March 10, 2024
Why is it so important? Why do people respond very differently to the same evidence? Why should I believe the claims of the Mission of Divine Mercy?
Key Points
- How does God want us to respond to the prophets He sends?
- Three elements in an act of faith.
- Signs and evidence. Example of MDM.
- Interior grace of the Holy Spirit.
- Personal, free response.
This is a computer-generated transcription that has been included to make the homily searchable. It has not been verified by the author.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” So that whoever believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. Think how much this contrasts with our society in which we often hear people say things like, it doesn’t matter what you believe. It doesn’t matter what a person believes, as long as you’re a good person. But Jesus says something very different. He says it’s belief in Him that makes a difference between being saved or not. And so I want to take a little bit to focus on this. I was going to try to shorten a little bit, my homily, because it’s a little bit chilly. It was a lot worse. Yesterday morning, we had Mass yesterday morning, it was very windy and even colder. And I was thinking about the penguins in the Antarctic, you know, they huddle together to keep warm. Mix with the pews, that doesn’t work so well. But it’s better this morning. But I’ll try to shorten this a little bit. But I thought it was important because this is such an important gospel, and especially important for our little mission because our mission’s, the special charism the special grace of our mission is precisely faith so that God can act. And we see in the first reading that the Lord gives us today a very providential reading. It’s talking about God wanting us to believe His messengers and prophets. it says, early and often because it’s talking about how corrupt the people and the kings, and the priests had become. And it says early, so why did God do it says, “early and often God, the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent His messengers to them.” God didn’t say I don’t care, I’m going to just destroy them. He sent His messengers. And doesn’t say just sent one. It says, He sent early and often. That is, He did it over and over again, sending His messengers, for He had compassion on His people and His dwelling place. But what was the response? It says, they mocked the messengers of God. “They mocked the messengers of God, despised His warnings, and scoffed at His prophets.” They mocked the messengers of God, despised His warnings, and scoffed at His prophets. Do we have that problem today? And what happened? What was the result of that? It says, “until the anger of the Lord against His people was so inflamed, that there was no remedy.” And then it goes on to talk about the devastation of Jerusalem. And that seems to me a very God’s providence, which is giving us that powerful clear message, because as scripture says, what’s written for us in Scripture, and in the Old Testament also is written for our instruction. We’re supposed to learn from that because God hasn’t stopped. We haven’t stopped the battle with corruption. And God hasn’t stopped sending His messengers, and His prophets and His warnings. And one famous example, of course, that is Our Lady of Fatima, giving a critical message to three little children, and which could have avoided World War Two in this terrible spread of communism. So that’s just a sign of how God continues. And another example, of course, is St. Faustina. And as the Lord said, the revelations that He gave her for Divine Mercy are a sign of the end times. And there given for our times right now, that the sign of the how important these times are. And, you’re aware that just very recently, the Mission Divine Mercy for the first time began releasing, because we felt God was asking us to take this very challenging step, to begin releasing these messages that He was giving us. And as a sign of one of the ways one that because there’s a lot, a lot of other examples throughout the world, in which God continues to speak to His people out of mercy, out of compassion. And sometimes it’s the message that can be very loving, but sometimes that love has to be expressed in stern warnings, because we’re not listening. And so, what I wanted to reflect today on is this question of faith, faith in Jesus and God. Also that first reading is showing us that God also wants us to believe when He sends us messengers or prophets, which is, as I say, still going on today. And so there’s the gospel, praises the people – who does the gospel praise? – does it praise the very cynical and skeptical, those who are very indifferent to these manifestations of the Lord? Or does it praise those who have simple hearts and simple faith, that they’re open to what the Lord is doing in their midst? The enemies of Jesus were the skeptical ones. What does Jesus say to St. Thomas? Remember after the resurrection when Jesus appeared to St. Thomas, St. Thomas, who was refusing to believe without seeing and Jesus says, Thomas, “you have believed because you have seen me. Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe.” There are some people who would only believe like Thomas, would only believe if he saw the miracle with his own eyes. And there are some people who would not even believe when they saw the miracle. Think of the extraordinary resurrection of Lazarus. And some people, even when they had the miracle right there in their face, they wouldn’t believe. It wasn’t that they didn’t have proof. It’s that they didn’t want to believe. But Jesus praises those, we just heard it, who can believe without miracles. “Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe.” And that’s been one of the extraordinary things for us as these messages are being released. Of course, there’s a lot of people have a lot of objections, and there’s a lot of pushback. And that’s to be expected. But what’s amazing to me is to see how many people have believed, without any miracles. A lot of people who don’t even know the mission, or just seen our video, are reading the message, and sense right away and believed. And so I think that’s what’s very encouraging. And so but why this difference? Why do people respond so differently, to the same experiences. So I wanted to take a moment to reflect with you all on what is involved in an act of faith. Because each one of us has to make that decision. It’s a personal decision, to believe or not to believe. And so what is involved in that. So I want to focus on three key elements, in the act of faith. And the first is the signs, the evidence, the indications that God gives. So in the Gospel, there are people who heard Jesus and they saw Jesus, they could sense His wisdom and His teaching. They could sense the love and the courage, the goodness in Him. Then, many of them also saw His mighty deeds of healing and miracles and casting out demons. And then finally, there was His sacrifice, His sacrifice on the cross, and then His resurrection. And other people didn’t see Jesus at all, but they had the witness of the apostles. And so all these were like signs that help people believe. So, for instance, in the case of messengers of God, and I’ll focus on our case right now, that these messages that we’re sharing what helps people to believe (and this is a part I’m gonna have to condense a lot), but one thing is the messages themselves. Some people read the messages and sense somehow right away. They sense, like Jesus says, My sheep hear my voice right away. They sense that this is the Lord speaking. And sense that it’s very Catholic. It’s strongly Catholic. It’s, they sense like an anointing in them. And they also sense its harmony with the other credible messages and also with the truth of what’s actually happening in our world. So the messages themselves can be for many people a sign. And then it’s for me, I know for myself as a priest trying to discern, as I say, 30 years ago when I first met these women, and then the messages that our community began receiving seven years ago, it was knowing the person’s getting to know the person and the person that I met in Monterrey. I got to know them over many years, and getting to know them and seeing their life. That doesn’t mean that they were perfect persons, that they were already saints, but they were faithful Catholics, they were healthy, mentally, making a lot of sacrifices and to try to be faithful to the Lord. And knowing the members of our community again, where nobody knows our community thinks that we’re a community of saints. But, I also know that they’re not making this up. So knowing the persons involved, helps, and also the fruits. And it’s not necessarily the quantity of fruits, but it’s the quality of fruits and signs. And so I won’t go into all of that right now. But for me, you know, having been now that 30 years that I’ve been involved in this, and I can clearly see so many signs, so many indications that the Lord’s guidance in this which are for me, because this has been a very challenging situation for myself, because I had the first responsibility in making decisions about this. And so I don’t want to mislead myself, and especially I don’t want to mislead other people. And so I, I spent a lot of time trying to discern, are these really from the Lord or not. And for me, there’s been so many confirmations over these years, that have given me a great confidence that that is. So that’s the first point, the signs that the Lord gives. But at the mission, we haven’t had great, dramatic miracles. And so that’s what’s amazing to me that people can believe, the people who are believing without that. I think there will be, the Lord has said that there will be very, very impressive manifestations. And that will draw a lot more people. But what is impressive to me are those who can believe before that, without seeing. So the first point are the signs, the exterior signs that the Lord gives. But that’s not enough. For again, how can a person just read a message and right away sense from the Holy Spirit, for there to be an act of faith, there also needs to be, not just exterior signs, but there needs to be the interior action of the Holy Spirit. And that’s often very subtle. So we’re often not aware of that. The signs were more aware of, but there’s interior action, the Holy Spirit is more hidden. But faith is a grace, a gift of God. The Catechism says, “the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, move the heart and convert it to God, opening the eyes of the mind.” So that is to make an act of faith, we need this help of the Holy Spirit. It says moving the heart, converting it to God, and opening the eyes of our mind, helping us to see the light. And that’s what Jesus says when He says, “no one can come to Me unless the Father draws him. So the Father by the interior action, the Holy Spirit, is drawing people to faith. We might not be aware of it. But that’s happening. Just one example from Scripture. One striking example is Simeon when Jesus was just a little baby being presented in the temple, and the old man, Simeon, who had been very inspired by the Holy Spirit came to the temple. And all he saw was a couple with a little child. And there were a lot of other couples with little children. He didn’t see any miracles, He didn’t even hear Jesus preaching. Yet the grace of the Holy Spirit gave him this grace, to believe, and to not only believe, he began prophesying. Lord, now You can let your servant go in peace from my eyes have seen the salvation. A whole bunch of people are saying the same thing he was saying, and they weren’t believing. they just saw another couple. But because of the grace of the