Drinking the chalice. I am reminded of the history of the church which was written by Eusebius sometime between AD 200 and 300. This told of many founding fathers who "drank of the chalice" and became martrs and saints. People who thought that they would be condemned if they denied the Lord. How many of us today are strong enough in our faith to stand up to a terrorist who might come up to us someday and say "deny Jesus and live." It is really easy to justify our denials. But if faith is only something that we proclaim when it is convenient, then what kind of faith is it? I am reminded of a story that illustrates a pet pieve of mine with the Catholic Church. During Lent, if St Patrick's Day happens to fall on a Friday, the church will grant dispensation so that people can eat meat. Obstaining from meat is too much of an inconvenience then. A fellow parishioner told me once that he went to openning day for the White Sox some years back and realized once he got there that it was a Friday in Lent. He called the parish and got the pastor to give him permission to eat meat, because "you have to have a hotdog at the ball park". These are examples of people not drinking the chalis that Jesus drank. These are examples that are hard for some of us RCIA taught Catholics to understand. Our lives are not supposed to be easy.
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How many of us today are strong enough in our faith to stand up to a terrorist who might come up to us someday and say "deny Jesus and live." It is really easy to justify our denials. But if faith is only something that we proclaim when it is convenient, then what kind of faith is it?
I am reminded of a story that illustrates a pet pieve of mine with the Catholic Church.
During Lent, if St Patrick's Day happens to fall on a Friday, the church will grant dispensation so that people can eat meat. Obstaining from meat is too much of an inconvenience then. A fellow parishioner told me once that he went to openning day for the White Sox some years back and realized once he got there that it was a Friday in Lent. He called the parish and got the pastor to give him permission to eat meat, because "you have to have a hotdog at the ball park". These are examples of people not drinking the chalis that Jesus drank. These are examples that are hard for some of us RCIA taught Catholics to understand. Our lives are not supposed to be easy.