Fulfillment of All Desire Advent Mission | Night 1: Basic Decisions

wow hello everybody uh this is Ralph  Martin from Renewal Ministries and this   is the first time that I’ve done a webinar  like this so uh uh we're hoping for the best   I have a great team though working with  me tonight uh Pete Burak is in the next   room down I’m actually borrowing Sister Ann  Shields’ office where we set up for tonight and   the person you see behind me is Teresa of Avila  it's very very appropriate we're going to be   talking about her a little bit tonight and more in  future sessions and uh we also have uh Elizabeth   Rzepka working out of Detroit tonight where she  lives helping us out Emily Bachelor working out   of Brighton Michigan and Chris Baker working from  Houston Texas he's visiting his family down there   so all of them are online right now assisting in  different ways and they're going to help us with   any problems we have so if you have any problems  put it into the chat just click on chat and type   your comment and they will try to answer them  as best as possible if you have any trouble   uh getting in if you just have any trouble they'll  try to help you and they'll if you have any   questions about how this whole thing is supposed  to work they'll help you with that too I’d like   to encourage you to uh as you do enter the webinar  while 2 000 of you are already here 2 000 devices   we had an amazing number of people signed up I  thought we were going to have a couple hundred   people and we have over 4 200 that have signed  up so uh with a little fear and trepidation I’m   asking the Holy Spirit to help me so let's pray  and ask the Holy Spirit to help all of us the name   of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit  amen dear Lord we thank you for this amazing way   in which we can be together tonight this amazing  way in which you can unite us together one spirit   one body one baptism one Lord and that we're all  part of your body are all members of one another   we thank you Lord for how we can give expression  to that tonight and be one in the spirit even   though we're not in the same place but we have  the same open hearts to you Lord desiring you to   speak to us desiring you to give us graces today  desiring you to kind of help us come closer to you   we ask you to protect the technology uh keep us  from any harassment of the evil one in people's   individual homes with their individual computers  and here at renewal ministries offices help me   Lord to be your servant tonight help me to be a  read that you can play and that you can speak to   people and help them to help them to draw closer  to you we ask this in the name of Jesus and we ask   the intercession of Mary and we have to ask the  intercession of Teresa of Avila and Catherine of   Siena John of the Cross Francis DeSales Bernard  of Clairvaux Therese of Lisieux and just all the   angels and saints help us on our journey  help us during these four weeks of Advent   draw closer to you amen amen the Father  and of the Son of the Holy Spirit amen uh   we're going to post the video from tonight on our  YouTube channel tomorrow so if you know people   who wanted to join us tonight but weren't able to  we will have it posted probably tomorrow morning   between 12 and 24 hours but probably tomorrow  morning and people can then access the video   from tonight if they missed it also there'd be  a chance for them tomorrow morning or actually   any time if they go to our website to register  for the next three weeks of our Advent mission   so tell us where you're from hey Tom and  Vicky Stempky from Saline, MI that's pretty   cool right neighboring town and we got people  from Fair Oaks, California and Hobart Indiana   I’d actually like to do a little shout out to  a parish in Indiana in Richmond Indiana Saint   Elizabeth Ann Seton parish is projecting this for  a group that are gathering together to watch it   and if you're watching together with a group let  us know that too that's kind of inspiring to know   okay well let's start it's the first Sunday  of Advent and the gospel for today tells us   how we need to approach Advent and it's very  applicable very relevant to what we're going   to be doing gospel in mark chapter 13 verses  33-37 Jesus said to his disciples be watchful   be alert you do not know when the time will come  it's like a man traveling abroad he leaves home   and places a service in charge each with his own  work and orders a gatekeeper to be on the watch,   watch therefore you do not know when the Lord  of the house is coming whether in the evening   or at midnight or a cockroach or in the morning  may he not come suddenly and find you sleeping   what I say to you I say to all watch the gospel  of the Lord so one of the things we're supposed   to be doing in Advent is to kind of stirring up  our wakefulness our attentiveness to the Lord   are are paying attention to him and  the inspirations of the Holy Spirit pay   attention to the word of God so that we won't  be caught asleep when the Lord comes like what   happened to the foolish virgins the bridegroom  arrived and he entered and closed the doors   and those who were ready went in with him  and those who weren't ready were left outside   where there's as we know often the gospel tells  us there's weeping and gnashing of teeth there   Luke chapter 13 people ask Jesus the question  will there be few in number who are saved and   Jesus's answer doesn't give numbers it doesn't  give percentages it doesn't tell people to chill   and not be concerned it's very serious and very  sobering what he says he says try very hard to   enter by the narrow door because many I tell  you will try to enter but will not be able to   and then when the householder comes he's going  to close the door and then there's going to be   an outcry people banging on the door saying  let us in let us in and then the master says   i don't know you depart and then people say wait  a second we we ate and drank with you in our in   our streets you know we came to your teaching  sessions we came through your healing sessions   what do you mean you don't know us depart from  me you evildoers what could be going on here   people can know about Jesus but not  enter into relationship with him   people can even know his teachings that  he can be they could even be healed by him   but not have entered into relationship with him  and the kind of relationship that will save us   is a relationship of faith that completely  trusts the Lord and completely surrenders to him   and also obeys him Jesus says if you love me  you'll do what I’m asking you to do the book   of Hebrews it says Jesus became the source of  salvation for those who obey him so what we're   trying to do during these four Sundays of drawing  on the book fulfillment of all desire and the   wisdom of these great saints like Teresa of Avila  what we're trying to do is get into a lifestyle   of awakening of a weakness a lifestyle of  attentiveness to the Lord a lifestyle of focus on   the kingdom of God and growing in holiness now let  me tell you about the book we're going to be using   and again you don't need to use the book or have  the book to benefit from these next four weeks I had a real conversion experience  when I was a senior at Notre Dame   and I was really caught up in the confusion in the  60s and was drifting this way in that way and a   friend invited me to make a weekend retreat called  the Cursillo the little course in Christianity out   of Spain and I I I really I really met the Lord  there at a certain point in that retreat house   I couldn't deny that he was present I couldn't  see him with my eyes I couldn't hear him with   my ears but I just knew in some way that he  was there and I needed to make a decision   and I knew that the only decision that made any  sense if Jesus really is the Lord if he really   was crucified because of our sins and if he really  has been raised from the dead and if he really is   pouring out his Holy Spirit right now if he really  