Y’all………  Whenever I find something dreadful or irritating or wicked mean and nasty, and I am particularly helpless to do anything about them, there are some sayings that I will, without fail, fall back on.  Some of these have become kinda cliche:

His checkbook will get balanced one of these days.

Karma’s a bitch.

What goes around comes around.

Some are more literary based:

“The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind small”. Friedrich von Logau as translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“The universe does not carry debts. It always returns back to you what you gave it.” — Drishti Bablani

And some are more faith based.

God’ll getcha.

And hell is hot.

But ya know, as much as I go on and on about love and forgiveness and acceptance and being an all-round loving and decent human being and quoting Jesus in the process, Jesus also delivered a warning to those folks who didn’t get with the program and persisted in their terrible, horrible, no good, very bad ways.  The Gospel appointed for today tells us:

His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”  He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom.   The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.  Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.   The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom

all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.  They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

Well now.  It appears that God will, indeed, getcha, and that hell is, as the saying goes, exceedingly hot.  A few months ago, if you will remember, I posted a bit about “If/Then” statements and the gist of that little sermon was Jesus saying, “If you love me, then you will keep my commandments.”  And it appears that I’m gonna kinda repeat the “If/Then” thing here, but not the “pretty version.”  Y’all remember way back when, when we were in school and the teachers said, “If you will complete your assignments and study, you’ll do well and make good grades”?  Which, of course meant that if you didn’t complete your assignments and study, you’d flunk.  Or the “If you do that, you’ll be grounded for life” from our parents.  And some of us would test those boundaries to see if the bad stuff happened…and lo and behold, it did. 

So this, like everything else that Jesus said, he meant that.  Now, I am certainly no great theologian, and I would never, never, never tell anyone what to believe.  And besides that, it’s been proven over and over and over again that if our faith is growing, and we are learning, then our beliefs change.  [And I can hear some of you immediately going on the defensive and saying, “My faith will never change!”  Ummm…..So what you’re saying is that the faith you had when you were wee is still the faith you have now, and you’ve not learned anything in spite of the Bible studies and classes and your faith has not grown?  See?  Growing faith is learning faith, so spare me the righteous indignation.  A stagnant faith is a dead faith.  Period.  Now, if I may continue…]  So this “fiery furnace” thing that Jesus was talking about?  Do you know exactly what Jesus meant?  The easy answer is “Hell.” 

But what is Hell?  Sigh…this has been debated over and over and over again pretty much forever.  Biblical writers utilized specific terms and imagery to describe the concept of Hell:

Gehenna (Fire & Decay): Jesus frequently used this term, which referred to the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem—a literal trash dump where fires constantly burned and corpses were left. Theologically, the unquenchable fire and the “worm that never dies” symbolize total ruin, the absolute consumption of evil, and the agonizing permanence of spiritual death.

Hades (The Void / Darkness): Translated from Greek, this represents the realm of the dead or the grave. Phrases like “outer darkness” symbolize the absolute absence of God’s light, warmth, and presence.

The Lake of Fire: Found in the Book of Revelation, this is a highly symbolic image. Many theologians interpret this fire not as literal flames, but as the overwhelming purity of God’s presence, which brings peace to the repentant but acts as a consuming force for unrepentant evil.

A Prison: Used in the New Testament to signify being trapped in one’s own self-absorbed rebellion and shut out from the joy and life intended for humanity.

The Refiner’s Fire:  In modern Christian theology and devotion, this metaphor emphasizes that suffering or testing is purposeful rather than destructive. The fire is seen as a refining process overseen by a loving Creator, rather than an arbitrary punishment.  (And this is probably where I should mention Purgatory, but I’m not coz that’s a whole different thing and “ain’t nobody got time for dat” at the moment.)

And finally, the term “Fiery Furnace”:  Refers to a famous biblical story in the Book of Daniel where three Jewish men (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) were thrown into a blazing furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar for refusing to worship a golden idol. According to the scripture, they were protected by a divine figure and emerged completely unharmed, symbolizing faith, protection during trials, and deliverance. In the New Testament, Jesus uses the “fiery furnace” (or blazing furnace) as a metaphor for final judgment and hell, noting it is a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

What we do know with all confidence is that Hell, in whatever form it takes, will be a total separation from God, and that, like the people who are separated from God, would be a terrible, horrible, no good very bad thing.   And ain’t nobody wanna go there.  So what must one do to avoid that place?  (By now, those of you who have been with me for more than five minutes know exactly what I’m gonna say.)  Jesus has told us, in no uncertain terms, what he expects of us:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. He also stated that the second is like it: to love your neighbor as yourself.

