Embracing Vulnerability: The Gift of Faith in Advent
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"We had the parish mission Sunday night, Monday night, and Tuesday night. And if you were unable to attend or you haven't been able to watch those mission nights, I just encourage you to do so. Because as we came into Advent, we spoke about the Lord's gift that he wanted to give our parish, which he intends, it's his promise to give us. And that is what? The gift of? Nice, faith. That's right. So he gives us the gift of faith, but we have to create a space for that gift. Right? And he's a gentleman. He stands at the door and he knocks." [00:19:05] (36 seconds)
"So I have to give him permission to enter and give me the gift. I can't have my heart that's closed and say, okay, God, if you want to give it, just do it. No, I have to open myself and say, there's a little bit of vulnerability in that. Yeah, it's like Jesus on the cross. He exposes his heart. And what does that exposition leave? The opportunity for you to embrace him or the opportunity for you to pierce him." [00:19:48] (29 seconds)
"And so on Sunday night, we spoke about forgiveness and the need to forgive others. On Monday night, we prayed for the Holy Spirit. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to come upon us. And on Tuesday night, we spoke about the need of daily prayer and how to pray. And then this past Thursday morning at 645, we had our Rarate Cheli Mass, where the church was dark and they had candles that were all around the sanctuary and up there and all around. And it was beautiful." [00:20:49] (29 seconds)
"That we're tilling the soil so that he can do his marvelous work. That we could be like the shepherds in the field who, when they hear by the angels of the announcement of the Savior, they run in haste. They run in haste. And when Elizabeth receives the gift of John the Baptist and Mary hears about it, she travels in haste. Everybody say, in haste. Yeah, we're really hasty in this time of year. We're hasty in driving, hasty in making decisions about what I need to do. And we're very quick." [00:21:48] (38 seconds)
"Well, what prevents us from believing the word of the Lord? Disbelief. Unbelief. That when I don't believe that he can do what he says, because I don't really believe him to be fully God, then I prevent in my heart and in my soul, the word from bringing forth life. It would be like this. If I took a seed and I planted it in the ground, but I don't believe it, then I don't believe it." [00:23:33] (30 seconds)
"And Jesus says, come to me, you who have burdens, and I will give you rest. Oh, you don't know my schedule, Jesus. I'm like a 50s diner smoker lady, you know? Hey, Father, you don't know. You don't know, Jesus, what I've been through. Okay, bet. He does. In fact, he was there when you went through it. He was there in the midst of it. And he wants to be the one to take the burden off your shoulders." [00:25:49] (28 seconds)
"But he exchanges the crown of thorns for the crown of righteousness. And when you go into confession, he takes the crown of righteousness off his own head and he places it upon yours. He loves to give you the crown of righteousness. So whether it's been a couple of weeks or whether it's been decades since you've gone to confession, we invite you to come to confession this weekend." [00:28:50] (27 seconds)
"And so in the season of Advent, even in these last four days, we're giving him permission to open up our hearts, to open up the places that I've been holding back. Which is why the invitation stands. To come and let yourself be unburdened by the Lord. To confess your sins to him, the things that you haven't forgiven yourself for, the things that you haven't spoken to anybody or even that you've avoided saying in confession because you're too embarrassed." [00:30:22] (30 seconds)
"But why do we become like that? Because we carry the burdens and we don't give them to the Lord. But when I do, I find freedom for my soul and I find the joy that is inexplicable. That is what scripture says. There is inexplicable joy, joy that cannot be explained. That's the joy. That's the joy that I want. Amen? I want the peace that's beyond understanding as St. Paul says. Amen? Don't you want that?" [00:33:33] (30 seconds)
"Stop living with a small-mindedness and let him expand your vision. Let him expand your vision for heaven so that as you go into this Christmas season and you look at a single statue of the infant Jesus, your heart is moved and it starts to leap with joy because all of a sudden you're living with the same Holy Spirit that John the Baptist was living with. Amen? That's what he wants to give you." [00:34:21] (23 seconds)