is with the Church to the end of time if he really   wants to enter into friendship with each of us  I knew that the only sensible response was to uh   write him a blank check and I knew what he was  going to fill in I knew he was going to write   everything forever and I knew it wasn't because  he was selfish I knew it was because he wanted   all of me and all of us to be completely healed  completely redeemed completely made ready to   enter the glory of heaven with him and the glory  of risen life with him beginning now on earth in   the midst of all the pain and sorrow and coming  to its fullness when we meet him face to face   a couple weeks later I had heard about  great saints like John of the Cross I   picked up a book by John of the Cross and  uh it was the wrong book at the wrong time   there's Ascent of Mount Carmel and about 60 or  70 pages into it I forget exactly how many pages   I I just kind of put it down I said  it's so dark and it's so negative I   I just can't relate to this then about 20  years later I was taking a class on catholic   spirituality in sacred heart seminary  in Detroit where I’m also now teaching   I picked up another book of John of the Cross  was actually my homework spiritual canonical   all I can tell you is that all the lights  went on it was like the Holy Spirit decided   to illumine this this great saint and this  great teacher and for me to get what he   was talking about I couldn't even put it all  into words it was something that was happening   on a deeper level of my being things were  getting integrated things were getting   put in place and some really wonderful way so that  really motivated me to read everything but John   I just I said who else do we have like this I’ve  discovered that John was a doctor of the Church   what a doctor of the Church is somebody  who's recognized by the Church as a saint   but also has a depth of wisdom that's valuable  for the whole Church I said who else are doctors   of the Church in the area of the journey to God  in the area of spirituality so that's where I   discovered those other wonderful saints where I  asked their intercession as we began to pray today   and I over a period of about 10 years I went  through every single writing of all these doctors   of the Church and as I did I discovered that they  were all talking about basically the same thing   even though they are representatives of different  schools of spirituality and they have different   emphases and different unique insights they're  all talking about the process of the healing and   transformation of the human soul by the power  of the Holy Spirit and I thought to myself if   I could ever put this all in an orderly way  and draw on each of their unique insights   but show their harmony and unity we'd have the  most amazing guidebook for the journey to God   so that's where this book came from and it  will be helpful if you have a copy of it   to be reading it while we're talking but  you don't need to the talks really stands   now people have asked could you tell  us what to read for the weeks ahead   well honestly I didn't really know until this  afternoon I knew what the basic areas were going   to be but what we're going to be talking about  today and it's going to be a little exception I’m   going to give a longer talk today because I need  to set the foundation I need to set the framework   I need to give the overview of the spiritual  journey and some of the basic decisions that are   so important then in the following weeks we'll be  getting into very specific areas of our lives that   tremendous wisdom that can really help us remove  obstacles be delivered from deceptions and   really make progress on the spiritual  journey so I’m going to go about 45 minutes   50 minutes tonight I’m going to pay attention  to every single question that comes in   any that are really relevant for tonight I’m  going to answer I’m willing to go past eight   o'clock I know somebody past nine o'clock I  know somebody eastern time I know some of you   can't stay longer than an hour that's okay but I  will answer every question relevant for tonight   but there's going to be questions I know that  I’m going to take up at future sessions so if you   start asking me questions about the dark knight  I’m not going to answer them tonight because we're   going to be talking about that uh if you start  asking me questions about techniques of prayer   and things like that we're going to be talking  about that if you're going to start talking to   me about uh transforming union and uh you know  we're gonna talk about those things coming up   so I’m just gonna take questions tonight  and answer them that relate to the topic   and uh I’m gonna make careful note though of the  other questions that have come in and make sure I   incorporate them into the talks that are coming up  or uh answer them in other ways so that's just a   little little briefing now one of the main points  I want to make today is that holiness is not   an option a lot of times we think well holiness  is for special people it's for people who are   inclined that way but I’m just an ordinary guy  or an ordinary girl but what God reveals to us   so clearly and what he repeats time and time again  in the scripture is that holiness is essential the   book of Hebrews it says Hebrews chapter 12 verse  14 strive for peace with all men you know try for   peace with all men it's not always possible but  try be peacemakers some people don't want peace   strive for peace with all men and for the  holiness without which no one will see the Lord strive for that holiness without  which no one will see the Lord   holiness is essential for ending up in heaven in  fact the only people that are in heaven are saints   don't panic you don't have to be a canonized  saint to be in heaven but you do have to be   somebody who has allowed the Lord to bring your  whole being into perfect harmony with his will   and allowed him to communicate to you and  impart to you his own characteristics of love   of patience of kindness of gentleness of  humility of power of love of self-control   and that's a lifelong process but we have to allow  the Lord to uh to do that in us and the sooner   it happens the better because the more we're  transformed uh the more we're under Lordship   for Christ the more we're going to be a blessing  to other people the more free we're going to be   the more able we're going to be to  fulfill the purpose which we are created   it's very very blunt in the old  testament but it's repeated clearly   in the new testament the book of Leviticus it  says you must be holy because I am holy if we   want to have communion with God God's not going  to change we have to change we have to become   holy no one can see God now and live scripture  says exodus chapter 33 verses 18 to 20.   