The Weekly Word, w/ Chris Mueller

I had this conversation again recently with a friend. Pentecost is a big deal, and it deserves way more celebration than it typically gets.

What if every believer, no matter the denomination, looked upon each other with familial love and charity? What if we focused on what we shared and celebrated that together. What if, rather than assuming the worst of each other, we instead celebrated the faith we find in each other and moved forward in our discussion and argument with deep abiding respect and love, assuming the best intention at every turn? I have to tell you. I think it is worth a try.

Sometimes, in our desire to honor the Lord, we lose sight of him. We can get so focused on the paintings that we miss the person. Jesus was, is, and always will be, a real person with a personality. Yes, he is God, but that does not make him less alive. It makes him more alive. We are called to live in relationship with the person of Jesus Christ through the power of his Holy Spirit.

Are you living in the peace of Christ? Are you trying to walk this Christian life through your own power, or are you relying on his? Examine your life. Where is the anxiety? Where is the fear? What is eating at you? Acknowledge those things and then remember the word of, Christ. Peace be with you. Consciously choose to take those things and offer them to the Lord. "Jesus, I give this to you. I trust it to you. I know you are faithful."

The cross is for you. He died to set you free.

The challenge of Palm Sunday is not who can make the best cross from a palm frond. No, the challenge is facing that we are the people who would cry our "Hosanna" on Palm Sunday, and "Crucify Him!" on Good Friday. We like to think that we would be better, but if we are honest about how we live our lives, we need to face that we are no different than the people who were there 2000 years ago. The good news is the Jesus knows that. And he chooses the cross for us.

Jesus jumps right into the problem. He confronts the woman with the truth, and she has a choice. Face it, or run from it. She runs. All too often, we do the same. Get more great stuff from Chris Mueller and Everyday Catholic! Check out Everyday Catholic's web series, The Everyday Catholic Show (everydaycatholic.com/show) Bring Chris Mueller (everydaycatholic.com/booking) to your next parish event. Become a donor (everydaycatholic.com/donate)and be a part of making the Everyday Catholic Show!

This week in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus touches a leper and heals him. But here is the thing, lepers were, well, kinda gross. So, Jesus touching this guy is a big deal.

In many ways, the Church has been down. It is time to get up and serve.

Don't listen to demons, even when they speak the truth. Why? Because it teaches you to trust demons. We should remember that. Don't invite evil to form your conscience or that of your children because that teaches them that evil can be trusted. And it can not.

In Jesus' own words, His mission is not just about turning from something. It is not just about rejecting sin. No, it is also about accepting something. It is about accepting the good news.

Saying no to good is hard. God gave us good things to be enjoyed in their proper context, and God gives every good thing. But even good things can become terrible when instead of serving to point us towards the greatest, they become the ultimate objective.

Through baptism, God came to you. He brought his life to you. He adopted you. He made you part of his family. And more, he gave his life to you and wants to draw you into his. He has invited you to share in his life. He wants you to be like him.

It might be a leap, but you might say that these Magi were the scientists of their day. Scientists study what is happening in nature, they observe, and they deduce from their observations. That, it seems to me, is what the magi did as well.

This week in the Gospel of Luke, an angel writes the first part of the Hail Mary, and God not so subtly lets us know what he is all about.

Being a "good person" is not enough. What it means to be good or nice changes wildly.

Are there sins that keep coming back? Have you accepted that God can break the bonds of those sins? Next time you are confronted with a habitual sin, or even find yourself in the midst of it, stop, and out loud rebuke it. "Jesus blood has paid the price for my freedom. His blood has severed my chains. I am a slave to this no more." And then spend a moment are two in worship. I guarantee that if you cooperate with the Spirit in this way, sin you thought you might never overcome, will lose power in your life. Your baptism accomplished something. Live in that.

As much as I am over 2020, I still need AdventAdvent. I don't get to skip it. Jesus reminds us in Mark 13:33-37 that when he comes again, it will be unexpected. He literally says, "Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come."

This week in the Gospel of Mathew, Jesus teaches about his second coming and the final judgment. It is like one of those moments when the teacher stops mid-lecture and says, "listen up, this is important, and it will be on the test."

Most of us have a sense of God's presence. We have a sense of what pleases the Lord and what offends him. We know that we should pray and seek him. Most of us actually think of the Lord fairly often. Those are all little nudges. Maybe this week it is time to lean in and make a response.

This week in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells a story about maidens, lamps, and a bridegroom. The meaning of some parables just seems obvious. I don't think this is one of them.

This week in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches the beatitudes. It is the "blessed are they . . ." part of the Sermon on the Mount. Basically, he takes everything people thought they knew about what it means to be blessed and turns it on its head.

This week in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus lays out exactly what it means to be a Christian, and it is super simple. But simple seldom means easy

This week in Matthew 22:15-22, we hear Jesus say the famous line, "repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." Sounds awesome. But what does it mean?

This week in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells another parable. This time about a wedding feast. Make sure to Break out your fancy duds because at this wedding, if you don't come dressed for the event, you leave in chains.

