Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Lord, send forth Your Spirit

Father Joseph L. Labak, pastor

What is the most precious thing that you possess?

What is the most precious thing that you possess? The answer to that question may vary greatly depending on who a person is and where they are in their life. Parents might very likely say that their children are what they value most. Some might say their spouse. Some may say that their job is most important to them. Still others might say that financial security is most valuable in their lives. I would suppose and even hope that many would say that their faith in God is what is most important to them.

If we look at this question very logically, we might want to respond that what is most valuable would be something that would last the longest; something that would indeed endure forever. I believe that there is only thing that would really fill that requirement and that is our faith because our faith in God can and will ultimately lead to eternal life. Even if a person has only a very minimal amount of faith, which would include a belief in eternal life, then I would think that such a person would do all in their power to nurture that faith in order to deepen their relationship with God right here and now in this life on earth.

However, that is not the way it seems to work in many people’s lives. Many people seem to think that they can get by on a very minimal amount of faith in their lives. They prefer to have God in their lives, but at the same time they keep Him at a distance so they don’t have to disrupt their lives too much in order to follow Jesus more closely.

Follow Him completely?

Many times in the Gospel Jesus urges us to follow Him completely. He says things like pick up your cross and follow in my foot steps; love your enemies; pray for your persecutors, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and the imprisoned and many other things that we find ourselves too busy to get too involved in because we have many other important things going on in our lives.

Jesus reminds us that the way to eternal life is very narrow. Maybe He is trying to teach us that following Him is the way that leads to heaven. In the Gospel of John, chapter 14, Jesus tells us very clearly the HE is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. Jesus time and time again tells us very clearly what we need to do, but we still think that we can do it another way or our way rather than His.

How does faith grow?

How do we grow in our faith? Is all that we have to do is go to Mass and say our prayers and we are all set? Not if we listen carefully to what Jesus tells us. Growing in our faith implies that we must deepen our knowledge of our faith throughout our lives. I suppose it is really like anything else we do in our daily lives in the sense that we must at least try to keep up with what goes on in the world, with what we need to know to keep doing our jobs, and especially what we need to do to grow in our relationships with our spouse, family members or friends. There is always something new to learn in all these areas of our lives.

Relationships take work; they don’t just happen. This is just as true concerning our relationship with God. If our faith is to grow and deepen then we have to work at it by doing all that we can to continue to reflect on our faith and how we really live that out in our daily lives.

There are many things for us to know about God and it is easy to say we learned all that when we were young, but unless we are really striving to live it out, then it really has not become part of us. Many times we insist that we know our husbands, wives, children and others in our lives only to find out, sometimes in a very difficult way, thaat there is a lot we don’t know or some things that we just forgot or took for granted.

This can and does happen a lot when it comes to our relationship with God. We figure we go to church every Sunday or as often as we can, we pray a little here and there, we know and keep the really important commandments, and we are nice people and don’t really do anything terrible. If we took such a minimal approach to any other relationship we know such a relationship will not last or we will be miserable and unfulfilled.

Our relationship with God demands much from us, but also promises more that we could ever imagine. We need to take advantage of all that is offered to us in order to grow in our faith no matter how old or how young we may be. Parents need to be actively involved in the faith formation of their children; the same goes for husbands and wives. Actually Jesus asks us to help all our brothers and sisters to grow in faith and love by leading others to Him through our example and our witness to Him as the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE that leads us all to the Father and to eternal life.

We are preparing to embark.

Our parish is preparing to embark on a new program that will help all of us to do just that. This method of sharing and growing in our faith will be different than what we may be used to, but sometimes we need to take a fresh approach and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to a place that may not be as convenient or as comfortable. When we have to make a sacrifice or go out of our way we usually grow in some wonderful ways.

This new program will help us to deepen our faith in our parish community and in our families as well. It will help us to remember that we need to learn and share our faith if we are to grow stronger in it. Through learning and sharing our faith we can become more and more aware of the presence and love of God in our lives. God is always with us; He is always there for us it is that we just don’t seem to remember very well just how close He is to all of us.

I hope that we can all work together and grow together by praying together and sharing our faith in such a way that it truly becomes the most valuable treasure we have.

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