"Say not you are too young"

The mission of the prophet Jeremiah is not a popular one. At one point, he is put in the docks, at another he is thrown into a dried out well that holds him in mud up to his waist. All for doing God's will, which may at times mean parting with worldly esteem. People weren't happy with him, and they showed it. Jeremiah needed courage.

Jesus' mission which he announced last week ends up with others wanting to destroy him as well.

Comfort is not the calling of a Christian. Jesus promises the cross: if you will be his disciple, you must take up your cross and go where he is going - namely unto death, and through it to eternal life, that the world cannot offer us, cannot rob from us, and cannot destroy.

Many times in life this will mean choosing between your faith and comfort. Like a dad who chooses his family over a hobby or even over a potential promotion at work, we will often need to choose between your faith and some other short-term good, so that the long-term good of eternal life is preserved.

The philosopher Boethius, and St. Thomas Aquinas centuries later, summarize the four great vanities of this world that human beings pursue to their own demise and destruction. They are: wealth (lots of stuff), power (control of one's destiny and of as much of others as you can), pleasure (delights of the senses, aka Hedonism), and fame (aka glory, honor, or "popularity" as we say today). All four of these things are okay in themselves - none are evil. Rich people can be saints, such as Catherine Drexel. Power does not destroy holiness, such as kings and queens. Pleasures are not necessarily sins, when enjoyed within God's law. And fame or popularity is seen clearly in the life of St. Francis and St. Teresa of Avila to be used to carry out God's will. So none of these things are bad in themselves, but all four of them, and anything else that is not God alone, will destroy us if they are #1 in our lives. When we worship something that is not God (even on one of the side-altars of our hearts) it sabotages us, destroys our lives. When things are out of order, we end up with disorder and dismay.

Don’t go with the crowd.

“A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.” – Chesterton

Choose life, that you may live.