A reading of the holy gospel according to Saint John. The disciples said to our lord, at last, you are speaking plainly without talking in veiled language. We are convinced that you know everything. There is no need for anyone to ask you questions. We do indeed believe you came from god.
Jesus answered them, do you really believe? An hour is coming, has indeed already arrived, when you will be scattered and each will go his own way, leaving me quite alone. Yet, I can never be alone for the father is with me. I tell you all of this that in me, you may find peace. You will suffer in the world, but take courage.
I have overcome the world. And this is the gospel of the lord. In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, amen. More than once, I have referred to a a question which I found in one of the novels by George McDonald with reference to a young clergyman up in Scotland who asked himself, does what I say from the pulpit bring the people closer to God or not? And that's the question I keep asking myself.
Because the only purpose I have here, the only purpose you have out there, or the only purpose we have here is, are we getting closer to god? It isn't a matter of space relationships, of course not. It's a matter of relationships, of mind and will and of commitment of human of the human act of a human being. To ask where is God is a silly question, has no meaning. And you should ask yourself this question, what I call religious observances.
Do they bring me closer to god or not? Is the life I'm living bringing me closer to god or not? Just take this instance. What do we mean by the sacrament of matrimony? What's it supposed to do?
What are married people supposed to be attaining ultimately, ultimately? Not not on Monday, May 20, but what is your what what are you what is the ultimate goal that makes sense out of everything else or makes nonsense out of everything else? What is it? What are you living for? What are you sacrificing for?
What are you working for? What are you what are you having sometimes a great joy for? What what what is the meaning of all of these things? We're told today by by by men and women in the medical profession who have it as their job to see what they call sick people. And anyone will tell you that one of the main things missing today in people's lives is motivation.
Why? Why? Why? What am I supposed to be doing? I'm working my head off.
For what? I'm sacrificing my life day by day. For what? Can you answer that question, or are you going to say, oh, the heck with it. Let's have a drink.
Well, the second makes more sense than the first unless you try to answer it. And that is one of the reasons for a lot of alcoholism. Although I didn't mean to get into that. So that this is very important that you realize what life is about, what is it all about. When you look forward at 17 to being 25, it seems eternity.
When you're 55 and look about 23, you say, where in the world has it all gone? Where has my life gone? What what has been its significance? And this is especially true, and I bring it right out in the open for parents whose children haven't fulfilled all their expectations. They say, where have I gone wrong?
And then they suffer all kinds of guilt. For what? Why? What have they been living for? For their kids?
For their husbands? For their wives? For their in laws? For their outlaws? See, it's this is very important.
And I hate to be doing this, but remember the second question of the Penny Baltimore catechism. Why did god make you? If you can't answer that question, everything else is absurd in the last analysis. And I'm not speaking from theory. We have I can give you names and dates.
John Stuart Mill is the first learned man that comes to my mind. So this is frightfully important for us. Is your daily life sacramental? Now let's not get mixed up with a lot of verbiage. What I mean by that, is it a religious act bringing you to your ultimate goal?
You because you should be able to answer that question. Whether you're down in the cellar cleaning it up or whether you're in an office or a factory or whatever you're doing, what's its value? That is and that value has to be weighed in terms of ultimates. Not in what not whether you're gonna get this car or get this house or your kid gets into this school or you get this job or you get out of this illness or you get into this illness or what. They I'm not minimizing the importance of these things.
But how important are they? How important? What gives them value in themselves? Maybe. But if they do, you then are what?
Creating many gods. And we are told there's only one god, and him only shall you serve. And so we come back to this question. Am am is my daily life bringing me closer to god, or are all the things that happen building a wall between me and god? Or it which is much worse, making god vanish from my life.
Oh, I can go through all the the externals of religion and be completely nonreligious. It's it's easily possible, easily possible. That's what we do that we want not to happen. It's a disaster. And so we come back to this very simple thing.
What am I am I is what I am doing bringing me and you closer to god almighty? That's the question. Now we don't all go in the same ways, but the ways are not too important as long as they get us to our goal. One may be longer, one may be shorter, one may be better for you, one may be better for me. I'm not talking about churches now.
I'm talking about the daily routines of life, sickness and health and joys and failures and all of this stuff. We all have our own roots, and not one of them is identical. It's mine, alone, individual. And the its value is in terms of that very simple question plus an answer plus an answer. Does it bring me closer to god or not?
Let us pray god that it brings us closer to him. In the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Amen.