“That Man Is You!” (TMIY) is a multi-year, interactive men’s program, offered in 13-week increments, combining the best research from science with the teachings of the Catholic faith and the wisdom of the saints to develop the vision of man fully alive. By honestly addressing the pressures and temptations that men face in our modern culture, “That Man Is You!” seeks to form men who will be capable of transforming homes and society. This program, starting September 11, is structured, informative, spiritual, helps create a sense of unity, and it is enjoyable.
Please know that the TMIY program registration representative is Tom Willison. If you have any questions you can contact him via email tomwillison3@gmail.com or telephone 815-232-5539. There is a TMIY Core/Steering team preparing to offer this powerful program beginning September 11, 2021 in the St Thomas Freeport O’Neill Fellowship Hall. Doors open at 6:15am, with the program promptly starting at 6:30am and ending at 7:55am. In the Narthex is a registration table to gain more information and to register.
Chapter two ends with an image of the Church being God’s people. We are all members of the household of God (2:19). As Paul continues, we are reminded that he is writing to gentiles. The gentiles are any people that are not Jews. Only to the Jews was made the promise through Abraham and Moses. But Paul brings the good news to the gentiles and therefore the rest of the world. This includes us and our ancestors.
It is something that Paul himself has paid a price for too (3:2 &13). Paul has preached and exhausted himself in bringing the good news of the gospel to all who have ears to hear. In the same token, he has suffered much in physical abuse, being beaten and ridiculed by even his own brethren. Christ is not the only one who has suffered for our sakes. So much suffering through the centuries has been part of the graces we receive today. Each generation must hand down the graces of our God. God calls each of us to work not only for our own salvation, but for that of others’ salvation. We are all called to follow in the footsteps of Paul as well. His suffering was the cause of so many others coming to believe in Jesus. The suffering of Paul contributed to the salvation of many souls. So our sufferings have the potential of bringing souls to faith in Jesus. Our suffering, then, has the potential of helping others along their way to salvation.
The suffering we would endure is why we need to “draw near to Him” (12-13). There are many ways to come close to our Lord. We can read scripture daily and meditate on what we read using “Lectio Divina” as a way to meditate. I encourage you to look it up and try practicing this method of meditation. A person can also come to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. One can also attend Mass during the week. Praying the rosary every day is also great for meditating on the Bible. Reading the catechism of the Catholic Church is also another great tool to use. It is good to meditate on what the Church teaches in the Catechism. You can also read your missal, or the words of the Mass, and meditate on that as well. Staying close to Jesus in these ways can be very helpful in keeping us strong in our faith.
Paul offers his own prayers for graces for us as well as for the gentiles of his day. Paul prays for the spiritual riches he himself has experienced (16). He prays for that inward strength that only the Holy Spirit can give. He prays for that wonderful gift of faith, that it would be strong. Paul intercedes for us, that charity in our hearts would be rooted in our very lives and the foundation of all our actions. In doing so, we may have an understanding of God’s love for us (19). Imagine the person you love the most. God’s love for you is infinitely more. His love never tires. Paul’s desire for you is that you would be in the very love of God and have a sense of joy and peace in that very love. It is a love and joy that only God can give.
When Paul is reminded of God’s love, he cannot help but praise His goodness for all of us. Paul desires us to have what he has experienced himself. When God shares such love to a person, that love transforms them. They start to even will the good for those who have done bad things to them. God’s love purifies us. It makes our hearts pure as He is pure Himself. This purity is a purity of intent. His purity strengthens us to always have pure goodness in our hearts for others. Love never uses the other as an object. Love does not demand. Love never wounds the other through sin. Love brings healing, peace, and makes offenses received light. Love does not look for a political angle to criticize. It does not look for a way to be offended. Everything changes so quickly when the love of God is near. I too pray that every person in our parishes could experience the love of God, and experience it more often.
This second chapter deals with that wonderful gift of faith that is freely given to us by God. Before that gift, we are “…dead because of our sins and offenses” (v1). It is a kind of spiritual death. Sin holds us down. We cannot enter heaven with sin. Sin hurts people. It hurts God, our neighbor and ourselves. We have been enslaved by many spirits; Paul particularly lists the present age [worldliness] and the prince of the air. The prince of the air is an evil spirit that those who have ill will use as a curse to put on others. It still happens today.
Before we accept the gift of faith in Christ Jesus, we grasp on to the present age for wisdom and a guide for what to do. But the present age teaches us to lie, steal, be jealous, hold on to anger, to do violence when “necessary.” It uses control, manipulation, criticism, and is eager to use each other as objects. It demeans others and is quickly willing to relegate others as sub-humans, non-persons with no dignity. With such degradation of the human person, marriage has been degraded from a sacrament where the love of God is manifest in the gift of self of covenantal love to a mere contract of mutual use. I hope we have moved past such things; how many Catholics have not. Yet this is what marks a person of faith. In other words, if we have not moved beyond such sins, our faith is pretty thin.
