Ordinary Time, 22nd Sunday (A) My first year as a new pastor was filled with frustrations, sufferings, and feeling overwhelmed. But now I have ten years of experience and things are going to be different. So why do I keep struggling with the same old failings?

No matter how hard you try, you will never be the perfect parent, Christian, or human being you are trying to be. That's because God did not call you to be the perfect Christian. He called you to walk with Jesus.

Last week, St. Peter got the gold star for realizing that Jesus is God's Anointed One. Today he gets sent to the back of the class for thinking the Messiah shouldn't have to suffer and die. But Jesus is called to self-giving love, and that looks and feels like the cross.

If you are experiencing suffering and struggles and failures, it is not a sign that you are doing something wrong. First child or fifth child, brand-new pastor or starting all over again, we are all called to self-giving love. And that will feel like the cross. You are called to remain with Jesus in his sufferings, and to know that he remains with you in yours.

(30 Aug 2020)

Going Deeper: When your children were Baptized, you traced the sign of the cross on your forehead. Are you surprised that your children sometimes feel like a cross? Take sticky notes and mark them with a sharpie pen in the shape of a cross. Stick them to your calendar, the dishes, the lawn mower, the desk, whatever it is that weighs you down today.

Read Jenny Uebbing's post The wonder of the last baby on Mama Needs Coffee.

Note: The Subscribe button above allows you to get new podcasts in a podcast app or feed. The Sign Up button below will add you to our mailing list.