Spoiler alert! If you have or haven’t seen Obi-Wan Kenobi, the new show on Disney+, here is Obi-Wan Kenobi, who is struggling with a lot of fear. Obi-Wan gets rid of his identity as a Jedi and buries his lightsaber in the sand. But what’s so amazing is one of his buddies, Senator Organa, comes to him and basically reminds him of his identity. And so that fear, that anxiety, starts to fade away because someone else has reminded him of his identity as a Jedi, who he truly is.
In Sunday’s Gospel today, there’s the scene of Martha and Mary, where Martha is very anxious about many things, but Mary is able to rest with Jesus. The same thing applies to us. When we realize how loved we are by Him, that can take away so much of that fear, that anxiety, that is absolutely from the evil one. And that we can actually reclaim our lightsaber, or aka your identity in Christ.
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Witness of the Saints
Top five most gruesome apostle martyrs. Coming in fifth, St. Thomas, stabbed to death with a spear. Coming in fourth St. James, the Lesser, clubbed to death. Coming in third St. Simon sawed in half. Coming in second, our very own first Pope St. Peter crucified upside down and coming in first St. Bartholomew skinned alive. Today, the feasts of St. John LA and you walk into this basilica and you see statues of the apostles holding the tools of their martyrdom. This is the witness of the saints. Death had no power over the witness of the apostles. Death has no power over Jesus Christ and as Catholic Christians, death has no power over you. Go be witnesses of Jesus. Just don’t get skinned alive.
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Something Greater Than Ourselves
Let’s talk about my dad. So when I was a kid, about a year ago… One of my most formative things was seeing my dad pray on his knees, praying to someone more important than him. As a kid, I saw my dad as the supreme commander of the universe. Seeing him answer to someone even more significant than him, loved by someone even greater than him, was so freeing for me just to be a kid and loved…
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Not Scandalized By You
Imagine if your group text with friends suddenly went public. Or if some of the dumb or embarrassing things you’ve said in the past were brought back to life. Most of us fear that kind of exposure because we know we’ve failed, and we’re not sure we’d be received well.
In this Sunday’s first reading, we hear about King David. For many people, the first thing that comes to mind is his failure with Bathsheba. Yet God looks deeper than David’s mistakes. He sees both the potential for sin and the potential for great love and He still chooses him.
That’s the good news for us. No matter what’s in our past or what we’re ashamed of, God looks into our hearts, sees everything, and still calls us. He is not scandalized by your heart.