Part of the slavery is our rebelliousness (2), and giving way to our passions (3) in the flesh. We rebel against God because we want our way, or we think we understand things better than God and the faith that was handed down to us. We hear it said that we deserve God’s wrath (3), but do we realize it? Have we stopped to think about how we have contributed to the suffering in this world by our sins? Yet while we still held and some of us hold on to sin, God still chooses to love us. He extends His grace to us each and every day (4-5). God comes to free us from such slavery to death. He does so freely.
But God did not just free us from slavery and the eternal death that is the fruit of sin. He is willing to lavish the ultimate grace of being with Him in heaven as a member of His own family (6-7). It is faith in Him that opens the doors of heaven for us. This has some common sense here. If you choose not to have faith in God as He has revealed Himself to be, why would you be in heaven? If you do not trust what He says, why would you want to be there? Thus, those who make the decision not to have faith will be in hell. It is illogical to believe otherwise.
Yet the faith we receive is a gift from God (8-9). We cannot save ourselves either. To believe we can save ourselves is to contradict this very reading in the Bible. To think we can save ourselves is to not trust in His word and thus deny The Word. It becomes a source of pride. For some, they think they can please God by good works alone. The issue at hand was, once again, circumcision. Some of the men thought that circumcision could buy them salvation. If I do this, God will give me that. Somehow, we feel more secure by proving ourselves to God. It becomes a subconscious way of making demands of God. A good act becomes quite evil. That is why some reject God when their plan is not accepted by God. Their hearts were never submitted to God in an integrated way. It was not a true submission to God. Thus, faith was not really exercised.
We have faith in Jesus, not the law (13-15). He died for us so that we can benefit from a relationship with Him, not so that we can jump through the hoops of an obedience that is without love. We are no longer strangers with God (19)…are we? Examine yourself on this. Is God a stranger to you or a friend? God is continually offering Himself. Do you want Him to offer things or do you want Him? He is our capstone of our church as He built it upon the apostles and prophets
in conjunction with the Davis Mental Health Golf Outing honoring the legacy of Pat and Carlotta Davis.
Come on out and watch the purchased/numbered golf balls as they are placed into a huge basket, lifted by a crane 60 feet into the air, and simultaneously dropped over a golf hole. After all the balls have been dropped, the 4 balls that land in or nearest the hole win!
Prizes
1st Place – $300
2nd Place – Airplane Tour of Stephenson County and Dinner for 2
3rd Place – Food Feast- Gift Certificates from Area restaurants
4th place – Residential Air Duct Cleaning Certificate
(Winners do not need to be present.)
Chances now on sale before or after each weekend Mass on August 7 & 8, 14 & 15, and 21 & 22.
Chances can also be purchased at Gemorifics, the IHM Sisters, MRC volunteers, and the business offices of St Mary/St Joseph and St Thomas churches.
Please contact Colleen at 815-275-6378 for further questions.
This last week has been a week of celebrating marriage and family. As I reflect on this past week, I cannot imagine life without family – without my parents to make sure I had food to eat, my health taken care of, a good education, and always caring for who I hung around with. They would teach me many life lessons on character, integrity, goodness, etiquette, how to balance a checkbook, and general hygiene. It is in the family that I learned how to get along and not to respond with fighting all the time. In the family I learned the dignity of every human being and that every human being is a human person, made in the image and likeness of God. Family does not just teach this, but puts the dignity of every human being into practice and gives us the tools to become citizens that contribute to the good for any person we may come across.
A good society starts with good homes where children learn these most essential things in life. The family is the domestic church where children learn to love one another and to grow in virtue. It is where we learn right from wrong, and it is a place where God’s love is experienced. That is God’s plan for marriage and the family. I hope all people can have this experience. This can be anyone’s experience, even when they are on their bumpiest roads in family life.
Family life has been so demeaned in these last years that many people treat the idea of family at best as a foreign object, and for many as an evil that one has to endure. Some of this is due to indoctrination by the popular culture in media and, sorry to say, some schools. Family is viewed in mere practical use, where appreciation for family is frowned upon. Parents are demeaned and grandparents are relegated as the inept and bumbling fools. Yet these parents and grandparents keep on their way, loving and being the backbone of their children’s and grandchildren’s lives. They continue to love as Christ has loved them.
Family is far too a precious gift. Each family is far too precious a gift. Every family is a community in itself that builds culture, learning and loving. No family is perfect, but in every family will be the perfect combination of personalities and diversity in character that can keep everyone challenged to grow in goodness and in good will for others. Siblings may not get along at times, but when push comes to shove, family is family, and family sticks together. I hope you can pause and appreciate the goodness of your family. I hope you can support them towards goodness as all Christians are called to.
Ultimately, God’s plan for marriage and family is that they would be an experience of God’s love for you. Are you willing to be a part of that plan for your family? I pray that all people are willing to accept God’s plan for families.
