St. Paul advises us to to stand against the power of the devil. God unites, the devil divides. In this election season, we must not give in to division, even though we must in truth acknowledge differences. The key is to see that God created us all to be united. Then we are motivated to to get to know one another and come to understand our various motivations and opinions, so we can love one another despite our differences.
Jesus said that the gate to heaven is narrow. The Good News is that there is a gate, and further, we know what it is—to act out of our love of God. Such motivated actions will not only lead us to heaven, they will draw others tp follow.
The Book of Ecclesiastes reminds the young to enjoy the life they have so that they can remember their blessings when they are old. But in every age, remember the God who blesses us, and the ultimate blessing to which he is calling us.
Jesus revealed to his disciples that he had to suffer and die for the salvation of humanity, but what they missed is that he was to suffer for them. Do we each see that Jesus did not merely suffer for humanity in general, but for us individually? That changes things.
In his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul promises us that God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. There are many things in our faith that do not make sense at first pass, such as the mystery of the Eucharist, but we can study and learn and thus deepen our faith by understanding it better. Reason enhances faith, it does not oppose it, but not without spending time learning.
On this Feast of the Beheading of St. John Baptist we remember that our faith is often counter-cultural. Do we have the courage, as did John the Baptist, to speak that word of faith that might convert others?