Holy Spirit, he was able to believe. And so that helps us to understand why there’s such different reactions. People can see the same signs and even the same miracles and respond very differently. Because the father is drawing everybody. The Father draws everybody. But He doesn’t draw us by forcing us. It’s not like He lassos us and forces us. You know a cowboy lassos you know, a steer is not trying to invite the steer to come, he’s trying to force it right. But God doesn’t draw us that way. He doesn’t draw us by forcing us. But St. John goes on to say, “They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard, (that is heard this interior instruction of the Father), but also learns from him, comes to me.” The Father draws us, not by forcing us, but by giving us this interior inspiration, or light. So that’s the action of the Holy Spirit by which the Father draws us. So that’s the second point for an act of faith. There’s not just the exterior signs, but there has to be also the interior grace of the Holy Spirit, drawing us. But if the Father is drawing everybody, how come some people respond, and some people don’t. And that leads us to the third element, because God draws us, but He doesn’t force us, He leaves us free, He respects our freedom. And so for there to be an act of faith, it’s not enough to have God’s grace, we also need our own free response. Everybody is free to respond or not to respond. And so faith, the faith we have depends on our core attitude. And that’s what the gospel is talking about today. Are we seeking what is good and true? Are we seeking the light? Or do we hate the light and hate the truth, because we prefer evil? That’s what Jesus said in the Gospel today. He said, “This is the judgment that the Light has come into the world.” And men loved darkness more than light. Why? because their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” So there’s a lot of people who don’t want the light, because they’re too attached to evil. “But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.” So this gospel is helping us to see at the heart of the response to believe or not to believe in Jesus is the interior attitude of being attached to evil. And so wanting darkness, or seeking God, and truth and light. So it comes from faith, comes from my deep attitudes towards the light. So it’s not a function of our intelligence or our learning. Some people have had very little light. They haven’t maybe been able to read or learn much about Jesus. But the little they’ve had, they’ve responded to, they’ve responded to that light. They go towards the light. And other people have had a lot of information, a lot of true information, but they don’t want the light. And so they reject it. And I’ll read you a quote, and I don’t know who this. I’m sorry, I don’t know who this quote is by; lastly, it might be Peter Kreeft. But I’m not sure but I think it helps make this point. It says, “it is often said that faith is a free act. That is true but is likely to be misunderstood. It does not mean that a person normally deliberates about whether to believe or not, and finally makes up his mind. Most people find faith within themselves or fail to find it. The decision has taken place in their subconscious and has resulted from many little decisions to do right or wrong, to love the good or to abandon it. When they encounter the church or the Word of God. They simply believe or do not believe without knowing how or why they have indeed made a free decision. But this decision took place in many other areas, long before it appeared as faith or unbelief. Similarly, falling away from the faith is seldom due to the reasons or problems we consciously declare. Often it is the result of living in discord with the faith we profess.” So for faith, it’s necessary not just to have the signs, and not just have the interior grace, but each one of us is free to respond or not. And our response is usually based on whether we’re seeking what is true or good, or we don’t want that, or to attach to something evil. And so this is a good opportunity for us to reflect on our own life, that we shouldn’t use this to judge other people, because we don’t know the circumstances of other people’s lives. But it helps us to reflect on our own lives. And so no one can force people to believe and we’re very conscious of that. Right now as the Mission of Divine Mercy puts out these messages, we can’t make anybody believe; we can’t, can’t prove and so each person has to make a decision, and Faith can be difficult. So it’s good to humbly ask the Holy Spirit, humbly. Humility is a big part of it, that opens us up to God because many times a person is too stubborn or arrogant or proud in their own criteria and own opinions. And so it makes it difficult for them to receive fully the light of God. So we humbly ask the Holy Spirit for guidance, as we seek what is true. So to conclude, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him. So it’s not a complicated formula, a complicated set of instructions. It said very simply what we need to do – believe in Jesus. “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” And right now, as we gather for this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, this is happening right now, the Holy Spirit from God, the Father is drawing us to faith in Jesus, to faith in Jesus, especially in His Eucharistic presence, which will become real in a few moments on the altar. And so with our Blessed Mother, let us ask her help to accept what the Lord is saying to us. That is, join us to Jesus Christ and accept the messengers and prophets that he might also be sending right now in our days. And so ask for this grace, of responding, of welcoming the light and moving towards the light, Jesus, we trust in You. Amen.
KEYWORDS / PHRASES:
2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23
Jn 3:14-21