Day 5 Keynotes | SLS20

[Music] our first speaker this morning is going to share how we can look beyond ourselves and engage the world to engage mission he's the director of evangelization for the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception and director of formation for the Marian missionaries of divine mercy he is the best-selling author and lives and works at the National Shrine of the divine mercy brothers and sisters please help welcome to SLS 20 father Michael Gately [Applause] [Music] thank you let's see you do I drink or do thank you why don't we start with a prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen Saint Joseph in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen it's good to be with you this morning oh wow nice crowd I just wish that these conferences could be at another time of the year now don't get me wrong it's great to be in Phoenix in winter especially when you live in New England like I do wow it was great to have the big party to bring in New Year's with thousands of college students but you don't celebrate for that okay it was great to be here actually I'm just kidding I flew in on Wednesday so you guys wouldn't wake me up I'm getting old compared to you guys but really this conference I wish it was held at another time of the year and I say that because every year in December surround this time I take a month off and I go to my writing cave at my parents house in California and just basically basically spend a month trying to write a book and so that's that's good but the thing that's not so good the problem is that I hardly talk so for a month when you don't talk you kind of forget how to speak try it sometime and so then I have to come and speak to you and I already stumble around my words a lot and so now it's even worse so please bear with me as I try and stumble through this talk but you know I have to admit that this year going to the writing cave was actually a good thing and the reason why I think that was a good thing is because something happened while I was in my writing cave which is just the spare room at my parents house that made me change my whole talk and I think that's a good thing because I like the direction it's going it was a good thing for me but not such a good thing for sister Bethany and poor sister Bethany because several weeks ago she asked me what's your talk about father Mike because she wanted to coordinate the themes and I told her a couple days ago I said sister Bethany I changed my talk she said father Michael you are so wonderful you're so wonderful father Mike no she said no I think that's the Holy Spirit and I said I'm glad she said that so anyway so it's good for me I hope it's good for sister Bethany we could pray for her but I want to tell you what happened when I was in the writing cave basically the book I was working on is a total consecration to the Father God the Father through Jesus based on the Gospel of John so I basically spent the whole month immersed in the Gospel of John and it's revelation of God the Father and my heart is just full of the father and so I want to talk about our Father God the Father now the theme for today is mission so I want to speak about God the Father in the context of our mission in Jesus Christ the father in the context of our mission and Jesus Christ now I want to start with what I think is one of the most powerful passages in all of Sacred Scripture regarding the mission of Jesus Christ it comes from the Gospel of John chapter 1 verse 18 and it says no one has ever seen God the only begotten son who's in the bosom of the Father he has made him known I love that isn't that beautiful even if you don't know what it means it's just beautiful no one has ever seen God the only begotten son who's in the bosom of the Father he has made him known it's beautiful even if you don't know what it means but what does it mean here's what I think it maybe means nobody sees the father but the son the son sees the father and what does the son see what does the son see when he sees the father little over a year ago I had an experience after Mass or during Mass during communion or I felt like I got a little tiny glimpse a little tiny tiny glimpse of what the son sees of the father and that experience came in the form of an insight into a word that we repeat Sunday after Sunday that I didn't usually think much about but now it means so much to me and it's the word that we say in the Creed begotten as in begotten not made now we know that the father eternally begets the son but here's some questions it's the father god come on yes is the Sun God are the father and the son equally God are they equal why it would seem that they shouldn't be equal because when something comes from another it's not equal like take other I was writing this book that comes from me it's not equal to me it's less than me when we make something it's always less than us unless we procreate that's why it's begotten not made because the father eternally begets the son he doesn't make the son and that makes all the difference because be getting to beget something this means it comes from another and yet is totally equal to that thing and the thing from which it comes they're totally equal so as the father baguettes the son he gives himself completely to the son without holding anything back without holding anything back so that the son is totally equal to the Father totally equal to the father if the father just hypothetically speaking if the father were to hold anything back as he baguettes the son like let's say he says to the son you know son I love you I'm gonna give you I'm nipa ten so I'm gonna give you on nisshin's but I'm gonna keep omnipresence to myself that's not a present I'm gonna give to you yeah well then the son wouldn't be equal to the father so it would be like this if the father decided I want to be number one I want to be the greatest I'm gonna hold something back as I eternally beget the son because I want to be number one then the son wouldn't be equal to the father it said I want to make you not beget you now that's just a hypothetical and that's not what happened rather sure that's not what happens because the father eternally begets the son but maybe that hypothetical gives us a little glimpse into the humility the generosity and the goodness of our Father who when he gives himself eternally in this to the son as he begets him holds