when Moses asked to see the Lord the Lord said  no man can see me in your current condition   and survive the holiness of God is so great the  purity of God is so great the righteousness of   God is so great the power of God is so great  that there has to be a moral transformation   there has to be a transformation of our  soul we have to begin begin to become   and this is really radical but it says in one  of the epistles of Saint Peter we have to become   partakers of the divine nature oh my goodness when  you think about that partakers of divine nature us   flesh and blood creatures becoming like God in  some kind of way appropriate to human beings   then it says we need not just a moral  transformation not just the transformation   of our deepest desires but we also need risen  bodies our current earthly bodies couldn't handle   the sight of God the participation in the glory of  God we be we'd be destroyed we die and that's why   we need the resurrection from the dead and the  only way we can get resurrection from the dead   is by union with Jesus now  friendship with Jesus now I’d like to read a passage from first Peter  chapter 1 verses 13 21 I won't read it all   it's really an Advent reason reading but it really  very very much connects with the journey to God   that we're going to be talking about therefore  gird up your minds be sober set your hope fully set your hope fully upon the grace that is  coming to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ   that's a strong exhortation set all your hopes  on the gift that's coming to you when Christ   Jesus will be revealed that's another translation  as obedient children do not be conformed to the   passions of your former ignorance but as he who  called you is holy be holy yourselves and all your   conduct sits it is written you shall be holy for  I am holy repeat any exodus repeating uh Leviticus   and if you invoke his Father him who judges  each one impartially according to his deeds   conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time  of your exile you know that you were ransomed from   the feudal ways inherited from your fathers not  with perishable things such as silver gold but   with the precious blood of Christ like that of  a lamb without blemish or spot he was destined   before the foundation of the world but was made  manifest at the end of the times for your sake   through him you have confidence in God we're  going to be talking a lot about confidence in   God because this is humanly impossible if you're  beginning to feel like this isn't for you if   you're beginning to feel like I can't do this in  the beginning you feel like this is impossible   that's exactly what you should be feeling when  Jesus talked about his high view of Christian   marriage his disciples said hey what do you mean  we can't divorce our wives better not to get   married and Jesus said you know with with man it's  impossible with God all things are possible when   Jesus said you know it's easier for a rich man to  get into the kingdom of God than for a camel to   get through an eye of a needle or it's harder  for a rich man to get into the kingdom of God   as as it is for a camel to get through the eye of  a needle whether that's a narrow gate or whatever   the disciples were amazed and Jesus said  with human beings it really is impossible   but with God all things are possible  even you and I becoming holy even you   and I becoming transformed because of  our confidence and the power of God   not in self-confidence but confidence in  the blood of Jesus Christ confidence in   the precious blood of Christ that was shed for us  so that we may be rescued that we may be ransomed   that we maybe end up in the kingdom of God  and rather than in the kingdom of Satan Ephesians chapter one the reason  why I’m spending a little time   on the bible is that a lot of times when  people start reading the Spanish mystics or   Catherine of Siena the Italian mystics or the  French mystics they kind of think it's like a   special thing but everything that they  teach flows right out of the scripture   we need to know that this call is biblically based  not only is it biblically based but it's central   it's essential in fact think of it this  way the only reason why you and I exist   is because we were created to be one with God we  were created to be holy that's the whole reason   why we're alive tonight the whole reason why  we're live tonight is God is working in our life   to bring us into fuller and fuller union with  himself to make us holy that's the only reason   why he created human beings what a tragedy if we  don't fulfill our destiny what a utter tragedy   if we never become one with God if we never  let him to allow him to purify us and heal us Ephesians chapter 1 verses 4 to 5 he  chose us in him God the Father chose   us in Christ before the foundation of  the world before he created the universe   that we should be holy and blameless before  him he destined us in love to be his sons   through Jesus Christ wow even before  he created the universe he had us in   mind and he had us in mind in relationship  to Christ and he had us in mind to be holy and take a look at John chapter 17 or actually  that whole section from John chapter 14   if you have a chance to meditate on it read it  it's the offer of the most intimate personal   friendship with Jesus in John chapter 17 he  talks about the Father I am one we want you   to be one with us and you should be one with one  another we want you to be perfectly one and that's   why us being together tonight is important and  we really are together we're hearing the word   of God together the Holy Spirit's working  right now in our minds and hearts together   we pray for him to work we prayed for the  intercession of saints and this isn't just empty   words this is the word of God I’m sharing with  you these are words that have power to actually   illumine our minds and rescue us from strongholds  that deception that Satan has built into our minds   we've been invited to this amazing amazing  destiny impossible for human beings   but with God all things are possible now what's  a good definition of holiness sometimes when we   hear about the call to holiness we think about  some external practices we think about some   techniques we think about some disciplines and  that's part of it but that's not the essence   what's the essence of holiness what does it really  mean essentially to grow in holiness well the way   Jesus sums it all up he says what this is all  about what the law what the prophets what the   psalm is all about is loving God with your whole  heart your whole mind your whole soul your whole   strength and your neighbor as yourself it's  all about love it's all about growing in love   Teresa of Avila our friends behind my shoulder  here says you can never separate love of God and   love of neighbor so holiness isn't something  we do cooped up in ourselves in a lot of   corners not just personal spirituality it's  transformation it's transformation of our lives   so it flows into greater and greater love for our  neighbor those who are most close to us our family   members our literal neighbors in our neighborhoods  our neighbors and our parishes and the question of   Jesus you know they ask Jesus who's my neighbor  whoever we run across is our neighbor so love of   God and love of neighbor they go together and if  you separate them there's a there's a distortion   in spirituality spirituality isn't a naval gazing  thing isn't a self-centered thing it's something   that's expanding our heart expanding our minds  to love more and more God radically you know the   first the greatest commandment is a lovely Lord  your God with your whole heart your whole mind   your whole soul your whole strength and no other  Gods be before him a lot of times when people talk   about today say you know he's a good person you  know what Jesus said he said call no man good   you know it isn't just being a nice person  that saves you the first commandment is the   first commandment to love the Lord your God with  your whole heart your whole mind your whole soul   and your whole strength the second command  is like it loving your neighbor as yourself   not to love God not to thank him not to  worship him is tremendously offensive   it's tremendously stupid it's tremendously  blind that's why God gave us the commandments   and that's why the first commandment is what it is  the creature's primarily our primary obligation is   to worship God and when we don't worship God  or we don't thank him when we don't adore him   darkness comes into our lives darkness comes into  our minds romans chapter 1 says they knew God but   they didn't worship him what do you mean they knew  God it says like God has revealed himself to every   human being through the creation you can know  that God is that God exists he can know about   his divinity you can know about his power and  romans chapter 2 says this light that God gives   to every person's conscience you can know basic  right from wrong and if you don't respond to that   light if you don't seek God if you don't desire to  know him it's really bad and bad things come from   that their minds were darkened they were