This is the entire foundation of Christian ethics.  And further, Jesus told us, specifically, how to act upon that love: 

“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.  For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink.  I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’

 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ (Matthew 25:41-45)

Pretty clear, huh?  The author of the Letter to the Galatians sums it up pretty nicely:  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one.”(Galatians 3:28)

There are no walls, no borders, no gender identities, no political parties, no races, no sexualities, no languages, no limits to God’s love and who we are supposed to love.

Good seeds.  Weeds.  Which are you?

Amen.

Y’all…….every spring since we moved to Albuquerque we have done our levelheaded best to have blooming plants in our back living space.  I started to say “garden” but that won’t work, coz there is no “garden” to it, and “yard” won’t work, coz there is no grass.  So living space it is.  Anyway, the point is, that we try to have growing bits of color, flowers for the bees and hummingbirds, and eye-pleasing plants in our bit of the desert.  It’s a bit tricky, though, because the cost of plants and flowers has gone up and up and up, and often many of the plants we do buy just kinda shrivel up and die in the heat and sun, no matter how much they are watered and shaded.  We learned early on that petunias and lantana are the ticket for the store-bought plants.

Another of the things we have been most successful at growing has been sunflowers, and that started out as purely accidental.  Throughout the year, we try to keep black oil sunflower seeds in all the bird feeders coz the doves and house finches and sparrows and gold finches love ‘em.  And a few years ago, some of those seeds wound up in the containers that the petunias were in.  When they started springing up I decided to just let ‘em grow, coz I had no idea what they were, and I wanted to see what the mysterious plants growing in all the petunias were.  Lo and behold, we had sunflowers.  Since then, we’ve kept the store-bought plants to a minimum and just planted bird seed and we have an abundance of bright blooms.

Oddly enough, though, is that even when those seeds are planted intentionally, some of them germinate, and some of them get eaten by the birds, and some of them just lay there doing nothing, no matter how hard we try to coax them into growing and blooming.

Sadly, I have had students like that and still know several adults like that.  No matter how much care, attention, information, and love you give them, they just won’t grow and bloom.  Jesus had that problem too.  He even based one of his parables on it.  In the Gospel reading appointed for today, from Matthew 13, Jesus tells the parable of the sower and the seeds.

“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

The disciples approached him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.  Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:  You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted, and I heal them. 

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see, “Hear then the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart.  The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.  But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away.  The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. 
But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

When you come right down to it, it’s all pretty self-explanatory.  But, however, and oh my goodness, when this little story is combined with the first few words of the Gospel of John, it’s downright tragic.  You know how John begins…. .”In the beginning was the Word….  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

So, it follows that the Word of God isn’t the Bible, it’s Jesus and his words, what he said and did and what he commanded us to do and be.  And us?  In this instance, we’re where the seeds of the Word (what he said and did and what he commanded us to do and be) happen to fall.  Unlike in the parable, though, we have a choice whether to be the fertile ground or the barren soil.  We have a choice whether to embody the teachings of Jesus or not. 

I’ve said it a zillion times:  Sometimes you are the only Jesus people will ever see, the only Bible some folks will ever read.  St. Teresa of Avila wrote: 

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

So, again, the choice is ours.  Do we follow and embody Jesus?  Or do we not?  Keeping in mind his greatest commandments were: You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37–40)   It bears repeating:  We are to demonstrate healing, compassion, and serving the oppressed. His teachings called for radical love and mercy. 

So, choose this day whom ye will serve.  What kind of soil are you gonna be? 

Amen.

Look at me for a minute, church. Look me right in the eye. What did you bring through those double doors this morning? Because I know the baggage you’re carrying—I carry it right along with you. Some of you walked into St. Michael’s today completely wiped out. Beaten down by financial stress, staring at bills you don’t know how to pay, dealing with a brutal health diagnosis, or just carrying that quiet, exhausting guilt that you’re constantly falling short. The world tells you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, grind harder, and run until you drop. It’s a lie, and it leaves us broken. But look at Zechariah today. Our King doesn’t roll in on a towering war chariot demanding more taxes, more sweat, and more labor. He comes in absolute humility, riding on a donkey, breaking the weapons of war and bringing supernatural peace. He comes to lift your load, not add to it.