nothing back so that the Sun is equal to the father he wants the Sun to be equal to the father that's the generosity the Sun now maybe we get a little insight into that but Jesus saw the whole thing he sees the whole thing he knows the generosity the humility the goodness of the Father and Jesus himself the eternal son knows that everything he has is from the father everything he has from the father and what's Jesus's response father he loves the father and I think the best response is that what the response that we see in the movie The Passion of the Christ one of my favorite movies but my favorite scene is the resurrection scene remember the resurrection where you know it's like all the violence then oh okay the resurrection but remember that scene Jesus is resurrected by the father and he's sitting there and he looks up at the father who was just raised him from the dead he closes his eyes and then he goes he goes on his mission the mission of the Sun arises from the Sun knowing what the father gives to him which is everything and what is the mission of the son we already heard it no one has ever seen God the only son who's in the bosom of the Father the only begotten son who's in the bosom of the Father he has made him known this son who sees the father and as good as in his humility his mission is he wants to make the father known the beauty of the father the humility of the father the goodness of the father the son wants to make him known because no one has ever seen God what does it mean that the son makes the father known well there's another passage from the Gospel of John that helps us us to know this is from John 5 verse 19 through 21 Jesus said truly truly I say to you the son can do nothing of his own accord but only what he sees the father doing for whatever he does that the son does likewise for the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself does and greater works than these will he show him that you may marvel for the as the father raises the dead and gives them life so also the son gives life to whom he will so that's the mission of the son he makes the father known by doing what he sees the father doing what does the son see the father doing he sees the father giving of himself without holding anything back so that the son is equal to the father and then what is the son do he does what he sees the father doing and so the son gives himself to us without holding anything back so that we can be as equal to the father and the son and so far as is possible for a creature made in God's own image that's Jesus's mission that he gives himself to us and that's the work that should make us marvel that the son gives himself so much to us without holding anything back that he wants to make us equal to the father and the son insofar as possible for a creature that's the marvel that's the marvel of art the eternal life he gives us that's the Marvel of the salvation that Jesus gives us and so that we could marvel I want to read to you the greatest passage in all of Sacred Scripture at least I'm gonna make an argument for it you ready the greatest passage in all Sacred Scripture this is at least my opinion you ready of course let's do a process of elimination where would we find the greatest passage in all of Scripture Old Testament or New Testament New Testament because what's hidden in the old is fully revealed in the new now in the New Testament is made up of many genres of books we've got the act of the Acts of the Apostles the letters revelation the Gospels where do you think the greatest passage would be the Gospels because as the Catechism of the Catholic Church says the Gospels of the hardest Scripture now there's four Gospels divided into two types of two types of gospel Matthew Mark Luke and John the Synoptics that follow the same storyline and then you also have John which blazes its own trail where do you think the greatest passage would be John because as the Saints say that's the gospel that soars but the Gospel of John is divided into two main parts the book of signs in the book of glory where do you think the greatest passage would be the book of glory because signs point to the glory and what let's we're looking for the most glorious wonderful passage but the book of glory is divided into the three main parts they've got the farewell discourse the passion in the resurrection where do you think you'd find the greatest passage passion resurrection I say the farewell discourse Oh father so controversial why because people save their best words for the end and the farewell discourse is Jesus's farewell words and what he expresses in the farewell discourse gets lived out in the passion and resurrection but it's all there in the Upper Room when he does the farewell discourse chapters 13 through 17 but the farewell discourse is divided into two main parts of theirs Jesus's farewell words to his apostles chapters 13 through 16 but then there's Jesus's farewell words to the father where do you think would be the greatest passage the father chapter 17 this is my argument so you guys all agree with me but I'm not looking for a whole chapter I'm looking for a greatest passage so we're in chapter 17 would we find the greatest passage I suggest to you that it's the very last verses that Jesus saved the best for last just like at Cana and in those last verses he expresses the heart of his heart right before in the verses immediately following an 18 where he descends to the depths of his passion and what does he say in John chapter 17 verses 24 through 26 he says father I desire because we're here getting no the desire the heart of Jesus as he gets too ready to go into his his passion father I desire that they also whom now has given me may be with me where I am the divine name he doesn't want us just with him in his humanity he wants us with him in his divinity why because of what comes later the next verse I made no father I desire that they also whom thou has given me may be with me where I am to behold my glory which thou has given me and I love for me before the foundation of the world that's so beautiful that they may behold my glory which thou has given me and I love for me before the foundation of the world the reason why that's so beautiful for me is there's an intimacy in a love between spouses from which the children come in which the children should never see there's an intimacy in the Trinity that it would