My favorite word in the gospel for this Sunday is the conjunction “but.” I love the part where the apostles say to Jesus, “Jesus, we have worked all night. We have caught nothing. But at your command, we will lower the nets.” The word “but” is so powerful because it shows the relationship with Jesus. A lot of the time, we don’t use that word. All we ask is the question, “Why?” “Jesus, why am I suffering like this?” “Why would the Catholic Church teach something like this?” Whatever it is, we stop there and don’t use the word “but.”
“Jesus, I am suffering now, but I love and trust you.” “Jesus, I keep falling into the same sin over and over, but you are mercy, compassion, and my Lord.” “Jesus, I don’t understand this teaching of the Catholic Church, but I trust you, I love you, and I adore you.” So don’t be afraid of the word “but”. This is Spirit Juice. Peace.
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Fulfilled Hopes and Fears
Christmas may be over, but this Sunday’s Gospel echoes a familiar line from O Little Town of Bethlehem: “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
Jesus reminds us that He is the fulfillment of every hope and every fear, from the past and the present, from every heart and every place. Nothing we carry is outside of His ability to meet and redeem.
The question is simple but challenging: Are we allowing Jesus to enter into all of it? Even in Ordinary Time, He is the One who sets everything right.
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Fear of Being Less of Ourselves
One of my favorite scenes from The Lord of the Rings is when Gandalf heals King Theoden from Saruman’s possession. This is such an awesome scene of healing. At one point, the possessed King Theoden says to Gandalf, “If I go, Theoden dies.” And that’s precisely what we see in the gospel today. The demon spirit tells Jesus, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” We say that to…
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Reject Isolation
At the end of Marvel’s “Infinity War,” Thanos sits alone on a planet alone. And you may think that it’s paradise, but it’s hell. In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus says clearly, “What does it profit one if he gains the whole world “but loses his life? “Loses his soul?” Thanos gets everything he wants. He receives the Gauntlet. He gets the Infinity Stones. He wins the war…