without  excuse they knew the truth but they suppressed it   the the crookedness of the human heart  that suppresses the truth and blots it   out of our conscience then it talks about  all the disorder that comes into people's   lives when they don't thank God and don't  worship him it talks about sexual disorder   it talks about the drying up of love it  talks about rebellion and disobedience so what it means to grow in love is  is to grow in holiness to grow in love   Teresa of Avila gives another definition of holy  she says what it means to grow in holiness is to   bring our will into union with God's will to love  what he loves to hate what he hates what does God   hate the only thing that God hates is sin the only  thing that God hates is what separates his beloved   creatures from him the only thing that God hates  is what people do things that block their union   with them and damage other people God hates sin he  hates sin not because there's an arbitrary thing   that he set up as a as a test but sin objectively  wounds us and sin objectively wounds other people   we'll talk more about that in the coming weeks  there's a blue zoo I know my French isn't great   the little flower gives another definition  of holiness of page three here in chapter one   she says perfection consists in doing  his will and being what he wills us to be   who resists his grace in nothing now sometimes  we think that uh holiness is a burden that God's   placing on us and we have a little kind  of groaning like uh I gotta be holy yeah   not gonna be any fun whatever you know I wonder  if I can still drink beer and watch football on   Saturdays or go shopping or whatever you know  holiness is not a burden that God is trying to   place on us it's a gift he's trying to give us  it's a blessing it's a liberation it's a freedom   it's it's coming into our true selves like  like Saint Therese says it's saying yes   to whom God created us to be we will never be  happy unless we say yes to whom God created   us to be to God's idea for us to God's plan  for us which is for our infinite happiness   okay now in the next 15 minutes or so I’m  doing I’m coming along pretty good I’m not   you know you ever hear the joke about this guy's  a really good preacher but he doesn't know how to   land the plane you know he's not in the sermon so  he keeps repeating it I don't think that's going   to happen tonight because we prayed okay what  holds us back from a wholehearted surrender to   the Lord what holds us back from a wholehearted  unreserved yes to the call to holiness   well there's three or four things I’m going  to bring to our attention this is all from   chapter one by today everything I’m talking about  tonight is in chapter one I know there's about 17   chapters I don't know 18 chapters we're not going  to get to them all but we're going to get to some   really good stuff but this is chapter one we need  to get the foundation right we need to understand   that this isn't an arbitrary thing that this isn't  a special mystical thing this is essential for us   being with the Lord forever this is essential  for us being who we are created to be the call   of the holiness the journey to God well one of  the most common things that I hear people say is   you know I know I’m called the  holiness but I’m just a lay person   you know I haven't studied theology like  priests have I haven't studied theology like   sisters have or lay ecclesial ministers you  know I I’m just the light person you know I   don't I don't know theology I don't I don't know  this kind of stuff you know I don't know what   mysticism's all about contemplation forget it  I I don't have a contemplative bone in my body okay let's let's deal with that   just a lay person you mean just somebody  created in the image of God is that all you   are oh what a tremendous dignity we have every  single human being created in the image of God   well you're baptized lay person whoa  you mean Christ shed his blood for you   and the Father Son and Holy Spirit are dwelling in  your soul and you have an indelible mark on your   soul which means that you have been claimed by the  Lord and unless you turn away from your baptism   unless you reject it unless you bury it unless you  forget it the Lord's never going to let go of you   what can separate us from the love of Christ the  only thing that could separate us from the love of   Christ is ourselves if we push ourselves away from  him deaden our consciences and give ourselves over   to disorderly desires and the foolish foolish  nonsense of the world and the culture today so no more I’m just a person what great  dignity to be created in the image of God   what greater dignity to be redeemed by the blood  of Jesus Christ to be destined for eternal life   beginning even now with the Father Son and Holy  Spirit dwelling in us so special is that that the   Lord says and I think first Corinthians are Second  Corinthians if anybody you are the temple of God   you are the temple of the Holy Spirit anybody  harms my temple I will destroy them oh my goodness the Lord is jealous for his people  he's jealous for their holiness and we're not going to get into  this tonight but the wrath of   God is breaking out against all those  who dishonor the creation and dishonor   the body of Christ whether it's us or others  we'll talk about that maybe in a future week   okay another another thing that holds us back  from wholehearted surrender is uh things like this   I’m not the heroic type I’m selfish I’m really  comfort oriented I see comfort all the time I’m   lazy I’m undisciplined I’m distracted I’m unstable  I don't think I have spiritual inclinations yeah yeah those are lies those are lies those are  deceptions that the devil has put in our minds   to keep us from our glorious destiny the  glorious freedom of the sons and daughters of God   you may be selfish you may be comfort  seeking you may be distractible you may   think you don't have a contemplative bone in  your body but the Lord stands ready to deepen   his relationship with you if you're  willing to do your part if you're   willing to do your part we're going  to talk about that next week your part don't accept those lies you were created  for holiness and you might say I think it's   impossible for me it is not with God all  things are possible so reject those lies   now another thing is that sometimes we think that  yes I know I’m called the holiest maybe we even   have an inclination we've got little glimmers of  the possibility of a deeper union with the Lord   and uh we we think you know yes we've got  glimmers you know on a retreat one day or   a moment of prayer or conference or something  we we just kind of got a feeling like   yeah there's more from me the Lord has more for me   but we kind of think that well I’m so busy right  now there's so much stuff going on in my life   I’ve got financial problems I’ve got family  problems I’ve got health problems and maybe when   those things get resolved I’ll be able to kind  of really pursue that little glimmer I got from   the Lord that he's got more from me well a lot of  times we think I know I’m called to holiness but   manana tomorrow we're under the illusion that  there's going to be some better time in the future   for us to make that unreserved commitment  to pursuing the path of holiness   that reserve and surrender ourselves to the Lord  with the practical decisions that are needed   to make it real I’m just going to  take a little drink of water here I taught I’m not I’m not retired  myself I’m teaching at the seminary I’m   president of renewal ministries I’m writing and  speaking I’m going to Houston Texas tomorrow   to record four videos for a men's ministry  called that man is you and then on Thursday   I’m getting this thing called extracorporeal  lithotripsy for a kidney stone and so it's   it's a busy week there's a lot going on but each  morning I’m waking up and I’m trying to put first   prayer time and so far so good we'll talk about  that next week about practical decisions but uh   even if we're really busy even if there's a lot of  stress in our life there's no better time in the   future I talk to retired people and sometimes they  tell me they're busier now than when they were   working while going to doctor's appointments and  babysitting grandchildren so there's always going   to be something beckoning to us to distract  us from seeking first the kingdom of God   I got to tell you that when I was engaged to  be married 52 years ago I was sitting on the   floor of our sparsely furnished apartment  in Ann Arbor where I’m right here right now   and I was had a part-time job I was thinking  how can I handle this how can I support a family   and I felt like the Lord gave me a scripture  passage that's really been the foundation for my   wife and myself life and and work too at  renewal ministries it's from Luke chapter 12.   