Keeping a back yard always green and always flowery (Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary time. Cycle B)

Starting from the idea that the grass is always greener in the neighbor's yard, the readings today are perfect for speaking about the relationships between all the Churches that follow Jesus Christ. So often in our Christian history the Churches that follow Jesus Christ have spoken ill of one another and even condemned one another. Today we are challenged to think in new ways without losing the truth of our Catholic faith. The challenge seems to be this: how to be authentically and completely Roman Catholic and yet have enormous respect and love and honor for all those who follow Jesus Christ and who are not Roman Catholics. Sometimes we Catholics see other Christians who have energy and drive and a wonderful commitment to Jesus Christ. Instead of admiring those gifts and bringing them into our own life of faith as Catholics, we leave the Church because we see something that we think is better elsewhere. Sometimes we Catholics see in other Churches an openness to the values of our times that we think that our own Church lacks, and so we either leave the Church for another Church or begin to accept those values as though they could be our own when they are clearly against the teachings of our own Church. It is not easy to be a Roman Catholic! We accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. We accept the Scriptures. Yet we also accept a teaching authority in the Church and it is this teaching authority that often causes us scandal or against which we rebel. For those of us who remain faithful to our Roman Catholic Church, it is a matter of deeply and profoundly accepting whatever teachings of our Church have already been defined, knowing also where and how we might disagree with various disciplines of the Church but always wanting to live in the heart of the Church, allowing the teachings of our Church to form us as followers of Jesus Christ. Our Gospel today is very clear that we can cause others to sin by our own actions. Our believing affects others. We can mislead or we can lead to Christ. We can draw others away from the Church or deeper into the Church. What is so deeply important is to continue to seek Jesus Christ and His kingdom and to strive to do His will every day of our life. In our personal prayer and conversation with the Lord today let us ask him that we may grow more faithful in following him, in knowing and accepting His Church and in all of those things that will make us more profoundly and truly Catholic as members of the Roman Catholic Church. And may we always respect those who walk on other paths • AE