This isn’t theory for me; it’s my life. Exactly six years ago this week, I stood at the altar and celebrated my very first Mass as an ordained priest. As Alma told you earlier—and she’s been right there by my side from that opening day until this very moment—when we stepped out onto that water, we didn’t have a map for every single twist and turn. We just had a Savior we trusted. Let me pull back the curtain for you: as your pastor, I carry deep burdens for this flock. I sweat over our parish finances, I worry about the well-being of our church home, and I carry your personal trials in my heart every single day. But if we try to run this parish, or live our lives, out of human strength, out of what Saint Paul calls the “flesh” in Romans 8—we will burn out and fail every single time. The priesthood, just like the Christian life, is impossible on our own power. When I put on this stole and chasuble, it isn’t a solo act. It’s laying my humanity down so Christ can carry the heavy end of the beam.

To understand how this works, look at what a yoke actually is. In the fields, a yoke is never built for one animal; it’s designed for a team. When Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you,” He isn’t giving you a new chore or a heavier obligation. He is telling you to strap into the harness right next to Him. He’s saying, “Let Me take the heavy side of the load.” That is where our charismatic fire must come alive! We aren’t just barely surviving here. The exact same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives actively inside of you. The Spirit is our advocate, our provider, and our strength. When we pray for the financial well-being and blessing of St. Michael’s, we aren’t begging a distant, detached deity; we are invoking the indwelling Spirit who loves to provide for His temple.

When you experience that radical relief—when Christ reaches down and lifts that crushing weight off your shoulders—your natural, uncontainable response is what we’re going to sing at Communion: “God, I’m just grateful.” But hear me on this: as sons and daughters of Saint Dominic, we don’t lock the truth away, and as charismatics, we don’t keep the fire contained within these four walls. We are saved to be sent! Our ultimate, driving mandate at St. Michael’s Parish is to throw open the gates, run out into the streets, and bring the broken, the lost, and the weary home to the Father. We are called to be an evangelical force that actively rescues souls and crowds the pews of eternity. As we prepare to bring our tithes, our gifts, and our heavy burdens to this altar, we must look honestly at our own lives and answer the ultimate missionary charge: When you stand before the throne of God and look back at the life you lived, who will be standing there next to you because you had the courage to help make heaven crowded?

My dearest brothers and sisters in Christ,

​Grace and peace to you.

​Today, we gather as the church to celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Peter and Paul, Apostles and unmatched giants of the Christian faith. Though they were vastly different in temperament, background, and ministry, they stand together as twin pillars of the Church, bound by a shared devotion to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

​Peter was a simple fisherman from Galilee, a man of fierce loyalty but also of human frailty, who famously faltered and who denied Christ three times. Yet, it was to this flawed, passionate disciple that Christ said, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.”

Paul, on the other hand, was an intellectual scholar, a Roman citizen, and a zealot who once fiercely persecuted the early Church. His dramatic encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus transformed him from Christ’s greatest adversary into the Apostle to the Gentiles.

​Their independent missions eventually brought them both to Rome, the heart of the empire, where their earthly journeys culminated in the ultimate sacrifice. According to historical tradition, both Apostles met their martyrdom between 64 and 67 AD during the brutal persecutions under Emperor Nero. Peter was sentenced to crucifixion but insisted on being turned upside down, declaring himself unworthy to die in the same manner as his Saviour. Paul, granted a swifter execution due to his Roman citizenship, was beheaded outside the city walls.

​Their deaths were not a defeat, but the final, crowning testament to the truth of the Resurrection. They poured out their lives completely so that the Gospel might reach the ends of the earth. Their enduring legacy reminds us that Christ uses our imperfections, transforms our darkest pasts, and calls each of us to be steadfast, courageous witnesses in our own generation.

​Let us pray:

​Almighty God, whose blessed Apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: Grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example, may ever remain faithful to the foundations of the faith. Strengthen us to witness to your truth with the same courage and love they displayed, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

​Amen.