it says unbelievers are always worried about what  they're going to eat what they're going to wear   what the future is going to bring but I say to  you seek first the kingdom of God and his holiness   and these other things will be yours as well  because your heavenly Father knows you need them   this is not the prosperity gospel this is not  a promise for a big mansion or a Rolls Royce or   whatever we're winning the lottery nope what  it's a solemn promise though of is that God   the Father knows what we need to fulfill  the purpose for which we've he created us   and for why we're alive today and that if we  put first things first the secondary things   are going to take their proper place in our  life but if we put the secondary things first   it's going to be a lot of stress a lot of  distortions because the secondary things   will never provide us what we're seeking they'll  never provide us with the security with the peace   with the confidence with the freedom with the love  that we're seeking the only place we can find that   is in God and the other things that we need will  then take their rightful place I can tell you   that this is the basis of my life the basis of my  wife's life the basis of our marriage this is how   we're trying to live in renewal ministries we're  trying to seek first the kingdom of God and his   holiness and letting the Lord provide what we need  to carry out the mission that he's called us to   okay one last obstacle sometimes we read the lives  of saints like Teresa of Avila or Catherine of   Siena or John of the Cross and we're inspired but  we're also discouraged we say gee I don't think I   could just live on holy communion for three years  like Catherine of Siena did or gee that was a   pretty strict fasting regimen that those Carmelite  sisters did or gee I don't know if I can you know   embrace the painful purifications like John of  the Cross did uh and and all those things are are   there you know all those things are there but uh  what we sometimes do is we read the lives of the   saints we're inspired but we get discouraged  we say you know what I could never do that   now Therese of the zoo had exactly the same  reaction she said I’d like to be a saint   but I read the lives of these saints that I just  don't think I can do it I don't feel attracted to   these great penances you know I I don't I don't  think I could do things like that you know and   Jesus I wonder if there's a shortcut for  people like me we're gonna get to that shortcut   next week but what happens sometimes is we  kind of subtly change our goal and this is   an important lesson for tonight we stop aiming  for heaven and we start aiming for purgatory we   say you know I don't think by the time I die I’m  going to be ready to see the Lord face to face   so I’m going to be shooting for purgatory so 83  can be married today because tomorrow you know I’m   not a serial killer I think I’ll be okay I’ll be  in purgatory we'll take care of purification there   now there's two problems with that and I want to  try to kind of liberate you from this today first   of all nowhere in the catholic bible does Jesus  ever say aim for purgatory nope it's not there   it's not in the apocryphal writings it's just not  there in fact what Jesus says in mark chapter 4 no   Matthew chapter 5 verse 48 he says be perfect as  your heavenly Father's perfect that's what Jesus   says that's how he sums up his whole teaching  he says be perfect that your heavenly Father is   perfect and he's particularly saying that in the  context of the mercy compassion and love the God   the Father who lets his rainfall on the just and  the unjust talking about transformation and love   be perfectly transformed to love according to  who God created you to be so that's what Jesus is   asking us to do to set our sights on that knowing  that it's impossible to us by our own efforts   but there's another problem too with aiming for  purgatory rather than aiming for maximal holiness   we don't always hit the target that we aim  for do we if we aim for heaven by the time we   die we're not quite ready to enter but we need  purification praise the Lord for purgatory but   if we're aiming for purgatory and miss it's hell  to miss purgatory yeah it really is okay finally   I’m going to lay out now four principles that  govern the spiritual life and then quickly   suggest two decisions we can ignite that'll  put us on a good path for the coming weeks   these I’m going to take from John Paul II Saint  John Paul II they're in chapter one of my book   he published a document called Novo Millennio  Ineunte a vision statement for the Church for   the new millennium uh and he talked about how  we really need to reconnect with the spiritual   wisdom of the Church he says the universal call  to holiness is one of the great contributions   of Vatican II and holiness is not just for  a few special people but it's for everybody   a really important theme for Vatican II that  if we implement it would transform the Church   and he says once we get connected with the  spiritual wisdom once we read these doctrines   of the Church he mentions a number of them  specifically that we're going to be dealing with   he says we're going to discover four basic  principles so here they are principle number   one the spiritual journey is totally dependent  on the grace of God you can't make yourself   holy this is good news this is good news we'll  talk about it next week principle number two   even though the spiritual journey is totally  dependent on the grace of God our effort is   necessary it is not sufficient but it is necessary  we've got to put some skin in the game we've   got to do our part to dispose ourselves for the  action of God in our soul principle number three   there are some painful dimensions to the  process of purification the John of the   Cross talks about it as dark nights but I’ve got  an encouraging quote to you from John of the Cross   that hopefully will take away some fear about  the painful purification this is what he says   those who have more considerable capacity and  strength for suffering God purges more intensely   and quickly but those who are very weak like most  of us their purgation is less intense and the   temptation's lessened and he frequently refreshes  their sense to keep them from backsliding   Francis DeSales says the slow cure is the  best cure so I’m on the slow cure path   I’m pretty excited about it I think the  Lord's cured a lot of things over the years   I’m looking forward to more I hope he keeps  me alive long enough for more to be cured   so anyway painful purifications are part  of the process but be afraid of them   we'll talk about them in the coming weeks  fourth principle of the spiritual journey   even though the journey requires some effort and  even though there's some painful dimensions to the   process there is no journey more worth undertaking  because even if we make a little bit of progress   it's the most important blessing  that could happen to our life   it brings us into a greater realm of freedom  a greater realm of love and we can become more   and more the person whom God