I'm New Here
Welcome!
FAQs
Welcome Weekends/Donut Sundays
Request More Information
Join our Parish
Become Catholic
Who Are We?
Our Mission & Patron
Parish History
Domestic Church
Meet the Team
Parish Staff
Pastoral Council
Finance Council
Careers
Sacraments
Baptism
Eucharist
Reconciliation
Confirmation
Anointing of the Sick
Marriage
Holy Orders
Ministries
Adult Formation
Small Groups
RCIA: Adult Sacraments
Eucharistic Revival
Lenten Resources & Media
Catholic Social Teaching
September 2022--Introduction to Catholic Social Teaching
October 2022-Life & Dignity of the Human Person
November 2022--Call to Family, Community & Participation
December 2022--Rights & Responsibilities
Children's Ministry
Faith Formation
Contact Us
Busy Bees
Family Class
St. Bruno Parish School
Youth Ministry
Faith Formation
Confirmation Prep
Get Connected
Human Concerns
Ministries
Outreach Ministries
Help from Home
Get Involved
Music & Liturgy
Ministries
Get Involved
Administration
Ministries
Get Involved
Stewardship
Belong Believe Become
Ministries
Get Involved
Events
Calendar
Schedule an Event
Event Form
Schedule a Funeral
Schedule a Wedding
Schedule a Ministry/Committee Event
Schedule a Wedding
Messages
Blog
Bulletins
Catholic Faith Resources
Latest News
Story Links
Newsletters
St. Paul Mass on TV
St. Paul Mass on YouTube
Give
Giving
Realm Online Giving
Giving from your Realm profile
Giving as a guest
Connect App
Update Your Information
Love One Another Capital Campaign 2023
|||
Join our Parish
Request More Information
Bulletins
Facebook
Instagram
Blog
News RSS
Search
Search
I'm New Here
Welcome!
FAQs
Welcome Weekends/Donut Sundays
Request More Information
Join our Parish
Become Catholic
Who Are We?
Our Mission & Patron
Parish History
Domestic Church
Meet the Team
Parish Staff
Pastoral Council
Finance Council
Careers
Sacraments
Baptism
Eucharist
Reconciliation
Confirmation
Anointing of the Sick
Marriage
Holy Orders
Ministries
Adult Formation
Small Groups
RCIA: Adult Sacraments
Eucharistic Revival
Lenten Resources & Media
Catholic Social Teaching
Children's Ministry
Faith Formation
Busy Bees
Family Class
St. Bruno Parish School
Youth Ministry
Faith Formation
Confirmation Prep
Get Connected
Human Concerns
Ministries
Music & Liturgy
Ministries
Administration
Ministries
Stewardship
Belong Believe Become
Ministries
Events
Calendar
Schedule an Event
Messages
Blog
Bulletins
Catholic Faith Resources
Latest News
Newsletters
St. Paul Mass on TV
St. Paul Mass on YouTube
Give
Giving
Love One Another Capital Campaign 2023
April 10, 2022 Palm Sunday
I'm New Here
April
7
,
2022
Pope St. John Paul II rightly taught, “To believe in Jesus is to accept what he says, even when it runs contrary to what others are saying. It means rejecting the lure of sin, however attractive it may be, in order to set out on a difficult path of Gospel virtues.” Acceptance, rejection, suffering, betrayal, fear, reluctance, persecution, and painful, undeserved and unjust death are all played out in dramatic fashion today. Jesus spoke of God’s unconditional love, mercy, and forgiveness. Who doesn’t like hearing about love, especially God’s? Jesus did not have backs turned on him, face intense suffering, and succumb to a horrific death because he spoke of God’s love. All of those things occurred because of the implications of actually believing in God’s love.
God’s love comes with an intimate and equal bond with love of neighbor. This moves the believer outward to truly see their brothers and sisters as equals and compels them to work for a world that mirrors God’s kingdom: a world based on justice, peace, mercy, and forgiveness. Sometimes, people want to keep God’s love to themselves and use it solely for their own benefit. When they only want to use God’s love to justify their own intentions and for their own projects, problems occur.
Sin makes something hurtful, destructive, and self-serving look very attractive and justifiable. The lure of sin creates friends who begin to believe the lie that the sin expounds. This is what happened on Calvary. When you begin actually doing what Jesus is saying and translate love into action, it inevitably will upset popular and longstanding conventions and structures. Many of these serve to protect status, foster personal gain and success, and further divide those who have from those who do not. Most people who hear the Gospel are attracted to what they hear, at first. When they realize that it means standing apart from popular opinion, even if that opinion is against the Gospel and sinful, they cower back in fear and join the throngs shouting, “Crucify him!” There is an ambivalence found in many believers as they struggle with whether their belief is strong enough “to set out on the difficult path of Gospel virtues.”
It takes a lot of courage to admit that the system is broken. It takes even more courage to point out the sin. And it takes an unbreakable love of God to then accept the consequences of doing so. ©LPi