September 3, 2023: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Following Christ can be a great burden as we take up the Cross.  And to our human ears, it doesn't make sense that we would have to deliberately enter into a painful experience.  Just like St. Peter, we would perhaps go so far as to try and deny it.

Yet we are called to enter more deeply into the will of God, even when it's illogical and involves pain.  As we grow in our understanding of the Paschal Mystery, we realize that pain has a purpose.  Even Jeremiah yearned to be free of the traumatic experience of proclaiming God's Word to a people who opposed it because this Word condemned them. When he tried to stop speaking it, the Word burned in him.  In a sense, he realized it was his purpose.

So we realize we have a great purpose, because we offer all of ourselves to the One Who truly brings us alive, and are renewed to be more conformed to His purposes.  Furthermore, through death, we experience life, in Eternity, and even now because we are living according to His purpose, which is how we experience abundant Life.

Today is a special day for the United States, marking the Treaty of Paris 1783, which ended the American Revolution.  After a long struggle, there was peace.  So much striving led to the end of conflict and a new nation, in which a people could live with purpose of upholding ideals of God-given right and liberty.

I also think about how I started at Julian Middle School 21 years ago today.  It was a time when I came to see that faith brings great purpose to my life, a legacy that is ongoing for me even today.