seem we should never see and from which we come but what Jesus is saying here is I want them to see it I want them to be in it father I desire that they also whom thou has given me may be with me where I am to behold my glory which thou has given me and I love for me before the foundation of the world what's that glory that the father gave to the son before the foundation of the world it's how the father begets the son how the father gives himself without holding anything back so that the son is equal to the father and what Jesus is saying here is I want to give myself father without holding anything back so that those who you gave to me which is all of us may be with me where I am and that they would behold my glory that they would be in this in other words that we would be divinized that we would be made into God what God God has three persons Father Son and Holy Spirit does this mean we get a planet no does it mean we become the Father no does it mean we become the Holy Spirit no does it mean we become the son yes with our baptism we were transformed into the body of Christ this is why we have a sacrament at our the center of our worship the Eucharist where a creature bread is transformed in the body of Christ to be fat to feed a creature that has been transformed into the body of Christ which is us because we truly are the body of Christ and why is that important because of the last verses righteous father the world has not known me but I have known thee and these know that thou has sent me there's his mission to make the father known what does he make known I have made known to them thy name what's the name that Jesus makes known to us I am right father I have made known to them thy name and I will make it known why so that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them everything hinges on the father when we know the name of the Father when we know that God is our Father and we are his children and that the father always says to us you are my beloved when we know that when we rejoice in that there we enter into God's glory and we realize what the son has done for us and then Jesus says love one another as I have loved you that as the father loved the son by giving of himself without holding anything back that the son would be equal to the Father and that the son gives himself to us without holding anything back so that we would be as equal to the Father and the son as know are as possible Jesus wants us to now give ourselves without holding anything back so that others can share with us in this beautiful communion of love that his father Son and the Holy Spirit oh I forgot about the Holy Spirit right I made known to them thy name father and I will make it known that the love with which thou has loved me may be in them and I in them I guess we forgot the Holy Spirit no but the love with which thou has loved me love that's the Holy Spirit Jesus wants us in that communion with love so I gotta bring this to a close now I don't to just say our mission is to give ourselves without holding anything back so that we the body of Christ would make known the goodness the humility the beauty the mercy of the Father and I encourage you to get to know the father more read the Gospel of John but actually don't just read it listen to it when I was your age a long time ago I listened to an audio presentation of the Gospel of John masterful presentation done by Leonardo de Filippis and for 20 years almost I listened to that over and over again nothing is for me theologically than listening the Gospel of John over and over again is one of the greatest gifts I've ever discovered and I want you to discover it too so I talked to Leonardo last night I said hey would you be willing to give the download for free to the college students that seek he said yeah so so if you want here's my challenge to you get to know the father by listening to the Gospel of John and especially the farewell discourse 13 through 17 and fall in love more deeply with the father through his word amen so what's our mission no one has ever seen God the only son who's in the bosom of the Father he has made him known may we give ourselves without holding anything back so that the father would be known and loved amen and the Lord be with you Oh shucks I forgot to tell you if you want to download go to sls john dot-com we made a website and it redirects sls john dot-com very similar ok the Lord be with you may Almighty God bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen thanks very much and god bless you after graduating from the University of Central Florida our next speaker joined the sisters of life at the age of 22 she fell in love with this community during her time at college witnessing that their work with pregnant women woman's suffering from a previous abortion as well as their work with students and retreats she's an international speaker and she currently serves as the vocations director of the sisters of life please help me welcome sister Bethany Madonna [Applause] [Music] brothers and sisters you did not receive a spirit of timidity but a spirit of love and peace and self-control good morning you cannot imagine my joy and being with you how grateful I am how much I look forward to it the joy that you give me I thought I'd start this morning with a story a sister and I flew into farm country USA Kansas and we were visiting this little Catholic school and as we walked into the classroom belonging to the kindergartners it took everything in me not to burst into tears because of the purity the goodness of those little faces there was a little boy sitting in the back in a wheelchair with being tended to is so much care there's a little girl in the front with Down syndrome playing with the others in the carpet they said gather children gather the sisters going to share with us and we spoke to them about how God made them how much he loves them how he has a beautiful plan for their life and a little boy in the front launches his hand in the air and I couldn't even call on him fast enough he was impelled he goes I know what it is I was like what's your name he's like Simeon I was like I go Simeon what is God's plan well we have to get more and more love inside our hearts and give it to other people so we can fight the devil now Lord let your servant go in peace your word has been fulfilled through this child that is exactly the plan my boy clearly a future missionary