Kaukauna Catholic Parishes

Mom and Dad were always ready to give advice. As kids, we would often roll our eyes because we had to listen to the same advice time and time again! We swore we would never utter the same words of our parents. 

Then one day we grew up, and realized - to our horror - we were saying the exact same things our parents had said to us. We
couldn’t stop ourselves. We became clones of our parents. Does that seem familiar?

Whether we like it, for better or worse, our parents have had an influence on our lives. For me, it is ‘my protestant mother.’ Mom despite her different faith tradition - taught us all about Catholic guilt!!!  And the numerous important aspects of our faith of course! Also never start a new sentence with the word "and" as I just did in the previous sentence.

Today’s Gospel begins with a scene that recalls a moment in the history of Israel, the episode recalled in today’s First Reading. The 70 elders who received God’s Spirit through Moses prefigure the ministry of the apostles. Like Joshua in the First Reading, John makes the mistake of presuming that only a select few are inspired and entrusted to carry out God’s plans. The Spirit blows where it wills (see John 3:8), and God desires to bestow His Spirit on all the people of God, in every nation under heaven (see Acts 2:5, 38).

God can and will work mighty deeds through the most unexpected and unlikely people. For me, it was my protestant mother who gifted me with a love for the word of God, beautiful hymns, and a love of the Beatitudes. 

I learned most especially from her that all of us are called to perform even our most humble tasks, such as giving a cup of water, for the sake of God’s name and the cause of God’s kingdom.

Often, like Joshua and John, and perhaps without noticing it, we cloak our failings and fears under the guise of our desire to defend Christ or the Church. But as Jesus says today, instead of worrying about who is a real Christian and who is not, we should make sure that we ourselves are leading lives worthy of our calling as disciples.

Does the advice we give or the example of our actions, give scandal—causing others to doubt or lose faith? Do we do what we do with mixed motives instead of seeking only the Father’s will? Are we living, as this Sunday’s Epistle warns, for our own luxury and pleasure, and neglecting our neighbors?

Blessings,
Fr. Mack