{"id":13671,"date":"2021-05-14T18:06:39","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T23:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/?p=13671"},"modified":"2021-05-15T04:24:22","modified_gmt":"2021-05-15T09:24:22","slug":"home-sweet-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/home-sweet-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Sweet Home."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Jesus says something rather strange about his disciples this Sunday. Praying to his Father he says, \u201cThey do not belong to the world . . . They are not of the world anymore than I am of the world.\u201d What could he possibly mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world (this earth, circling the sun) is all we know. It is our home. Its gravity keeps our feet on the ground. The seasons bring wheat to the fields and food to our tables. Meanwhile, the Pink Magnolia across the street is like a Wonderland. The bible tells us God made the world for you and me. What do you mean \u2018I don\u2019t belong to the world?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus is using the word \u201cworld\u201d to describe the way people carry on their everyday lives. We are born from our parents. We learn how to walk and talk and live our lives. We fall in love, marry, have children, and die. Along the way we amuse ourselves with sports, music, media, and the arts. This is \u201cThe Way of the World\u201d. We all live in this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh yes, we live \u201cin the world\u201d no doubt. But we don\u2019t \u201cbelong\u201d. (Webster defines \u201cbelong\u201d as \u201cto have a proper or suitable place\u201d.) Jesus has come to show us that our \u201cproper place\u201d is with him . . . and then together with us . . . Jesus is \u201cin the Father\u201d. And then at last, God will be \u201call in all\u201d. 1 Cor. 15:28<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The world doesn\u2019t get this. Why else would they have crucified him? Even from the cross Jesus knew of the ignorance of \u201cthe world\u201d. \u201cFather forgive them for they know not what they\u2019re doing.\u201d Luke 23:34<\/a>. (Also: Acts 3:18<\/a>, 19.) People just don\u2019t get this Jesus. It\u2019s all there in the New Testament Scriptures for anyone who\u2019d care to read it. It\u2019s been proclaimed by the Church for over 2000 years. (Perhaps the bad example of some who call them- selves Christian keeps the world from believing – – – but that\u2019s another story). Anyway, back to our topic – – – our real home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus says Christians live \u201cin the world\u201d but not \u201cof the world\u201d. The day to day struggle to simply exist: living life, getting food, clothing, shelter, etc. is living in the world. We all must do this. BUT, Jesus has shown us something more. Something we never knew before. Human beings are God\u2019s children. Our proper place, the one for which we were created, is to share in God\u2019s divine nature. We\u2019re more than this world. The world can\u2019t hold us – – it\u2019s not big enough to be our home. Only God is big enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theologians later described this human share in divinity as a Supernatural Existential. That means we have, as part of our human nature, a capacity to receive the life of God. It\u2019s called Grace. That\u2019s right. God wants us to become like Him! To have this happen we need to belong to Christ. (Non-Christians will get to know Christ in God\u2019s mysterious ways).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime we are like pilgrims traveling through this world. St. Paul says it\u2019s like we live in a \u201ctent\u201d. \u201cFor we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent (our body), be destroyed (death), we have a building from God, a dwell- ing not made by hands, eternal in heaven.\u201d 2 Cor. 5:1<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Paul was so struck by the power of life in Christ that he \u201clonged to be away from the body and at home with the Lord . . . but we aspire to please Him, whether we are at home or away.\u201d 2 Cor. 5:1-10<\/a> (read it! It\u2019s wonderful.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we are witnesses of Christ\u2019s truth to the world. It\u2019s what brings us hope. We never give into despair. We are always ready to help this world be a better place. But remember, we\u2019re only passing through this place. Our true home is with the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Easter Joy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr. Tim<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jesus says something rather strange about his disciples this Sunday. Praying to his Father he says, \u201cThey do not belong to the world . . . They are not of the world anymore than I am of the world.\u201d What could he possibly mean? The world (this earth, circling the sun) is all we know. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-column"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13671"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13689,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13671\/revisions\/13689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}