or Exorcist so let's pray really briefly and even the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Lord may we receive more and more of the fire of your divine love into our hearts may we give it to others and may we fight against the enemy by the victory of your cross and the name of your son Jesus amen Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit amen so three simple points a spirit-filled evangelist receives gives and fights first receive the Holy Spirit is God and within the Blessed Trinity the love between the father and the son he is so creative so manifold he's the comforter who Consol's us he's the Advocate who defends us the breath of life the spirit of the son the promise of the father the fire of divine love see we have a convent in the Bronx and we have a friend named Frank and he comes over every so often with donations and the man's a character and he's got this thick Bronx accent I'm gonna attempt it and the man's been totally overtaken by the Holy Spirit so a conversation with Frank Oh something like this Frank do you know the Divine Mercy Sisters yeah yeah we love divine mercy Frank I'm a fire for divine mercy sisters Wow I mean you know stepping back a little bit he continues do you know the history we think so yeah jesus said if you pray the Divine Mercy chaplet at the moment at your death he makes the devil's flee those little Punk's like whoa whoa he's like pounding the doorframe with gusto then he's like you know I teach CCD we're like no we did not know that you teach CCD you know what I tell the kids I point to the crucifix and I say I don't like that guy and the kids are like wow I'm like I love that man a bird for divine mercy Jesus said I came to set the world on fire and how I wish it were already ablaze and st. Paul's letter to the Romans we read the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit by the power of the Holy Spirit Christ Jesus was conceived in the womb of his mother Mary he performed miracles he was raised from the dead that same Holy Spirit formed you in your mother's womb just want to take a moment to go back I want you to close your eyes let's invite the Holy Spirit to take us back to the moment that you were conceived come Holy Spirit regardless of the circumstances that moment when God said not another day without you I choose you I want you to be existence warmth total acceptance of you you were not an accident nothing about you is a mistake you are always wanted I want you to be alone with God the Father in that place of belonging his choice of you you can always go there and you can live there the same Holy Spirit forms a unique holiness in you we are often too often fixated upon and preoccupied with our own concept of holiness and what it would look like on me we don't determine that this has everything to do with self-reliance thinking that the burden is on me and actually preferring to do things according to my own tastes now God loves you so much but he has a plan for your sanctity and it's tailored to you it's perfect to each of us is given a particular manifestation of the Spirit nothing is withheld from us he gives us his very breath I remember my confirmation in eighth grade really my only concern was that another girl was wearing the same dress as me I mean I was like what come on what is stuff like this always have to happen to me and now I don't worry when someone else is wearing the same thing as me that's gross okay so meanwhile what happens in that Sacrament in confirmation we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit his seven gifts wisdom understanding counsel knowledge fortitude piety fear of the Lord they're yours I can say with Jesus the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me a spirit-filled evangelist first receives and then gives the second point to give in confirmation God has spoken who you are his beloved son or daughter and you're sent to proclaim the kingdom of God which st. Paul reminds us is not about eating and drinking but righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit we have a culture that says treat yourself you know this leaves us terribly dissatisfied searching asking ah what do I need what do I need maybe I need a latte a vacation if I need to go skydiving I mean seriously it's never gonna be enough only one thing is necessary do you hunger and thirst for the Holy Spirit you see you know a tree by its fruits and self-seeking rots our hearts the fruits of the spirit are love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control I want to share with you about my roommate from college Michele she was a little wild she'd had a pretty massive conversion coming into college from the party scene modeling training for Olympic soccer she got knocked out with a serious illness and those idols came crashing down jesus had an invitation for her in that suffering and it was intimacy her sickness of body became health for her soul she'd become successful through self-reliance and in her weakness she experienced his strength a strength she had not known before she began a journey of freedom that comes from living completely dependent on the Holy Spirit and when we first started hanging out I really couldn't believe how we were spending our time she dressed up like Cinderella for terminally ill children the next we'd be like giving out food to the homeless downtown and then daily Mass helping the elderly then she kind of crossed the line she was like hey on Saturdays I pray at the abortion clinic you want to come with me I was like are you crazy what do you want to get arrested or something like ruin my future I had this image of like signs yelling German Shepherds me like on the ground in cuffs I don't know it was like she was like it's the rosary I was like oh the rosary yeah I can do that and I will never forget that first morning as long as I live tears streamed down my face as the Sun rose over that dilapidated building revealing a whole line of girls they were my classmates abandoned sad numb and I just knew that I would live and die for them Michels witness opened a door for me to surrender to the sweetness of divine intimacy and like the wind that blows where it wills the Holy Spirit radically altered my perfectly laid plans and he still does it every day I'm grateful we can be afraid to respond to the Holy Spirit's promptings maybe we don't think we have it what it takes maybe we're