Embracing the Transformative Waters of Christ

mistakes Bishop is a faithful servant of God and the son of the church brothers and sisters ladies and gentlemen we will welcome in our East Bishop Robert Emmett Baron okay thanks everybody well God bless you all thank you very much for that listen I'm delighted to be here with all of you today what a place huh gorgeous church have you been taking this all in just a beauty because as you know I think it's very important that we lead with beauty the beauty often draws Us in during our culture when talking about the truth can be controversial talking about the good can be even more controversial sometimes just show people the beauty of Catholicism and they Wonder okay what what culture produced a place such as this so lead with beauty listen thank you where's the Deacon I appreciate your reflection very much where'd he go there you are uh thank you for that [Applause] I just want to um maybe add a compliment to it because that gospel is so important everybody and it provides the basis for our theme today go back to the very beginning how come Jesus with his disciples goes to a wedding the answer the church fathers gave was because he himself in person is the marriage of Heaven and Earth in Jesus Divinity and Humanity come together remember in the prophet Isaiah it says your Builder that's God the Creator your Builder will marry you extraordinary claim everyone talks about God and all the religions of The World God should be honored and worshiped and adored and so on but the Bible goes so far as to speak of God marrying us sharing his life in the most intimate way with us that's why Jesus the wedding of Heaven and Earth is at a wedding now what do we hear we hear that the wine has run out wine too is a very powerful biblical symbol it runs all through the Old Testament wine which lifts up the spirit intoxicates us that stands for Grace it stands for the Divine Life what makes us feel alive the good wine Mary notices it's run out Mary here everybody in this great Marian part of the world we're so near Fatima talk about heaven and earth coming together it's Mary who speaks now in the voice of ancient Israel she's Abraham Isaac and Jacob she's Moses she's Elijah she's Joshua she's all the prophets and she's saying to her Divine son the wine is running out these people are separated from you they've lost contact with you that's why Jesus came everybody he came to re-establish the connection between us and God so that listen the divine grace might flow through us and intoxicate us like good wine Mary is all the prophet she's all of Israel and then that beautiful line which sets The Motif for today do whatever he tells you if someone came up to you today and said you know that Bishop Baron he's really something do whatever he tells you would you follow that please don't please don't if anyone tells you that they're a liar they're a problem if it said in regard to anybody in the world to any mere human figure in the world if you were to say about any political figure well do whatever he tells you any cultural figure oh do whatever she tells you anybody on social media oh do whatever they tell you run run see because that will always turn into some kind of tyranny because we're all Sinners right everybody in this room everybody on this planet we're all Sinners therefore never never ever succumbed to the temptation to do whatever a fellow sinner is telling you to do then there's Jesus who's Jesus not merely one human figure among many not just a great teacher but God from God light from light true God from true God right Jesus is divine and therefore we can trust him we should do whatever he tells us you know we in the West are so enamored of Freedom aren't we it's such a high value for us freedom what does freedom mean I love what John Paul II is looking at me right now that very realistic and he's he's saying get it right Baron you know don't there's a modern view of freedom that says this freedom is doing what I want its sheer Liberty I hover above the yes and the no and I decide which one I'm going to do John Paul II taught us over and over again that's not real freedom what's real freedom and you find it in the Bible freedom is listen now it's the disciplining of our desire so as to make the achievement of the good first possible and then effortless I'm going to say that again I'll give you examples real freedom is not doing whatever I want it's disciplining the desire so as to make the achievement of the good first possible and then effortless okay examples how many play a musical instrument here how many guitarists piano players Etc I'm a guitarist low level bad but I play the guitar hey this the way you find out how to play the guitar is play it any way you want just pick it up and make it up as you go along right play the piano sure just play the keys any play any way you want to come on come on the way you become a free player of the guitar think of like Eric Clapton I'm dating myself who's a guitarist you guys would uh admire um the Greek guitarists do they get that way by just playing any old way they wanted you internalize the discipline of the guitar don't you you get it into your fingers guitarists know your fingers have to bleed don't