Dear friend,<\/p>\n
One of my favorite lines of Jesus is in the Gospel passage this weekend.\u00a0 \u201cLet your \u2018Yes\u2019 mean \u2018Yes,\u2019 and your \u2018No\u2019 mean \u2018No.\u2019\u00a0 Anything more is from the evil one.\u201d\u00a0 It is very clear what Jesus is communicating. We are to follow through on what we say. The commitment to communication of truth is one of the main promises of Jesus. As he says, \u201cI am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.\u201d All things flow from God and back to God. God\u2019s invitation for us is to see and focus on the truth. Unfortunately, for us, not everything is clear in life. The right path or the correct choice are not always simple choices of yes or no, right or wrong. The importance of faith, and a strong prayer life, is that the Lord will help us choose between two goods when it\u2019s necessary.\u00a0 What we do need to focus on and truly be concerned about is that we are not purposely choosing something we know ought to be a no or an evil. The gift of faith is a well-formed conscience. Daily we pray the Lord guides us to use our freedom to choose the goods in life that lead us closer to Him and that nothing about us intentionally chooses anything opposed to God\u2019s Will.<\/p>\n
Each of the readings this weekend challenge us to reflect on our human freedom. Most things in life we have no control over. There are many things about life we would all control if we could. Certainly, we would remove the evils from the world or sickness from our loved ones. But the Bible clearly shows us that not even God controls the world around him. Jesus was tempted with this very fact. Those present at the crucifixion told him to come down off the cross if he really was the Son of God. Jesus didn\u2019t allow himself to be controlled by those tormenting him and he didn\u2019t allow himself to use his powers in a way that took away the freedom of others. The people freely chose to crucify him and Jesus allowed them to do it. While we can\u2019t control what people do around us and we often can\u2019t control what advantages or disadvantages we get in life, we can control our response. What we say and do flows from our human freedom and relates to our salvation or condemnation. May the Lord help us to consider all our words and actions with appropriate diligence. Have a great week.<\/p>\n
God bless,<\/p>\n
Father David<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"