created us to be  more and more fulfill the purpose for which he   created the mission that he has for us in  our relationships and our family in in our   neighborhoods in our work situations more and more  sensitive to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit   so anyway those are the four principles I’ll  repeat them next week we'll go through them   in detail but now I want to ask us to make a  couple decisions Thomas Aquinas said there's a   difference between wishing something to  happen and willing something to happen   wishing something to happen without practical  decisions is wishful thinking and it will never   happen willing something to happen in order for  it to be real has to have some practical decisions   connected to it so here's the two practical  decisions I want to propose to you tonight   first of all the decision to believe that God is  truly calling you to greater and greater holiness   now how can I dare ask you that well scripture  says that faith comes through hearing   I believe that by hearing the word of God tonight  the Lord has given you the grace to believe   that he's calling you to real friendship  with him and growing union with him for   those of you who are already on the spiritual  path and have been there for a long time   this is renewing your faith renewing your  confidence renewing your yes to the call   and secondly the first thing I’m  asking you to do is to believe   to believe the word of God that you are called  to be holy and that it's impossible for you but   it's possible for God if you do your part  and cast yourself upon his grace and mercy   second decision is to decide to strive for that  holiness without which no one can see God I’m   going to talk about what you can do next week  to strive for that holiness practical decisions   okay I want to do a few final announcements then  I don't want to finish with a prayer I want to   pray for you tonight for the grace that God wants  to give to you for the freedom he wants to give   you tonight for the deliverance from deception  from the deliverance from satanic oppression   that he wants to do for you tonight  first and final announcements we're making this Advent mission free  at no cost we just that's how we operate   at renewal ministries but we've got four people  working on this tonight we've got a staff of 20.   a lot of you don't even know all we do but we do  mission work in about 30 or 40 different countries   just got a letter from an African bishop in  Uganda talking about the thousands of seminarians   and priests that we've helped in Uganda over  the last 20 years or so and how this priest   is now a bishop and just all kinds of fantastic  opportunities to serve the Church around the world   we've got our two daily radio programs  with Sister Ann whose office I’m using and   Peter Herbeck fire on the earth we've got a  weekly television program the choices we face   we've gotten reaching out to the next generation  Pete Burak who's in the next office who's helping   me tonight get this all set up he's reaching  out to young adults with his team Chris baker   down in Houston who'll be back here next  week and we've got a high school ministry   for boys and for girls and just a lot of other  stuff going on so if you are able to help us   continue this work and would like to make a  donation uh there'll be some notice that will   come up here on the screen or you can just  go to our website renewalministries.net and   you'll see a way of registering for the Advent  mission you'll you'll see uh how you can get   my new book a Church in crisis that we might talk  about at some point and then you also see how you   can make a donation if you'd like to no pressure  not at all we we feel like the Lord wants to give   away what he's given to us but if you're able to  help us continue doing that we'd appreciate it   also we'd like to invite you to tell others  about the Advent mission it's not too late to   to register each talk will be something in itself  that people can get a lot out of so we'd like   to kind of um ask you to kind of share it with  people that you think could could benefit from it we're still making uh the book available at 20  off uh you know you know all during the Advent   mission so if you haven't gotten a copy would like  to uh you can go to our website renewalmercies.net   on the store click on the store and you'll find  it there it's actually about thirty percent off   uh because there's more demand for the  book these days because we're doing the   mission uh amazon now is charging full price for  28 or something like that uh you can get it from   us for twenty dollars so it's about a thirty  percent discount on the price and free shipping   so uh that's that's available and you'll be  able to get that too so now I’d like to pray   for you and then we'll answer some questions  those who need to leave can leave but I’ll   stay here as long as there's some questions  I should answer for tonight most holy Father dearest Lord Jesus blessed Holy Spirit I thank you  that we could hear your word tonight   I thank you that your word never goes out without  bearing fruit I ask that your word bring freedom   tonight bring light tonight bring hope tonight  bring deliverance from deception tonight   difference from discouragement  deliverance from the wrong kind of fear   and bring us all more and more into  the kingdom of your beloved Son   living in the light receiving your love Lord  we thank you for this opportunity I wish you to   help us gather now for the next week and bring  together everybody you want to bring together we are grateful right now for giving us our  daily bread our daily spiritual bread our   daily physical bread amen okay let's see if  there's uh any questions that might come up   um it says the room's gonna expire in three  minutes and eight minutes well anyway we'll   just kind of keep going as long as we can  if we get cut off don't don't forget I’ll   we'll read over the whole chats and we'll  take anything we need for next week but uh   we may need to kind of iron out some bugs  but uh if you've got any questions send them   send them on and if they relate to tonight I’ll  answer them right now and if not I hope to see you   next week same time same place sure all right are  there any saints that had an easy journey I’d like   some encouragement to know read about someone's  journey that didn't require a lot of suffering well I’d say that there are a number  of you might say normal saints uh   like I think of the parents of uh Saint Therese  who had a normal marriage and family life they had   I think five living children and maybe four that  died in childbirth or or four years old lunch   and so they had the normal sufferings of  human life now nobody gets out of this   life in this world without suffering so don't  ever expect that it's not going to be suffering   yes Zellie had breast cancer and  she died of breast cancer yes   the father Louis got dementia or  something like that in his later years   so there was that suffering but you know what  lots of people get dementia lots of people   get breast cancer so don't expect that there  won't be the normal suffering of human life   now at the same time trust the Lord that  he knows you he knows what you can handle   he knows what you need and he's he's meek and  humble of heart and he's gentle and he's tender   and he's perfectly in control he will he  will never allow anything to happen to us   that he doesn't have a plan for bringing good at  him now I’m gonna probably share next week how the   Lord delivered me from the fear of suffering and  uh and I’ll tell you how he did it and I’m going   to ask him to do it for you but uh there's going  to be suffering in life they say Catherine of   Siena says you're either going to take up the  cross of Christ you're going to deny yourself   each day and follow him you're going to love  people even when you don't feel like it you're   going to bear the the setbacks and difficulties  of life or you can take