they as you're learning it because you have to get calluses on your fingers and then you play these chords in these and these riffs and so on over and over and over again and you get the guitar so into your system that now you can play effortlessly freely or learning a language so we all speak our native language but a lot of us how many have learned a foreign language yeah a lot and I've I've struggled oh I love languages I find them fascinating and I've struggled to learn a number of them over the years hey just learn it by talk in any old way you want you make it up you decide how to speak Portuguese oh come on you'll be the worst Portuguese speaker in the world what do you have to do to learn it you gotta accept this long discipline don't you of taking the rhythms and and style and vocabulary of Portuguese this this beautiful complex language so that it gets in into your tongue in your mouth and your mind right that's how you learn a foreign language right now I have zero freedom to speak Portuguese zero I'm totally unfree can't say a word in it French I'm Freer because I spent three years over in France a German I'm not as free a little bit what made me relatively free oh talk in any way I want no no by internalizing these disciplines making the good so ingredient in me that now I can achieve it effortlessly how come I can speak English so freely and I can say almost anything I want in English well because this long long discipline that began with my parents when I was a little tiny baby and continued all through my education all the way up to the present day freedom is the disciplining of Desire so as to make the achievement of the good first possible and then effortless now go back to Cana Mary the Mother of God pointing to Jesus says do whatever he tells you who is he but the good incarnate who is he but but Divinity made flesh and therefore when you internalize him you take him into your mind and your heart and your body and your soul and everything that you have when you do whatever he tells you what do you become free I'm so glad John Paul's looking at me that's what he taught the founder of world youth day over and over and over again read his encyclicals over and again it's this lesson Christ will set us free Paul said that didn't he it's for Freedom that Christ has set you free that's why this theme is so powerful today do whatever he tells you now just one more thing so what does he tell them to do he says fill these jars up with water what does the water stand for something really beautiful God could simply do everything for us couldn't he you know he just make a Saints I guess with a snap of his finger but what does God want he wants us to contribute to this process we give him what we have we take what we have and we surrender it to him and what happens the water ordinary becomes wine extraordinary intoxicating God this room is it's full of so many gifts I I don't know any of you but I'm I'm intuiting all the gifts of intelligence and and will and and mind and dedication and courage in this room all your your future is ahead of you do whatever he tells you that means offer to Christ all that you have you're an intelligent person you can use that to you know have a great career make a lot of money become famous and nothing wrong with those things in themselves but dedicate them to Christ you're a person of a lot of courage and energy and you could use those to accomplish worldly Goods okay fair enough but deep down give them to Christ you've got Gifts of of singing and of drama you've got you're a person of athletic ability terrific that might give you worldly success but give those gifts to Christ give that water to him and you'll find it elevated transformed transfigured into something great this is the Saints everybody isn't it story of the Saints think of of Francis of Assisi what did he have I mean very little and we had this little poor man from Assisi he gave it all to Christ though and Christ lifted it up transfigured it transformed it elevated it in the great story the multiplication of loaves same idea isn't it crowd of five thousand lord they're all starving well what do you have well uh Five Loaves and a couple fish give them to me do whatever he tells you give them to me and you'll find them multiplied unto the feeding of the world see everybody we can change the world with the energy in this room if if it's dedicated to Christ not spent simply to to ameliorate Our Lives but give it to the Lord and then you'll find true freedom then you'll find true Joy [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Bishop Robert Barron

Views: 90,011

Keywords: Bishop Barron, Bishop Robert Barron, Word on Fire, Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, World Youth Day, World Youth Day 2023, World Youth Day Lisbon, World Youth Day Lisbon 2023, WYD, WYD23, WYDLisbon, World Youth Day Lisboa, Catholic, Catholic Church, Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, find your mission, christ's mission for me, world youth day, world youth day lisbon 2023, catholic, bishop barron world youth day, catechism, Do whatever He Tells You, wedding feast at cana

Id: NB0qcTkJqU4

Length: 14min 26sec (866 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 04 2023