fearful of rejection maybe we think we'll be depleted but generosity and obedience actually expands our hearts it increases our joy obedience is a word that needs to be restored to its original splendor it means to here it means to listen I obey God because He is calling my name a few examples of this Adriana came to us early in her pregnancy and growing up a Christian she'd heard that God talks to people and she thought that doesn't happen to me she'd gone to an abortion clinic twice but felt conflicted ended up leaving and the third time on her way into the clinic she saw people standing outside offering other options now she'd convinced herself it was no big deal but their presence contradicted that later she was lying on the table being prepped she heard from the depths of her heart a voice that said get up she immediately got off the operating table she walked out and she chose life she said ever since I've been listening to that voice my life has changed another example our sisters were traveling to the beatification of Blessed Solanas Casey they stopped into a church and a sister saw a young woman sitting in the pew and heard go say hi to her to which she internally responded oh I don't know her she's praying yeah that would be weird again go say hi to her I really don't know what I would say after hi so you know if this is of the Holy Spirit she would come over to me finally she sits down looks her in the eye and goes hi the girl goes hi breaks into tears sister I don't know what to do I feel so unseen by my family sister said you came to the perfect place the church I knew God wanted me to talk to you because he sees you another example one of the women we serve through our hope and healing mission for those suffering after abortion she tells her testimony publicly I'll call her Lauren 3 I am flipping through the channels she felt herself in the depths of despair she landed on a local station and heard a woman sharing about her abortion experience and she was sitting by a nun at the bottom it said hope and healing after abortion in a number as she jotted it down voice of accusation said you are not worthy and a whisper came over that and said call them go healing has started on that day she encountered Jesus's tender mercy and at the end of it she hails a cab and the driver a woman covered with piercings and tattoos kind of smirks at her and goes what you don't look like the kind of woman who would be hanging out with nuns I was like I don't know what you saved that exactly but she had an option of how to respond and she said they're helping me heal from my abortion and the cab driver looks into the rearview mirror and locks eyes with her and goes I've had three Lauren goes there's help for you Jesus doesn't condemn he heals years later we had the opportunity to speak at her parish in Harlem and she joined us got up at the end of every Mass and testified to the new life she'd received in Jesus let's break the bondage of silence she said embrace forgiveness because hope and healing has come to Harlem a spirit veiled evangelist receives gives and fights light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it we have a friend Joe he's a daily coming Kent and fittingly he does carpentry projects at our mother house he shared that his young wife who was a nurse coming home from her shift on New Year's Eve was killed by a drunk driver she was expecting their first child in his grief Joe begged for a sign from God that she was okay one morning months after the burial Joe went to visit her gravesite and he lit a candle there later that night after it had snowed all day he felt drawn to go back to the cemetery as he approached his eyes welled up with tears as he saw the warm flickering of the candle still lit and burning he cried his heart out in gratitude and said my wife brought me back to my faith in the midst of any darkness tragedy sin disappointments betrayals there lies the temptation to doubt God's goodness his presence his love his mercy faith can be shaken hope can be lost and love can grow cold you know you can measure what matters to God what's most precious to him by what's attacked by the enemy brothers and sisters we know that the victory has been won even if the battle for souls still wages see Jesus told us how to enter that Kingdom but he loved us enough to tell us what prevents us from entering eternally we want heaven and we want to bring as many with us as possible now is the time to defend the inheritance we've received to invite others to become heirs - now is the time to usher in a new Pentecost staying close to Mary and opening ourselves up to be clothed with power power from on high to stir into flame the gift that we've received saying always in everywhere come Holy Spirit see Pentecost changed everything the very men who did I Jesus were hiding in an upper room paralyzed in fear they received the Holy Spirit and began boldly proclaiming the Lord Jesus healing preaching and teaching in his name you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth a priest friend of the community shared about a dream he had he was he's walking through some dark woods at night and he was holding a lit candle suddenly the winds picked up around him and the candle started to flicker he went to guard it and shielded a voice calmly said blow out your candle somehow he had an awareness that he cannot listen to that voice he keeps walking and it really begins to storm the wind the rain he's Guardian shielding his flame the wax is like melting onto his hands burning him the voice again this time raised below out your candle blow out your candle he persevered and suddenly he comes to a clearing in the woods standing in the middle turns around and one by one men and women come out of the woods with their extinguished candles coming to him to be lit again as we leave this conference brothers and sisters take courage take courage but you keep your flame burning brightly shining before all let's close right now by inviting the Holy Spirit into our hearts you can extend your hands open them before him open your hearts and I hope you'll join me in a song it's just sing this twice through a cappella Holy Spirit you are welcome here place and fill the atmosphere your glory God is what our hearts long for to be overcome by your presence for your presence Lord again Holy Spirit you are welcome here he's always with you thank you just over 