up the cross of Satan   there's a cross choose which one you're  going to take the cross of Jesus his yoke is   sweet his burden is light and and we're never  going to complain about what he allows to happen   in our life because we're going to see at some  point the tremendous good he brings out of it   okay very quick question any what chapters  should they read for next week or any other   reading they should do to prepare yeah well the  next three weeks we're going to be talking about   the purgative way we are going to talk about the  three main stages of spiritual life somebody I   see that asked in the chat so that's chapters one  through eight but we're not going to get to it all   so I would suggest the best way of participating  in the mission with the book is just to slowly   start reading it during your morning prayer time  or each day read some of it and don't try to like   get the whole eight chapters read in the next four  weeks necessarily if you feel led to do that that   would be fine I would say just go as it seems  like it's kind of like working for you and if   you hit something on page 15 that really speaks  to you stay on page 15 until it really becomes   part kind of part of you and really kind of does  the work that uh that's supposed to do in you so I   would say just so if you have the book or want to  get the book just start reading from the beginning   and and go at the pace that seems good for you  to bear the most fruit now sometimes people say   I want to read the whole thing to get the  whole kind of picture and then I’ll go back   and read it you know more slowly that that's a  possibility too so um yeah so we're going to be   talking about the purgative way the first eight  chapters of the book but we're certainly not going   to get to all that material and um and you don't  need to read anything in advance if you don't want   to because the talk will be communicating some  important things from the book and hopefully a   fresh Holy Spirit inspired way each week  and so that's that's a long-winded answer   um two housekeeping things bro one is uh we are  experiencing tremendous traffic on our website   and it's crashing oh so praise God for everyone  coming but please come again yeah in other words   please come back come on over here let people see  you know Pete Burak I told you about is the next   room has come out of the next room because our  plan for getting questions on the chat apparently   isn't working but Pete wants to tell you that  people are going to our website and it's crashing   so just be patient come back later tonight or  tomorrow you know when it's when it's calmed down   some so uh it it will work again it's it's kind of  exciting that it's crashing to tell you the truth   but I’m sorry that those were getting crashed out  but just just sometime in the next couple days   come back to it and uh absolutely um another good  question here ralph is um Therese’s quote about   doing his will presupposes knowing the will of  God yeah how is this done in ordinary living yeah   well I could I could I’ll be saying  some things about that in the coming   weeks but uh I think of the scripture  passage I think it's Philippians chapter four   or maybe it's first Thessalonians five let me  quickly turn to something Philippians chapter four   no first Thessalonians 5 let's try that okay this  is God's will for you first Thessalonians 5 verse   16 rejoice always pray constantly give thanks in  all circumstances for this is the will of God in   Christ Jesus for you now I can't tell you right  now whether you should move to Chicago or not   whether you should get married or remain single or  whether uh you should take another job or whether   you should take a second mortgage on your house I  can't tell you that right now the Lord will give   you guidance but in the meantime this is clearly  his will and if you're doing this you're going   to be able to receive the guidance you need and  develop the kind of attentiveness of the voice   of the Lord that you need and the principles for  discernments of spirit that we'll talk about a   little bit so let me repeat it first Thessalonians  chapter 5 verses 16 to uh 18. rejoice always   even if you have breast cancer even if you have  the early stages of dementia rejoice because you   got the golden ticket I was just talking to some  of my grandkids on thanksgiving about Willy Wonka   and the chocolate factory and how excited the  people were who got the uh they kind of got the   golden ticket well we got the golden ticket and  even if we lose our mind and even if we die of   breast cancer we've got eternal life you know  we've got a reward beyond imagining and that's   why scripture says the sufferings of the present  age aren't worth comparing to what will be the   glory of yours when Christ Jesus appears Monsignor  Gregory Smith just came in on the chat he pointed   out very wisely that uh it's a huge amount of  money to ship from the united states to Canada so   it's probably best to order from amazon.ca to get  the book from Canada because uh I don't know they   really raise the mailing costs from the united  states to Canada but if you have ordered from   can from the united states to Canada we'll do  everything we can to get the thing to you at cost   and get the price down as much as we possibly  can and the coupon code ralph is fad Advent   okay the coupon code is f a d Advent all one  f a d Advent okay here's another good question   uh Father Dave Nuss asked this question can you  please simply just list the four main obstacles   that hold us back from wholehearted surrender to  the Lord four words or four pity phrases I feel   homily coming from Father Dave here okay number  one I’m just a layperson two I’m too selfish too   comfort seeking too lazy too undisciplined to  unstable I’m not the heroic type number three   later tomorrow procrastinate illusion  that there's a better time in the future   number four I don't think I’m gonna be ready  to see the Lord face to face so I’m just gonna   kind of settle for purgatory and chill  a little bit right now can you explain   what this love of others looks like given  there are so many false representations of love   in our current culture looking for the good of the  other looking to serve the other looking to put   other people's preferences before ours looking  to deny ourselves for the sake of others   this of course you know the the most intense  school of holiness is in the family and it really   is a school of holiness it really is a place where  our weaknesses our selfishness our impatience our   everything kind of comes out and it's where we  little by little can learn how to deny ourself and   truly love others and sacrifice for others we'll  talk more about this but it's sacrificial love   it's it's willing to deny what we want what  we prefer for the sake of somebody else um love your neighbor finding that difficult  especially with family members who mock out   or my faith yeah I’m better at shaking the dust  from my sandals how do we find a balance yeah well   sometimes love needs to be silent and not  speak and sometimes love needs to speak   that's where we need discernment from  the Lord and especially when we have   people that we love who aren't with the Lord  and are mocking us for our relationship with   the Lord we need to bear that patiently we need  to uh from time to time kind of test the waters   to see if there's any openness there to uh to  reconsidering their relationship with the Lord   but if there isn't we need to go back to prayer  and fasting and sacrificial love shouldn't stay   in abusive situations but we should bear a lot  for the sake of love of others uh and one of the   things I think is really important is what Jesus  said in mark chapter 9 verse 29 he said some of   these things only leave by prayer and fasting and  then what Mary said in Fatima to the children she   said you know offer the suffering that comes your  way and the voluntary sacrifices that you offer   for reparation