In this week's reading from Matthew, Jesus tells the parable of a landowner and his tenets. And let's just say, these tenets were about the worst tenants you could get. Spoiler Alert. Sometimes we are the terrible tenants.

This week in the Gospel of Matthew, we learn that if you say you will do something God asks you too, you had better do it. We also learn that if you refuse to do it. . . yeah, it is still a good idea to do it anyway.

The Cross was not justice. Jesus was crucified for our sins. He died for crimes he never committed. There is no justice in that—only mercy. If we, who claim to be his followers, miss that incredibly important point, we are in some pretty serious trouble. And here is the thing about mercy. If you deserve it, it isn't mercy. If you earned it, it was not mercy. Mercy is not fair. And thank goodness it is not.

Christians are called to be like Christ in all that we do. We are called to be a forgiven people who are forgiving. Take some time this week and consider where you are holding on to hurt and unwilling to forgive. Ask the Lord to come in, and bring healing.

This week in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus tells us that it is never OK to put someone on blast on social media... .without ever really talking about social media.

Last Week in the Gospel of Matthew, we heard Jesus call Simon the Fisherman, Peter. The Rock on which he would build his Church. And this week, just four verses later, Jesus calls Peter Satan.

This week in the Gospel of Matthew, we see Jesus demonstrate some solid small group leadership skills, we hear an echo of Isaiah 22:19-23, and we witness inception on a scale that only God could pull off

Jesus says, "It is not right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs." So, yeah, it sounds like he just called her a dog. But the woman does not become indignant. She does not freak out. She does not demand that he do what she wants. No, her reply is humble but persistent. "Even the dogs eat the scraps from their master's tables." And at that, Jesus declares, "Oh woman, great is your faith! Let it be done as you wish!"

Sometimes life can feel like walking on water, in the middle of a storm. You may be in one right now. And the thing that is going to bog you down the most is questions like "what comes next" or "what are we going to do if" or statements like "I can't" "I am too tired" "I am so over this." The only way to move forward, without sinking, is to stay focused on where you are going. Who are you going to.

I think the context of this week's Gospel is so important. Here is the first line, "When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself." Maybe I am reading in to this too much, but it seems to me that Jesus was feeling a little like some of us have been feeling. Weary. Tired. Sad. He needed some time and space to mourn the death of his cousin. If you are like me, you never put that together with the rest of this story.

In this week's Gospel Jesus continues teaching through a series of "the Kingdom of heaven is like. . ." parables. For the most part, these parables express something simple about the Christan life, and God's Kingdom. But don't be fooled, just because the lesson is simple, it does not mean that it is easy. Often it is the simplest truths that are the hardest to apply.

This week's Gospel ends with the line "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn." The implication is clear. There are some people, even in the Church, who are not going into the barn. They are going into the fire. It is something we need to take very seriously.

Jesus famously tells that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. And most people think that means life as a Christian should be easy. They miss something else very important that Jesus says about huility. Without humility, the burden will never feel light.

The apostles worship Jesus, they doubt, he sees their doubts, and instead of condemning them for it, he gets closer, answers their doubts, AND THEN, because of who he has just confirmed himself to be, he sends them to make disciples.

The only way we are to be able to see Jesus and experience his life and indeed be alive ourselves is through the action of the Spirit.

John 10:9-10 contains one of the most coffee mug-able, Christian bookstore art-able, quotes in the entire Gospel I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly. This is a verse I think of often. Christ came that we might have full, abundant lives in him. But what does that mean?

Then Jesus does the impossible. He brings Lazarus back from the dead. The man who was beyond hope comes back to life. In an instant, He is called by him. Jesus can do the same for the people we love who seems lost. He can call them to life in an instant as well, too.

Can you imagine being angry that a man was healed of his blindness? It sounds crazy. And yet, there are those in the Church today who would not celebrate a miracle if it happened in a Charismatic prayer group, or it was given without anointing, or if it happened at a Latin Mass, or at a protestant gathering. Somehow, Phariseeism still exists in the Church today.

When you think about it, Most of us are saying to the Lord, "I love you. You are my God. You are my savior. But I don't have any time to spend with you, and I don't plan on changing that. Also, those letters you wrote to me so that I could know you, yeah, I'm not interested. But, we're cool, right?" It doesn't make any sense. Get more great stuff from Chris Mueller and Everyday Catholic! * Check out Everyday Catholic's web series, The Everyday Catholic Show (everydaycatholic.com/show) * Bring Chris Mueller to your next parish event. (everydaycatholic.com/booking) * Become a donor and be a part of making the Everyday Catholic Show! (everydaycatholic.com/donate)

Catechism 409: This dramatic situation of "the whole world [which] is in the power of the evil one"makes man's life a battle: The whole of man's history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history until the last day. Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God's grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity.

Fasting can be an incredibly effective medicine for the soul...Or, not.

Too often, my heart has been hardened against people who Jesus loves. Today, I want to let the words of Christ permeate me completely. Lord, help me to love those people you love. Even the ones who are hard to love.

Hi everyone, I just wanted to take a moment to update everyone on our four-year-old, Ben's, cancer fight. We are moving through it and just finished a very intense phase of treatment. Praise God. More on the podcast.