 Y’all…those of you who are “of an age” may remember the television show, “Lost in Space” and the iconic robot that was a large part of the show.  There are a couple of things that the robot said that I distinctly remember.  One was, “Warning! Warning!  Danger Will Robinson!”  And the other is, “That does not compute.”  Now, this robot was, like most technology in the Science Fiction of the day, brilliant and knew most everything   For something to “not compute” whatever that something was really threw a wrench in the wringer and gave us a great deal of the plot of the show.  Today, the quote is used in everyday slang to express that a piece of information doesn’t make sense, is illogical, or flat-out contradicts the facts.

Those of us who try hard to live our lives as Jesus commanded us to live base our thoughts, actions, words, and deeds on the greatest commandments:  Love God with all that you are, and love people radically.  Sometimes, however, Jesus’s words  makes us scrunch up our brows and think, “That does not compute.”   Like the Gospel appointed for today:  Matthew 10:37-39 (NIV),  “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Say what?  Whatever does this mean?  You say to me, you say, “But Jesus taught us to love and respect and honor our parents!  It’s even one of the Ten Commandments!”  And I’d say right back to you, “Yep.”

Earlier, Jesus has warned His disciples that He had come to bring a sword of division to Israel. This wasn’t a reference to violence or revolution, but to the separations that the gospel can cause. Those who refuse to accept Christ and his message of love and acceptance will hate and persecute those who believe (John 15:18–21). The division will take place even between immediate family members. Fathers and sons will turn on each other, as well mothers and daughters. The issue will be belief in Jesus Himself. Is He the Messiah, the Son of God? Is what he says right and true and good?  Those who refuse to acknowledge Him will reject those of their own family, who put their faith in Jesus and begin to follow His ways (1 Peter 4:3–4).

Jesus is demanding His rightful place in the hearts of His people.  Us.   We must love Him more than all others and demonstrate that  this is true, especially if we are forced to make a choice. This does not change Scripture’s demand that children honor their parents (Ephesians 6:2) and that parents provide for their children (Ephesians 6:4; 1 Timothy 5:8). Jesus does not say “do not love” those other people—what He says is that we ought to love God more.  And in so loving God more, in following his path, will folks be willing to lose connection to their family members, friends,  or political party in order to continue to follow Jesus and acknowledge to others that He is the Christ? 

Loving others is the second greatest commandment, but it is behind the first: to love God with everything we have (Matthew 22:34–40). In making this statement, Jesus continues to make the claim that He is God. Love and obedience to Him must come before obedience to any other person or group (Acts 5:29).

And how do we show that love?  That willingness to sacrifice it all for Jesus?  Be merciful.  Be kind.  Show love.  It’s pretty much one of the key recurring factors of Jesus’s ministry.  Love God.  Love people.  Love God.  Love people.

Again, Jesus tells us in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”    How do we show that love?  Again, Jesus tell us, and again, very specifically in Matthew 25:35-45:   For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’   “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  And here’s the kicker, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’   “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Makes ya think, huh?

The least of these….who then, are ‘the least of these’ in today’s society?   Probably those who make many of us uncomfortable.  The homeless?  People who are of a different color?  Sexual orientation?  Gender identity? Ethnicity? Any of those who are “other”?  Who are “the least of these” to you? 

Throughout his ministry, Jesus showed that he did, indeed, love everyone, even to the point of dying for their sins, but you know,  he went out of his way to intentionally help specific groups of people — the alienated, mistreated, and those facing injustice. 

We as Christians must recognize that our society today is filled with numerous groups and communities facing systemic oppression, and we must act. We must be willing to admit and address the complex realities within our world that create such problems,  and avoid the spiritual laziness that tempts us to rely on generic excuses and solutions.  There’s another meme that I’ve seen that says something like, “At times being a good Christian meant being a bad Roman.”  Things to ponder, no?  Loving as Jesus loved us is hard.   Loving Jesus more than anything and anyone is harder.

Christians do a disservice to the gospel message by removing the cultural context from Jesus’s ministry and watering down his message to one of religious platitudes. We like to generalize the words of Jesus and transform his life into a one-size-fits-all model that can apply to all of humanity.  He intentionally, purposefully, and passionately addressed very specific causes. He radically addressed the diverse and complicated conflicts of the time and shattered the status quo.  Are we, as Christians, not called to do the same?  By addressing racism, immigration, gender equality, gender expression, and a litany of other issues, we are following in the steps of Jesus.

Justice.  Mercy.  Kindness.  Love God.  Love people.

Amen.