Tuesday 10/7/14

Tuesday’s Recap summarizes the previous evening’s Pizza and Prayer. If you couldn’t join us last night, or if for some strange reason you can’t remember what happened (amnesia?), here’s what you missed:

One of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:35-40

If you were at LifeTeen Mass this past Sunday night, you know how packed the church was. By the time Mass started, there was nothing but standing room left for the nearly 900 people in attendance. It was absolutely incredible, and the spirit in the church was both moving and infectious.

The high attendance was due in large part to the first Edge class of the year and teens preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in a few weeks. After Mass, I was told about an older gentleman, who wanted to pass a message along to Father Chris. First of all, the man was thrilled to see so many young people at church. He thought the Mass was amazing and one of the more inspiring Masses he had ever been to. Second, he wanted to express his appreciation for Father Chris, who, according to the gentleman, was making it easier for people to be Catholic. The man made a point to say that it should not be hard to be a Christian. Being a Christian should be easy.

This last part of his message really stuck with me. Just think about how true it is. Christianity should be EASY! We should not be making it hard for people. So many times people think about religion as a lot of rules – too many rules – that are too hard to follow and remember. Well, that is simply not the case.

In today’s reading, Jesus tells us everything we need to know and follow. He tells us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Love God and love others. It really is that simple. It’s not that tricky, it’s not that complicated, and it’s not that demanding. Loving God and loving others are our two jobs as Christians.

When the scribe in the reading asked Jesus which commandment was the greatest, he was testing Him. As a scholar of the law, the man knew the many Jewish laws, and also knew that for a devout Jew, each law was as important as the next. But Jesus does not respond with a specific law, as the scribe expected. Instead, Jesus offers the two great commandments. And by doing so, He tells us that by following these two rules, we are also following all the others. He tells us that every rule we can think of just boils down to these two commandments. He tells us that as long as we keep these two commandments at the top of our list, everything else will fall into place.

I know that, as a Catholic, it is not uncommon to be picked on or persecuted for your beliefs. But even these difficulties pale in comparison to other challenges in our lives and in the lives of others. We face countless struggles that often impact us in much more painful ways, and others face struggles that are even worse than these. When it really comes down to it, Catholicism is not as hard as we usually make it.

Being a Christian should be easy. We know the rules. We understand the commandments. We know how we should act. It is time that we stop making it harder than it really is.


God, help me to realize that being a Christian and following your way is not as difficult as I sometimes make it out to be. Help me to always remember that my most important vocation in this life is to love you and love others. Please grant me the strength and courage to love others in the same way that you love me, and to express this love through action. Amen.


The playlist:
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) – Chris Tomlin
As It Is In Heaven – Matt Maher
You Never Let Go – Matt Redman
How He Loves – Crowder
After All – Crowder
The Motions – Matthew West
Walk By Faith – Jeremy Camp
Hold Us Together – Matt Maher
Praise You In This Storm – Casting Crowns
Your Love – Brandon Heath
Right Here – Jeremy Camp