for sins and for  the conversion of sinners so   you can be interceding in offering the suffering  that just comes from living life in this world   and the suffering that comes from being  mocked by family members or friends   you can offer that suffering for reparation for  your own sin for their own for their sins and for   their conversion and it's very very meaningful  Mary asked that uh and the angel asked that and   it's very very it's a very meaningful thing  that we can do to not waste your suffering we'll   be talking a little bit about not wasting your  suffering maybe even next week or the week after what is a father to do when his wife and daughters  have embraced the culture and turned their backs   and God he already kind of talked about  this but any any further thoughts on his   admonishing and striving for holiness  seems to push his family further away   then then he needs to uh he needs to go to prayer  and fasting and uh loving service and patience   and asking the Lord for wisdom about  when to speak and when not to speak   and and when to bear the suffering that comes  from that and the pain that comes from that   but that can be that can be fruitful for the  kingdom and fruitful for their conversion   and and also it's not over till  it's over so never give up praying   and hoping for the salvation of anybody and even  if you don't see somebody converted before you die   what happens on the other side is even more  powerful you know Therese of Lisieux said I’m   going to spend my heaven doing good on earth  I’m not going to be goofing off in heaven so   uh you know we're going to be continuing to labor  in the Lord with the joy of the Lord but what's   Jesus doing right now he's making intercession for  us at the right hand of the Father we're going to   join him in making intercession for those that  we love and left on earth for their conversion   Catherine of Siena says I think on page 56 it's a  favorite page of mine from fulfilling all desire   that uh God is so eager to grant our prayers  provided that we don't foolishly resist his mercy good um just a couple more here uh how  can we or can we know we are holy enough no we're never going to be holy enough but there  are some indicators to know whether we're making   some progress and there's some healing taking  place that we're growing in holiness that we're   in a different place than we were a year ago  or a couple years ago we'll talk about that too   there are some indicators there are some signs  and it isn't so important that we exactly know   exactly where we are in three stages of spiritual  development or the seven managements of Teresa   of Avila but we need to know whether in  we're in the ballpark and we're heading   the right direction and we're making progress and  there's some indicators that we can give for that   there's a lot of wonderful comments coming in one  that just uh moved my heart was from Sharon she   said thank you for this presentation I’ve had  a chronic illness which has prevented me from   leaving home to attend events and classes this  is a gift from God in his continued call for   holiness blessings praise the Lord um uh can you  talk a little bit about thoughts good thoughts   bad thoughts we can't you know the question was  are we supposed to always have good thoughts   no we we're well ideally we should but we  don't and so I will be talking about that uh   in probably next week or the week after yeah  I’ll be talking about temptation and the bad   thoughts that come into our mind and how to  handle them okay um did you say… people are   asking page 56 was your favorite page or  57. well let me let me take a look here oh gee okay well starting on page 56 it starts talking  about the glory of heaven and then on page   58 it talks about our relationship with each  other in heaven and then on the same page it   talks about our activity in heaven interceding for  those on earth so page 58 would be specifically   the page but we'll probably get to talking about  that in the coming weeks okay two more questions   um someone said I would love guidance and  direction on freedom from food addiction eating   disorders I’m new to Catholicism as a Pentecost  this year and desire to live for God more well   there's spiritual dimensions to various addictions  the psychological dimensions it's physical   dimensions uh we will talk about getting what we  will talk about growing in freedom we will talk   about detachment now that's getting into the  eliminative ways chapter 10 but we might touch   on it now but we'll do more next time we do this  but uh I would suggest asking God to deliver you   from it but also taking advantage of means that  are available like 12-step groups or overeating   anonymous or whatever that helped a lot of people  get free free of particular eating addictions   same with sexual addictions and things  like that okay wonderful and then um   how can the last question how can uh someone  become more aware of the barriers in their life   the things that are keeping them from  improving ask the Holy Spirit to show you   and then be ready to have other people tell you  yeah perfect and I guess there's one more question   coming in um a lot a lot more now that I said  the last question of course but uh how do you how   do you deal with kind of sin that seems to have  settled in and that you just can't shake and it's   some of the similar themes of well we're going to  talk about sin yeah we're going to talk about it   okay great uh is there any other thoughts you have  any other last-minute encouragements we still have   1900 devices watching here so now that we're  making everyone a device but that's how we   that's how we count it or we call it a night well  I’d say I say you can only take in so much at one   time I think there's a lot that got put out  here tonight I do want to underline the two   decisions the decision to believe that we really  are called that we are called that I am called   the Lord wants to make me holy and the decision  also to do our part to seek that holiness without   which nobody can see God and uh also I would say  start some spiritual reading if you have the book   fulfillment all desire that would be excellent  spiritual reading for Advent for this course   or this this mission uh if you have some other  spiritual reading start doing that maybe spend   a little more time in prayer each day if you  don't spend any time in prayer start spending   some time in prayer taking some time each day to  just be with the Lord and meditate on his word   the daily scripture readings whatever and then two  housekeeping things if they didn't have the code   because they didn't know about it we can figure  it out just send us an email correct yeah yeah   and then because somebody ordered a book before  the code came out okay and then the second thing   is the link from next week will come in their  email if they've registered for it and it's not   too late to register so tell their friends and if  you can still join yeah the link for next week's   uh Sunday evening Advent mission talk talk number  two will be sent to you in your email I think a   reminder a day ahead of them and then a reminder  maybe 15 minutes ahead or something like that   and invite other people the  more the more the better I mean   everybody's everybody's called to be holy so let's  get everybody here to to find out how to do it okay well thanks Pete Burak for  helping me the voice you heard was Pete   who's coming to the room from next door and  uh it's just great to see you all here I’m   going to go over the chat and just uh I  know I’m going to recognize people and   thank you for being here I look  forward to seeing you next week bye

Channel: Renewal Ministries

Views: 39,723

Rating: 4.9427791 out of 5

Keywords: Christianity, Jesus, Christ, Evangelism, Mission, Spirituality, Evangelization, Religion, Catholic, Church, God, Trinity

Id: I_mYiaeKFlc

Length: 71min 23sec (4283 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 29 2020