December 3: Isaiah 28:16 / Matthew 21:42-44

At his ordination, a Catholic priest promises obedience to his bishop.  At that moment, one does not think about the cost of obedience.  The cost for me.  Sometimes I have been sent on mission to places that I would not choose to go.  And other times being withdrawn from missions that I loved and found fulfilling.  While I have always obeyed, I am a stubborn man and have often resisted in my heart.  This resistance has never served me well.  Resistance has caused me to stumble and be broken to pieces or led my heart to being crushed (see Matthew 21:44).

It is the bishop who orders me, but really Christ calls me.  I was resisting Christ.  Just as Christ told Peter that one day “another will lead you where you do not want to go” (John 21:18), Christ will not always lead us where we would like to go, but rather he will send us where we are needed for mission. 

The life with Christ is ironic: when the resistance is finally worn down, and we stop fighting the Rock that is Christ, although he has led us where we would not like to go, we find that in that place he has prepared “a joy the world cannot take away” (John 16:22).  Hearing his voice and going where he leads is the true foundation stone of joy and freedom in Christ.    

Father Bill Brunner
Corpus Christi Catholic – Sturgeon Bay
Holy Name of Mary Catholic – Maplewood



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