"And if you go into Christmas and you start saying, well, I didn't get the thing that I said. It was a faith. And then I think, it's probably because there's some part of you that you haven't given over to Jesus. And you're resistant to go to confession because you think, well, we don't want to talk about sin, Father. We just want to talk about the good things. I can't receive the good things of God unless I cleanse my soul." [00:35:19] (19 seconds)
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"So I have to give him permission to enter and give me the gift. I can't have my heart that's closed and say, okay, God, if you want to give it, just do it. No, I have to open myself and say, there's a little bit of vulnerability in that. Yeah, it's like Jesus on the cross. He exposes his heart. And what does that exposition leave? The opportunity for you to embrace him or the opportunity for you to pierce him." [00:19:48] (29 seconds)
"And so on Sunday night, we spoke about forgiveness and the need to forgive others. On Monday night, we prayed for the Holy Spirit. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to come upon us. And on Tuesday night, we spoke about the need of daily prayer and how to pray. And then this past Thursday morning at 645, we had our Rarate Cheli Mass, where the church was dark and they had candles that were all around the sanctuary and up there and all around. And it was beautiful." [00:20:49] (29 seconds)
"That we're tilling the soil so that he can do his marvelous work. That we could be like the shepherds in the field who, when they hear by the angels of the announcement of the Savior, they run in haste. They run in haste. And when Elizabeth receives the gift of John the Baptist and Mary hears about it, she travels in haste. Everybody say, in haste. Yeah, we're really hasty in this time of year. We're hasty in driving, hasty in making decisions about what I need to do. And we're very quick." [00:21:48] (38 seconds)
"Well, what prevents us from believing the word of the Lord? Disbelief. Unbelief. That when I don't believe that he can do what he says, because I don't really believe him to be fully God, then I prevent in my heart and in my soul, the word from bringing forth life. It would be like this. If I took a seed and I planted it in the ground, but I don't believe it, then I don't believe it." [00:23:33] (30 seconds)
"And Jesus says, come to me, you who have burdens, and I will give you rest. Oh, you don't know my schedule, Jesus. I'm like a 50s diner smoker lady, you know? Hey, Father, you don't know. You don't know, Jesus, what I've been through. Okay, bet. He does. In fact, he was there when you went through it. He was there in the midst of it. And he wants to be the one to take the burden off your shoulders." [00:25:49] (28 seconds)
"But he exchanges the crown of thorns for the crown of righteousness. And when you go into confession, he takes the crown of righteousness off his own head and he places it upon yours. He loves to give you the crown of righteousness. So whether it's been a couple of weeks or whether it's been decades since you've gone to confession, we invite you to come to confession this weekend." [00:28:50] (27 seconds)
"And so in the season of Advent, even in these last four days, we're giving him permission to open up our hearts, to open up the places that I've been holding back. Which is why the invitation stands. To come and let yourself be unburdened by the Lord. To confess your sins to him, the things that you haven't forgiven yourself for, the things that you haven't spoken to anybody or even that you've avoided saying in confession because you're too embarrassed." [00:30:22] (30 seconds)
"But why do we become like that? Because we carry the burdens and we don't give them to the Lord. But when I do, I find freedom for my soul and I find the joy that is inexplicable. That is what scripture says. There is inexplicable joy, joy that cannot be explained. That's the joy. That's the joy that I want. Amen? I want the peace that's beyond understanding as St. Paul says. Amen? Don't you want that?" [00:33:33] (30 seconds)
"Stop living with a small-mindedness and let him expand your vision. Let him expand your vision for heaven so that as you go into this Christmas season and you look at a single statue of the infant Jesus, your heart is moved and it starts to leap with joy because all of a sudden you're living with the same Holy Spirit that John the Baptist was living with. Amen? That's what he wants to give you." [00:34:21] (23 seconds)
"And if you go into Christmas and you start saying, well, I didn't get the thing that I said. It was a faith. And then I think, it's probably because there's some part of you that you haven't given over to Jesus. And you're resistant to go to confession because you think, well, we don't want to talk about sin, Father. We just want to talk about the good things. I can't receive the good things of God unless I cleanse my soul." [00:35:19] (19 seconds)
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