20 years ago God communicated a mission to this final speaker and it continues to change the world working alongside the Holy Spirit and some of his closest friends he founded focus on one campus with just a handful of missionaries his purpose was and is to become who God created him to be and to help others do the same it's with great honor and joy that I introduced to you the founder CEO of focus Curtis Martin [Applause] [Music] thank you Steve great to be with you Todd thank you so much brought out a special guest I've got st. irresolute sue right here with me of a relic of her she is the she's the patron of missions for the Catholic Church which is an amazing story because she died in her early 20s and lived her life in a cloister so she never went on mission trips in the flesh but she did because she United everything she did all of her prayer all of her work to the missions Lord God that everything I could do would bring glory to you and souls into your kingdom here's the reality this generation of Catholics is responsible for this generation of people right now one more time this generation of Catholics is responsible for this generation of people right now there are countless multitudes of people who are living in unbelievable poverty they do not they're right now that they're starving they're hungry they haven't eaten in days right now or maybe it's clean water that they lack or adequate medicine a shelter one of the great troubles for the poor the chronically poor is safety there are more people living in slavery today than ever in the history of the world and they're waiting for you and me to come alive in Jesus Christ and rescue them and these forms of poverty are devastating whether it's its traditional slavery with work or the sex trade people are living in misery waiting for us to come alive in Christ and go get them and here's the deal as Catholics we don't believe in reincarnation so they've got we've got one life to get them right now this sense of urgency I work with college students I work with you all you all work with college students your leaders and what I hear frequently on the college campus is he'll look I'm not hurting anybody are you kidding me the world's dying and you're supposed to be on the rescue team and you're playing video games you're killing people literally and so my appeal to you today is to come on mission to come on mission to recognize that the gift of Christ is the free that our salvation is a gift you can't earn it it's impossible God gives it to us freely so the gift of initial justification I was accepting in a relationship absolutely a free gift but here's the deal salvation and justification a free gift but discipleship costs everything to follow him we've talked earlier in the week about the importance of giving our lives to Christ about how Christ is not an option he needs to be the center and we're gonna build on that we talked this morning already about the importance of the father and the Holy Spirit and I want to talk about the mission the method modeled by the master and appeal to you to spend the rest of your lives living costly discipleship I had an interesting experience a couple months ago I was at a meeting and there was a gentleman giving a presentation his name is Christian Smith he works at Notre Dame and he's a great socio Notre Dame and and Christian knows young people and he knows kind of the reality that we're living in our culture and I'd never met him before I'd gone to talks I'd read articles I happen to be seated right next to him and after he finished his presentation I said Christian just want to introduce myself I'm Curtis Martin he goes oh my goodness you're the guy who focused I said yes because I love focus I said well I love your work let's have a mutual admiration society no I didn't say that um and but he said Curtis you're gonna love my next book and I said well tell me about it and he said I have a team of hundreds of researchers and we interviewed literally thousands of families and we found one set of families who raised children and all of them left the church and then out of all the people we interviewed we found another set who raised children and all of them stayed in the church and we asked him hundreds of questions I said wow that's I would love to know what the question is what the answer said oh no it's better than that one one thing came to the top one thing had the biggest impact there were many things that had impact that she would pray together that she'd have meals together all that stuff was important he said but the one thing the one thing that was most important was the families who had regular spiritual conversations with their children raised lifelong practicing Catholics and so I want to make two invitations to you I want to invite you into the habit of spiritual conversations I would argue that that's what focus has been trying to do for over 20 years right that's what a small group Bible study is let's read the scriptures and talk about it and the Scriptures are the best but it could be the lives of the saints it could be salvation history in the Old Testament there's the the Bible and the history of the church are filled with stories and I'm not talking about talking about the problems in the church I'm talking about having a conversation about why Jesus Christ is the most compelling character in all of human history and the most compelling characters are those who join their life to his like our friends Saint Torres who lived a very very simple life from the world standpoint but from the faith standpoint we all know anybody who's had a devotion to st. us knows this is one powerful friend and she living an extraordinary life and her but our autobiography is amazing and inspiring and here's the secret you are co-authoring your autobiography every day you get to choose what the next chapter says and I want to talk about that in fact what I'd like to do is I'd like to walk you through what a spiritual conversation might look like I'm going to use the the Gospel of John because that's the father Gately told me I had to do you know I'm kidding the what I want to do they want to read and just this is an example obviously with thousands of you we really can't have a great conversation so it's gonna be a little one-sided but to model it to look at it and I think what we'll find is we open the scriptures particularly what I like to say