. This is who I've always been. This is I just no, it's what that is, what's that saying is that I won't, I'm not gonna make the effort to change, to try a different avenue, to try a different way. And and and that, and that can look very easy in the sense of wake up earlier, go for a walk, say your rosary. Things that you can implement that are not part of your routine that cause you to be different, so that then later on you can apply that to the divine life, where it it's a pattern of habit that is healthy, beautiful, and and and leads to integrity. Because if you're saying, well, this is how I am, this is who I am, this is how I've always been, well, change that. What what it what it's saying to me, yeah, get to the root because there's some laziness in that. Or maybe it's not even laziness, it's you feel that you are stuck. And you need someone to un to help you get unstuck. And I think that that's one of the reasons why Jesus doesn't, in his whole power, just like bust the the stone, right? Because if he has the power to raise someone from the dead, he's got the power to bust that stone, right? Just like woof, you know, and he doesn't do that. What he says is tell them, he tells them, hey, remove that stone. And so I think that that is, it's it's we have to have skin in the game.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Yeah. And I also think what you're um what you're sharing too is just it's it's stepping back and understanding like the truth of the Christian journey, which is Jesus didn't come just to like rescue us from sin, but like a transformation of our like the whole of who we are.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

Exactly right.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Our habits, the way we think, the way we see the world, like all of who we are. And I know for myself, when I even like starting the Christian journey, um, I didn't know that God could do all that.

SPEAKER_02 14:02

Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

I think when I first started, you know, really living the Christian life, I knew like, okay, this is the direction. But at the beginning, I didn't think God could actually do like this radical transformation of like the way I even saw myself, the way I saw him, like of my thoughts, of my habits, where vice wasn't the last word, but like I could actually strive for virtue and collaborate with God to allow him to change me.

Justice Mercy And Sin’s Consequences

SPEAKER_00 14:25

I love that. And it and it's it that is connected to even what we heard today, or the first the first reading in the gospel from today, where um especially the gospel where there where you really truly see justice and mercy played out there. And that's exactly what you're saying, where you can see that it's not about the Lord being this nice man or this beautiful, itinerant preacher that went around doing nice things, healing people. No, he he's gonna be a God who is of justice and mercy. Because what does he tell to this woman who they find in adultery, who they bring her in the middle and they want to stone her, right? He he says, Women, where are they? Well, and well, they're gone. And and he says, Well, has anyone condemned you? And he's she says, No. And he says, Well, neither do I. There's mercy right there. But the justice is, well, then go now and sin no more. Yeah. Right. He's gonna say, he's not gonna say, Oh, how wonderful, you know, I'm not gonna, okay, go have a beautiful time, have a beautiful day. They didn't stone you. No, he's he is he's right there saying there's justice and there's also mercy. And our our sins do have consequences. Our sins have consequences um because it affects everything in life. If you think that your sin is just something that's private, that it's just no, it's gonna have a trickle effect where it affects people and it's gonna have consequences. The Lord's gonna be there to save you, to rescue you, to forgive you. But sometimes there are consequences to the sins that we engage in.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

Absolutely. And I I think that's even a truth that hopefully like helps us want to desire to do the good even more and to make, you know, and to make a change in our course. Um, and that was something I know for me that was a big wake-up call of realizing that, like, you know, because I think there's the misconception of like, oh, well, no one else is getting hurt, you know. Right. Even in like a self-hatred, you know, I know that was something I struggled with when I was younger. Yeah. No one else is getting hurt.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

Nobody's gonna get hurt.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

At the end of the day, like it's preventing me from loving. It's preventing me from doing the good that I'm creating.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

And there's the consequences, right? It trickles into your life where you may not be able to love somebody else because you don't even know how to love yourself.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Yeah. I remember a quote from Mother Teresa comes to mind where she says, You're as miserable as you are selfish.

SPEAKER_02 16:42

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

And I remember that quote was on my wall for a long time to help me out because it was true. It was like I was so miserable in my sin. It's because at the root of it was just so much selfishness. Like I was only thinking about myself, only thinking about like that this doesn't affect anyone else, or like that selfishness was um what was making me so miserable.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Michelle, that you're I mean, you're hitting the nail on the head. That's it right there. And I know that a lot of people that are listening to me right now, they're miserable. And that they don't want to be miserable. And the whole thing is that we're very good at at putting the band-aid on or dressing very nice, doing your hair and doing this, and giving a great presentation at work and and being busy and doing your schedule and being effective Americans and we take care of the family. But deep down inside and and how we are on the inside, we are miserable. Right. And so, and all of that, that that being miserable stems from selfishness. Well, I haven't achieved what I want. I haven't been able to get what I want. I don't see life the way that I envisioned it for myself, or I don't, I don't have this, or I don't have that, or look at these people, they have this, whatever it is in the realm of selfishness, because it's the constant me, me, me. And so when you're living your life where it's just about me, you're gonna be miserable.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Yeah. And the first you think about no, I'm trying to take care of myself and exactly right things, but it's not the way that we're designed to meet the first whenever someone, either they're in confession or they're asked if they come to see me, and and that's where they're coming.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

I've said the first time, go do something for someone else. Go help someone and then come back, let's talk. Because you can get stuck.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

Yeah, absolutely.

