Friday in the Twenty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time

We know that those who are not members of the Catholic Church but live according to their conscience and love of neighbor can be saved.  So, why be Catholic?  The document on the Church at the Second Vatican Council answers that question.  They need to know the truth, especially the fullness of faith, because not to live in the truth exposes one to error, and error can be fatal.  Today many people live in errors expressed by the acronym LGBTQ.  Transexualism, especially, is in the news today.  How many people know that mutilating the human body can be gravely sinful?  Yet, it is taught as being something desireable for the young, leading even children into error.

A class of second graders was asked, “Who is Jesus?”  Here are some replies. One child said, “Jesus is a girl.”  A boy replied, “No, he’s not.”  She said, “Yes, she is!” He said, “No, Jesus is a BOY.”  Another child broke through this impasse when she said, “Jesus is the Son of God.”  Now that’s more like it.  But then she added, “But if there is no God, then Jesus isn’t the Son of God.” 

Drifting from the original question another child said, “Jesus creates apples.”  When asked the meaning of Christmas many of the kids thought it was the birthday of Santa Claus.  And when a young girl was asked how the wise men were guided to the cave in Bethlehem she replied, “Maybe they used Google Maps.”  Faith is truth, and to live in the truth protects us from evil.

All four gospels were written to answer this question, “Who is Jesus?”  St. Peter gave the right answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16:16).  That’s what we believe and proclaim by the way we live.  We are here this morning to be united in communion with the one whom we love, Jesus, the Son of God, and we pray every day for the billions of people in this world who do not know who Jesus really is.