the the Torah of the new test timid Matthew Mark Luke John and axe and then repeat read those five four or five times slowly prayerfully they go everywhere you want but oh my goodness you're gonna encounter Christ most immediately in the four Gospels in the book of Acts so you want to know the context this is John chapter 14 we're gonna start in verse 22 I'm just gonna read a short passage will take more than 60 seconds maybe maybe 75 but what I want to do is I'd like to look at it because I think what we'll find is there's stuff in here that should make us step back and say oh my goodness I've never seen this before we tend to read the Bible with a sense of piety oh yes amen this is great do you understand what you're reading not at all okay but and know that there's there's things in here to wrestle with so here's the deal in John chapter 14 excuse me Matthew chapter 14 I'm gonna do Matthew not John I lied in Matthew chapter 14 we were gonna encounter Jesus right after he fed the 5,000 this is immediately after and this is the passage then Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds and after he had dismissed the crowds he went up into the hills by himself to pray when evening came he was all alone all right I want to stop for just a second this so here's the deal Jesus just fed 5,000 we know from the texts that actually that's 5,000 men so and this was a religious gathering so you know there was at least twice as many women right and and probably lots of children no contraception back then so lots and lots of kids and so you got I don't know 25 30 thousand people and Jesus feeds them miraculously as soon as they're done eating they collect the twelve baskets he tells the apostles you guys get in the boat go to the other side I will dismiss the crowds Jesus is the most amazing person in all of history he is he can do anything he wants but I would argue in this particular instance he's the least qualified person on earth to dismiss the crowds have you seen father Gately sister Bethany Archbishop a few walking through the crowd not here they can't get from one place to the other because every wants to talk to him oh it's so great to me can we I won't take a selfie all that stuff right Jesus isn't archbishop Chaput or sister Bethany he didn't give a good talk I'm sure he gave a good talk he raised their children from the dead he healed them from leprosy this is the most amazing person on earth and no one's gonna want to leave and what does he do he gets his best attendance to help him to leave and get them to leave and he says immediately going the boat I got this it's interesting if you read back up a little bit further we know what meal he served them miraculously it says it was evening and the disciples Caden said this is a lonely place we should send them away and Jesus said give them something yourselves so it was evening it was dinnertime and so how bad was Jesus at dismissing the crowd well this is it go they wanted him to go before him to the other side so he dismissed the crowds and after he dismissed the crowds he went up into the hills by himself to pray and it was evening it took him all day to get rid of the crowds the disciples are in the boat for 24 hours and we're gonna find out just a second there in the middle of a horrendous storm it is not going well for them and he said Jesus is in no hurry he dismisses the crowd which took him almost 24 hours then as if he still had it rushing us yeah that I finally got those folks to go I just want some time with my father so he goes up into the mountains and prays and then we're told he comes back and he waits by the time he comes to them walking in the fourth watch was between 3 o'clock in the morning and 6 o'clock in the morning they have been in the boat for almost 36 hours in the middle of a storm now four of them are professional fishermen they know how to handle a boat this was bad and this is what I want to have a spiritual conversation about have you ever done at least you thought you did exactly what God asked told you to do get in the boat and go and then it went really really badly because it will it's gonna go really badly sometimes and what badly for Jesus sometimes but they did exactly what they were told to do and it was horrible and what he shows up he makes it worse because when he shows up in the middle of the night he's walking on the water and they think it's a ghost so he terrifies them and then he says be at peace and the storm goes away and why did Jesus want them to get in the boat and I don't think he was to get to the other side I think he would knew there was gonna be a storm he's God he made the storm I think he wanted them to do something that he couldn't teach them with words I think he wanted them to trust him he wants you to trust him and he could have sat on the side of the lake and say look I would really like you to trust me I mean I'm I am I'm really trustworthy would you please trust me no I I'm crazy trustworthy no you really I'm so trustworthy please trust me and nothing would have happened they actually had to experience horror and terror and rescue because he was not done with them they were gonna watch him suffer and die and then rise from the dead and discipleship is wildly expensive and the question is will we accept the free gift of God and then return the favor as we were told earlier Jesus saves us by imitating his father the father gives all that he has holds nothing back and begets the son and Jesus comes to us and he gives all that he has and holds nothing back because it perfect it a person a follower of his father he's living this amazing reality I want to imitate my father who gives everything I will give everything we don't have everything we're not infinite but you can can give and I can give everything we have it's a finite gift but it can be a complete gift as it was for st. Torres to recognize it so that's my invitation first spiritual conversations let's read the scriptures and the lives of the saints and let's learn those stories and let's talk about them and have you ever been in a place where things are going really really badly I can tell you I had a conversation about that backstage 12 minutes ago because it's the reality of disciples and we shouldn't be surprised he says Oh would you like to be my disciple great what I want you to do is I want you to deny your every day pick up your cross and follow me I'm