Praying with Scripture | Part 3 | Homily for 23rd Sunday

Last weekend, I shared a story about the “one thing” my grandpa left me shortly before his death.

It was this – a small sticky note that read: Eccles 2:11.

When I read this “one thing” from Ecclesiastes, after being away from the Catholic Church for over 5 years, immersed in a very sinful life, I was pierced to the heart and decided to go to Confession and change my life forever.

My grandpa’s act of leaving me “one thing” from the Bible got me thinking: since this is my last weekend with you, if I could leave you “one thing” from the Bible, what would it be?

As I was praying for you all, Jesus showed me how today’s reading can all be summarized in “one thing”, which happens to be my all-time favourite verse from the Bible.

And so, this is the “one thing” I want to leave with you:

Say it with me: “All things work for good for those who love God.”

This verse from Romans 8:28 captures God’s amazing promise we heard in today’s 1st reading that “all things will work for good.” A day will come when there will be no more sickness or disease or death but rather perfect health and endless joy forever.

But friends, this promise is NOT for everyone. As we heard in today’s second reading from St. James, it’s only for “those who love Him” (James 2:5). That’s why St. Paul says, “All things work for good for those who love God.”

So, I have a question:

To help us honestly answer this question, I’d like to share one of my favourite quotes about love.

Let’s read this out loud together.

“What you are in love with… will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.”

So if what got you out of bed this morning was God because you wanted to pray,

and if what you like to do with your evenings and weekends involves God-related things, such as going to Mass, praying a family rosary, listening to a Catholic podcast or watching a TV show likeThe Chosen,

those are good signs that you love God, and Romans 8:28 is for you.

Also, if what you like to read are things about God, especially the Bible,

and you find yourself talking about God stuff with everyone you know,

those are good signs that you love God, and Romans 8:28 is for you.

Finally. If what breaks your heart is sin, because that is what hurts God the most,

and what amazes you with joy and gratitude is seeing others fall in love with God,

those are good signs that you love God, and Romans 8:28 is for you.

So, I ask the question again:

Do you love God?

For those who weren’t here last weekend, these are 4 responses we can have to this question: Do you love God? based on the 4 options of soil that Jesus speaks about in his parables.

Some here, if they are honest, would choose the hard path. Your answer to the question, Do you love God? is a “No.” Maybe you barely think of God at all apart from this one hour at Mass and your heart feels hardened to the idea of getting out of bed to pray. To that I say, “Praise God you’re here.“

Others here would choose the rocky ground. Maybe you remember times in your past as a child when you felt like you truly loved God… but now, your life feels so busy and chaotic that the idea spending your free time on the evenings and weekends doing God stuff seems way too difficult. To that I say again, “Praise God you’re here.

And if we’re honest, many of us probably became aware of some thorns that popped up and tried to convince us that our answer to the question, Do you love God? should be “No“, like some frequent sins, addictions or attachments to worldly things. Like your answer to the question, What got you out of bed this morning? Instagram! And you feel like, how could I truly say I love God if Instagram got me out of bed this morning! Ahh…

And finally, some of us feel like it is only the great saints, like Fr. Justin, who could honestly say they love God. And so when Fr. Justin comes back to the parish next Sunday and he’s glowing from his vacation, you’ll look at him again and say, “Ahh, Fr. Justin… he must love God so much… such good soil… but here I am. Thorns everywhere.”

But I’ve got amazing news.

Yes, that’s the chorus for my RAP song. And you’ll hear the debut of it after Mass. So stay tuned.

For those who weren’t here over the last two weekends, don’t worry! After Mass, we will be handing out a free booklet that explains the purpose of this RAP song and summarizes everything I’ve taught about how to pray with Scripture.

For now, I want to make “one thing” very clear from the first sentence of this rap verse.

When you open the Bible to find your “one thing” – which is simply a sentence or word in the passage you’re reading that somehow speaks to you personally in some way.

Jesus makes good soil in your heart during that time.

Yes, our hearts are like gardens and Jesus is the Gardener.

And every time we open the Bible to pray, we are opening our hearts to Jesus.

He is the best Gardener in the world and can always makes a little space of good soil so that “one thing” becomes a seed He plants in our hearts.

Eventually, that “one thing” can burst forth and make your heart sing a song of great love.

And this is amazing news, friends.

It doesn’t matter whether you feel your heart is hardened or rocky or full of thorns right now.

The Lord is looking at each one of your hearts right now. He’s not looking at the hard path, the rocky ground, or thorns. He’s just looking at your heart, and if you can express your desire for one verse to be true in your life…