Misery Selfishness And Confession

SPEAKER_00 18:24

And then it just what happens is it it snowballs into this really big uh monster that kind of uh that's how you're living your life in a secret way, like internally. Look, one of the things that uh this weekend someone said to me uh after mass, he says, Listen, let me tell you, because of you, I went to confession the first time in 30 years.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Praise God. Right? Wow.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

And I said, How come? He said, Well, you've been talking about the the last, I don't know how many homilies. I mentioned it this homily too. Maybe one of those stones is you haven't gone to confession. You haven't been set free, and you're carrying all of this. I sometimes you could be washing dishes, you could be inside the car, you can be driving somewhere, and you feel it inside, like your consciousness says, There's something wrong. I don't, I can't put my finger on it. I just don't, I don't feel right. I wonder what that is. Well, you have the residual of sin sitting there that needs to be washed away, that needs to, you know, a lot of times I say, come and vomit all of that, because you know, after you vomit, which is horrible talk here, but you feel so much better.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

It's true. It's right, it gets not supposed to be inside out, which is Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

So the the whole thing is it's what are some of these stones, what are some of these behaviors uh that it are causing your soul to just be dead? And I think you said the same thing. I mean, we could be dead, but we could also be miserable. And what are and it it's maybe not, maybe it could be something else from being selfish to kind of pinpoint. And and what happens a lot of times too is okay, I'm miserable, but then I'm a horrible wife, horrible husband, horrible daughter, son, uh co-worker, very on edge, road rage, just anything will set you off. And it it stems from that. Because a lot of times when I when people confess this, I say, well, okay, well, there has to be something else. There's gotta be a route to this behavior. Why? Why lash out? Why, why, why so sensitive? And it goes all the way back to that.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Yeah. Yeah. And another Mother Teresa quote comes to mind. She says, To live joy, you have to live joy, which is living according to Jesus first, others, and then yourself. Not in a way that you don't take care of yourself, but that you're ordered towards like your eyes being on Christ first and then being able to be of service to your neighbor. And in that, Christ is filling you up to love yourself like rightly ordered.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

That's key right there. You want success, you want to live joy, you want to live happiness, you want to be fulfilled, find meaning. Christ has got to be the first one. Before your husband, before your kids, before anybody. I think I told you this before. I I maybe I've said this on the podcast. I will never forget this lady who told me I cannot, I can't put Jesus first. I can't love Jesus more than my children. No judgment, but there you can you can see where she's at, right? And it's a beautiful thing to love your kids. But how do you trust to love the Lord more?

SPEAKER_01 21:29

Yeah, the giver.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

The giver. Right. Not the gift, but the giver. And because here's the thing once you completely love the Lord first and make him your priority, everything else falls into place. You're gonna be the best mom, you're gonna be the best dad.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

Yeah, and all those different roles in in God's design are supposed to be like a way to point us to him over and over again. Of like the way that our heart expands for kids is supposed to make us realize like, gosh, that's your heart for me, father. Right. And like, but without that pointing, then we be Very controlling and I think kind of it gets disordered.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

Yeah, that's it. It reminds me of that line in scripture where it says, even a mother, even if a mother forgets her child, I can never.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

Right?

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Like how powerful. So powerful. I mean, think about the power, the the love that you have for your daughter, right? And for God to say, my love is way more than that.

unknown 22:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

And so it's that it's that ordering of of loves that's important.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Yeah, that's that's the beauty of it. And Father, I want to go back to something that you were sharing about um that like in especially in this um gospel, like Jesus does something that no one's expecting and also like bringing someone back to life. And I think a bold prayer that you know myself and everyone, I just invite them to do is like no matter where we are in our journey of faith, like to over and over ask Jesus to do that, to like bring areas that are dead back to life. But it's not like it's not a one and done, you know, it's like an ongoing process. Um and what would be some ways to do that? I mean, confession for sure is like number one. What are other ways to I think really like open ourselves to let Jesus surprise us? By the way, he wants to heal us. And you talk about band-aid, and that's not his approach. And I think that's the misconception a lot of times is people think like the band-aid's enough. We're like, okay, well, Jesus has done enough. I don't want to ask him for more.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

Well, you you're asking something that someone asked me after mass this Sunday. And the response that I gave was community. Community is so important because we have to keep each other accountable and help each other walk and to create a space where we're growing and we're walking together. I think that that's key. Very important. It's good to have all of these online stuff, listen to our podcast, listen to whatever it is that you listen to, but that should be supplemental because your four or your first is daily mass, the sacraments, commun uh confession. But then you have to live in community. You have to walk in community. It's not enough just to come to Mass on Sundays. You have to really take into account, well, what is this community doing? How can this community help me to grow, help me to get unstuck, help me to see a different reality, happy, how help me to live a different walk. That's where it comes from. I think last week I was talking about how do we learn that language, that language of love, the language of Christian um discipleship. Well, we learn that language through immersion, through service, through, and and being a parish on mission. And so that's where I think it's at.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

Yeah. And even Jesus surrounded himself with 12 disciples who lived in community.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

Lived in community.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

And I think about like Lazarus after being raised from the dead.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

Can you imagine?