not pulling any punches it's gonna cost all you have but just for a while just let me tell you another story there was a young guy had like you living from a place of conversion he's at the University of Paris a couple hundred years ago and he's on fire he's trying to get his friends like many of you and a couple of them are coming along one of the roommates not on board months pass multiple months a year passes this guy's just a hard egg he's not he's really tough so what are you gonna do this young student keeps after him finally after over a year this friend decides to give his life to Christ as well they go on Saint Ignatius and st. Francis Xavier to found the Jesuits they were best friends go Jesuits they were best friends and they wanted to serve Christ together for the rest of their lives and Ignatius was in charge and he him he was all about it and he got a couple Jesuits he was like you guys are gonna go to Asia and they were like that's great and and Francis I will stay here in Rome and we'll we'll run this they said that's great and then those guys got sick first one then another like where are the other Jesuits and he found a couple more Jesuits like you guys go and finally they got sick and finally he looked at his best friend the one he wanted to be on mission with for the rest of his life and Xavier was the only one left back in those days you get on a ship and go to Asia you may not ever come back Xavier never came back and at the port they said goodbye to their dreams of serving Christ shoulder to shoulder temporarily and Savior went he baptized hundreds of thousands of people brought Christ and entire new countries ignatius dead and led the Jesuits and the Jesuits sent missionaries to northern Europe to North and South America literally this band of brothers went all over the world letting Christ be known and calling people to two levels of conversion the first one is will you accept the free gift of Jesus Christ that you would be saved would you accept that because here's the deal the greatest form of poverty isn't food or clothing or safety it is that you don't know and there many people don't know that there's a father just like the father and the prodigal son who just simply loves us and it's waiting for us to turn to him I mean if we would turn to him he would run to us and embrace us not knowing that it's the greatest poverty you can give somebody some food they'll be hungry again tomorrow you give somebody the gospel of Jesus Christ they'll live forever and Ignatius and Xavier best friends were separated on this earth and spent the rest of their lives on mission together but not in the same place which is my call by invitation to you would you be willing to walk with me know to run with me and sister Bethany and father Michael many of you all right already out there are already running would you like to run with us not just to accept the mercy of Christ but the second conversion is this in the first conversion we accept the free gift of God for me it was reading Luke chapter 6 verse 46 and Jesus said why do you call me Lord Lord and you don't do what I say and what I read that I was like oh my goodness is is it like you he said that right to me Curtis why do you call me Lord Lord and don't do what I say I if you ask me out yeah I probably is Lord and if you watch me you would never have guessed because my life was not at all online and I just I fell to my knees and said I'm sorry and like the prodigal son I just want to come home and let that led to the first conversion kind of pay I'd be willing to do anything in fact I was on my knees in my dorm room I remember being not of the exact words but the sentiment Lord I want to come home I'm a sinner I've wrapped everything if you would let me come home I will go anywhere you want I'll do anything you want to say anything you want I'm all-in in other words I was willing to make sacrifices to now make Jesus the Lord and that's the first one who are you willing to make sacrifices so that Jesus could be your Lord but the invitation of missions one step further are you willing together to make sacrifices so that other people could come to know Jesus because that's the mission of Jesus yes he's the Messiah and we wanted salvation but his salvation is an invitation to come on mission with him and here's the deal we're not gonna be together anymore but Ignatius and Xavier were we're gonna be scattered all over the place but in clusters of friends where you are because here's the deal the separation is temporary just a couple decades a few decades Ignatius and Xavier they've been sharing life together for the last 400 years uninterrupted in the presence of the Blessed Trinity this life is so short nothing else matters if you were to gain all the wealth and all the fame and all the glory that this world offers if you were to die without God you would be a cosmic failure and if you never had all of those things but you were to gain Christ and bring others with you you would become the greatest of blessed souls as jesus said seek first my kingdom and my righteousness then all these things can be added on but we got to get this one right first and st. John Paul said this the number of people who do not know Jesus has actually doubled in size since the time of the Second Vatican Council the world is dying and they're waiting for you to come alive and go on mission I want to invite you to appeal to you to come on with me I need you we need each other we all need Christ can we go on mission together let's pray a name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit amen father God we thank you that you sent your son on a mission to give himself completely for our salvation and that when he did so he was imitating you Father who gave everything he had God from God light from light true God from True God begotten not made consubstantial with the father Lord you you gave everything to your son holding nothing back and he everything give us the greatness of heart to be able to embrace your mission and give everything to you for your glory and for the salvation of souls amen name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit amen thank you and God bless [Applause]

Channel: FOCUS Catholic

Views: 7,984

Rating: 4.9371729 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: -8H8osLS07M

Length: 63min 14sec (3794 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 16 2020