On Sundays and during weekday Liturgies, we also have a small battle with the internal and external when we approach the Holy Chalice. Externally, we will all cross our hands over of our hearts, cross ourselves, and prepare to take God’s very Body and Blood within ourselves.  Yet what is the inner position of our souls in those moments?  Where is our focus? On the tremendous and dread mystery that awaits us in the chalice…or on the world?  Do we truly know and believe what the Eucharist can do for us…or are we following the person in front of us in line without paying any attention to what we are about to partake and the transformation that awaits us at the chalice?  Are we focused on our outward piety, or on the inner state of our being?

Now that the celebrations, the fireworks, and the excitement of the past few days of celebration are completed, all of us should be taking a moment to reflect on what we have done with this gift of a country that God has given us.  While it is the job of the president and civil leaders to build up and highlight the accomplishments, its often the job of the priests and spiritual leaders to help us sober up and open our eyes to the work that we have yet to accomplish. 

One thing that our Lord tells us, is that the acquisition of wealth can be an addiction.  He is not talking about gambling addictions or dreaming of hitting the lottery…but rather is pointing out how we cannot serve both an addiction and God at the same time.  This truly goes for all addictions…whether it’s money, pornography, alcohol, marijuana/drugs, gluttony…whatever the addiction, we become slaves to it.

The Holy Spirit reached so many that no one, not even the devil himself, could stop the flood…although God knows he has tried.  In those early days, he sent persecutors like Nero and Diocletian, who despite their best efforts couldn’t stop the flow of the life giving waters to God’s people. In more recent decades, the devil tried to stop the flow by getting into the hearts of people like Joseph Stalin and Nicolae Ceausescu…who did everything they could to dam the river…and it drowned both of them and their worldly governments. 

St. Barnabas said this to the new Christians in Antioch, and he says it to us this morning. He knew that there are many who begin to walk on God’s road willingly and with excitement.  Yet as soon as the first obstacles appear, we often get discouraged and fall back into our old and sinful ways.  I am willing to bet that many of the people that heard these words of St. Barnabas didn’t heed them, and when the first threat was made against them, or the first passion was inflamed within them, they turned their back on Christ.  Perhaps some denied Him…or cursed Him…or worse yet, simply ignored His Love and impact in their lives.