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Can you yeah, can you imagine like his community, right? Rejoicing in that and then probably reminding him of it, you know, and in hard moments or in different, you know, the his life continued to play out and he died again, right? But like being able to um like share the joy of God's miracles and community that uplifts other people and increases their faith.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Well, even the gospels tell us that the Jews were keeping an eye on him. Why? Because people were coming to him just to touch him. Are you did you really raise from were you raised from the dead? And can you imagine the amount of people that would have been converted to the Lord uh to begin to believe in Jesus because of this miracle, right? And the amount of people that that would have gone to Bethany to speak with him and to, hey, tell me about it. What what it what was that all about? I can't believe that it's true. I heard this and now I'm seeing it in the flesh. Um, and sometimes we need those kind of uh miracles or sprinkles to to help us uh stay connected.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Yeah, and I I think of so many people actually that they weren't physically dead, but they were spiritually dead. Right. And the way that God brought Jesus brought them back to life is literally like what you're saying. We're like people would be like, wait, you're the guy?

SPEAKER_00 26:13

You're the guy.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

God did that in your heart, you know, like thinking that like this person, there's no way. There's no way God can reach them. They're too far gone. But I think those are the witnesses that people need to share about and be more open to share how Jesus has raised them back to the dead, uh, back to life from being dead in different places of our heart and life.

Community Prayer And Daily Conversion

Will You Come Out Of The Tomb

SPEAKER_00 26:31

And and it's something that we need to pray for, right? It's it's again, it's that having that self-awareness to be very good at at having an examination of conscience to prepare our hearts for a good confession. But even in our day-to-day, when you're you're having that communion with God, when you're dedicating time for prayer, look, that's that could be another stone that you haven't removed where where you say you pray or you say you'd like to pray or the intention to pray, but are you actually really truly separating time and saying, no, this is your time, Lord. This is my time with you. I want to have communion with you. I I want to be able to quench that thirst that I have for all those things that I want that look great and are everybody else and the Joneses have, but I want to be able to satisfy my thirst for you because you're gonna have thirst, right? And I want to be able to see, I want to be able to really be able to see what you have for me, to be able to trust in the plan that you have for my life, but I need to be able to see it. And the way you see it is through communion with God. How? Through prayer. And then again, the whole the resurrection to new life. How do I live in such a way that brings about new life that I'm able to squash that old life or those stones that are keeping me dead to be able to experience newness of life? Here's something that someone told me this weekend, which is absolutely true. This was someone who said that they have been in the cave for a long time and then just recently came into the faith and are starting to practice the faith, they're very strong about living a good um a life of integrity. And they told me this. They said, Absolutely, Father, I've been in that cave. I know what that tomb looks like, I know what that stone looks like. But here's the thing, he says, but what I want you to tell people is once you're outside of the tomb, you know you're outside of the tomb. You know that you're free. You know that you're alive. So if you're listening to these words, I want you to know that there is an option. There's a route, there's a path to freedom, there's a path to life. And once you're on that path outside of the tomb, you'll know it.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

That's beautiful. And I think that's a great way to wrap up, fathers. Um, one of the questions that you asked throughout your homily was, will you come out of the tomb? And I think that's a great thing to ponder is like wherever, whatever that means for us in our life, like that Jesus knows and is calling us out. Um, and I love how you also mentioned your homily. Um, don't pretend not to hear him. I laughed inside when I heard that because I was like, oh my gosh, that's so true.

SPEAKER_00 29:00

Well, if we believe that that that Christ is there, present in the word, he's speaking to you. And don't pretend that you don't hear him. He's speaking, I'm telling you right now, this is what he's telling to you, and he's speaking to your heart. So take it for what it is and be faithful to his word.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

But wonderful. Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 29:19

Well, next week is Palm Sunday, so uh lots of crowds. If you're looking for a beautiful Palm Sunday experience, come out to St. Augustine's. We are proud to announce that we're gonna be uh publishing my daily homily. So you can go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and you can listen to a daily homily. Um, so that's in addition to this podcast and our Sunday Homily. So, and Michelle is uh the architect of all of that. So thank you, Michelle, for for putting all that together.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

It's a joy. Thank you, Father, for sharing um what the Lord is doing through your work of Homilies.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

So have a great holy week.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 29:57

We'll see you soon.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

You got it.