Friar’s Corner: Light up your life!

The Friar's Corner

Isaiah 8:23; Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23

Have you found the light of your life? The light has been here and he is brighter than our earthly sun. He is the glorious, warm and loving light that sets you on fire without burning you. As you catch his fiery light you get lifted up and you want to jump for joy. Alleluia! It can happen if you long for it. Go to a good Pentecostal church where the people really “light up” and jump for joy. Catholics tend to be very quiet and reserve.

The first reading today from one of the major Old Testament prophets, speaks about the people seeing a great light. That was what the Magi saw at the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. They gathered some gifts and quickly went to see and worship the new king. Have we found and met that new king? I have and I’m so excited to tell you about him. Once he came to earth to save humanity he has never left. Most in the world need to find and get set on fire with the love of this new king.

Set afire

Psalm 27 speaks about this light. Jesus Christ is not just that light. He is our salvation and way to a new and exciting life. I want to remain with him and be set afire with him and live near him always. In the “I AM” statements of St. John’s gospel, John speaks about Jesus as the “Light of the world” 9 times.

I am a frisky Franciscan friar, not a “dunk a monk.” Although I want to get really dunked in the “living water” that is Jesus Christ. I want to remain on “the vine” that is Jesus Christ, not broken off and burned. The Gaither Singers had a song years ago: “Get all excited go tell everybody; that Jesus Christ is Lord.” I want to get you all excited about Jesus. He is our only and real “Way, Truth, and New Life.”

The early part of the gospels tells us about Jesus. They tell us so many of the wonderful things that Jesus was about. St. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:9,

For as it is written “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has the human heart imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 

The last sentence of St. John’s gospel, 21:25, said,

But there are also many other things that Jesus did: and if every one of them was recorded, I do not think the world itself could contain the books that would be written.

Get more excited!

We get more excited about Jesus’ works if we pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, turn off the distractions and the TV and prayerfully read the early parts of the gospels. We read these stories in the early part of the church year before Lent, at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. As I write this today, Thursday of the first week of ordinary time, we read from Mark 1:39-45. Jesus left Capernaum and “went into the synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout Galilee.” In this section, Jesus had healed a leper, though Jesus told him not to tell anyone but the priests, the man “went forth and began to proclaim the entire story.”  As a result, “Jesus could no longer go openly into any town. Rather, he stayed outside in deserted places, and people continued to come to him from every quarter.” We are a storytelling people. Every day at every Mass we are telling these wonderful stories about Jesus.

Does this get you excited? It does me. I am an evangelist. The job of an evangelist is to get people excited about Jesus. Yesterday, I was with a group of priests praying and sharing in Pittsburgh, PA. We were a “think tank” looking at our noisy culture. There is one major culture in each country with different sub-groups, like old people, middle-aged, teens and younger.

Screwtape Letters

C.S. Lewis wrote a book many years ago called Screwtape Letters. It was about a convention Satan was having with his fellow demons. He said they couldn’t always keep people from praying but they could fill their days with such busyness and noise that they are so distracted they would have no time to pray. Isn’t that truer in our days? I think so.

When my community goes to pray, we light a few candles. I want to light your candle not to be just a little flicker but to fan you into a blazing torch for Jesus.

Have a good week getting lighted up with Jesus,

Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR

Father Bob Hilz
fbhilz@gmail.com

(© 2020 Father Bob Hilz, TOR)

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Nancy Ward

Nancy Ward writes about conversion, Christian community, and Catholicism. After earning a journalism degree, she worked for the Diocese of Dallas newspaper and the Archbishop Sheen Center for Evangelization, then began her own editing service. She’s a regular contributor to CatholicMom.com, SpiritualDirection.com, CatholicWritersGuild.com, NewEvangelizers.com and a contributing author to The Catholic Mom’s Prayer Companion. Now, through her Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story: Tools, Tips, and Testimonies workshops, retreats, book, and DVD, she shares her conversion story at Catholic parishes and conferences, equipping others to share their own stories.

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