 Debbie shared about this this baptism that we receive is It's like a down payment. It doesn't guarantee necessarily, but it certainly gets the ball rolling I was just thinking in listening to her story and what a blessing it is that that's so much of her experience to be able to Hear her speak of that because I was baptized on actually Valentine's Day, and I don't remember anything about it. Amen Okay, if I say amen you respond Like you believe it. Amen Much better and my mom and dad said it was a great event and why wouldn't it be huh? It's their boy And yet there has to be something and when she said that that how do you activate that? What is it that activates that this meeting him? Where he becomes real for us? He doesn't just become a God Rather he becomes my God And in that no matter what your story is no matter how many times you've been here No matter how many times you've given yourself to the Lord the Lord wants to continue to work powerfully in our life But I think all too often we put him in this little box, and we don't let God be who he wants to be for us Amen, I think unfortunately oftentimes we live in a grace. That's many many years old It's like God did this ten years ago or 20 years ago, but God wants to do something new in us now amen Tonight let's not wait till tomorrow. Okay tomorrow's a new day Tonight this fall. I had just this profound profound experience of God And it was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Now I've been traveling And I got back Wednesday afternoon, and I live in a fryer with five friars Whom I love most of the time and while they have many gifts cooking is not one of them So I became very aware that as I got home on on Wednesday if we were gonna have a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday I was gonna cook it so We have a kitchen with one oven cooking Thanksgiving dinner of Which nothing had been purchased yet So it's Wednesday evening the day before Thanksgiving Those of you who are now are like sensing this anxiety You understand what I'm getting into amen And those of you who don't thank the person who does Because that turkey just doesn't show up amen So I go to the grocery store, and I'm anxious and I'm nervous and I'm tense because I've got to buy everything And I'm not even positive there's gonna be a turkey there So I go in there, and I start and I'm trying to think through my mind Okay, what do I need to buy and I need to get this I need to get that and all of this is going through my mind And I also realize since we only have one oven that I need to cook the desserts that night So I need to get everything together get back home have evening prayer and then begin making dessert So all of this is going through my mind and just a little bit frustration that this could have been done earlier But it wasn't because they figured the meal was just gonna show up, huh? And you're looking at it So I'm walking in the grocery store And in this one area and this woman walks by and immediately when I saw her my sense was is that the Lord wanted me to speak to her So it's like all right So I just kind of waited for a second just the movement of all right You need to just I didn't know exactly what just go up and speak to her But then I just had a little conversation with the Lord because clearly he doesn't understand what it's like to make Thanksgiving dinner Because he was a Jewish person and his mom did it for him amen so So amen it doesn't just show up that doesn't just happen So I explained to the Lord, which he clearly didn't understand all that I needed to do So I just kind of put that sense back off to the bird and just said you know I just don't I don't have time right now. There was a lot going on in my life So but I couldn't get this gal out of the back of my mind and I went around a corner and she was there again It's like oh, this is killing me. So I may got a deal which he's open to all right I said, okay, if I see her again by the jelly I'll talk to her I'm willing to talk to her so I go around this corner and wouldn't you know it all right There she is. I think she was like this stalker woman. All right, and what did I do? I just pushed my card and kept on going This sense just a little bit of judgment so So I go home that night and we have evening prayer and all this kind of thing and then the pies are in the oven and in our Chapel is right next to the to the kitchen. So I go ahead and I'm sitting down in the chapel And this began to gnaw on me I was sure that the Lord I didn't know what the Lord wanted to do But I was sure that the Lord wanted me to say something It just kind of began to gnaw on me and then I don't know a few but but my mind began to just kind of race and Control and I realized that that she's never gonna go to heaven because I didn't speak to her and this woman is gonna go To hell she's gonna burn in hell and her children probably will to all because I wouldn't talk to her by the jelly All right, so I'm having this major faith and it's like ah But I really did there was just this and I go before the Lord and I remember sitting in the chapel And I just began to repent don't understand I am so sorry and I just sat there and there was just this deep sense of sorrow and sadness and As if I had disappointed the Lord And there was just this really really beautiful experience of me repenting before the Lord and single kill never do that again And just this great image of that I had of the Lord I would play baseball a lot when I was a kid and and the Lord just kind of patted me back on patting me on my back And said all right get back in the game Thank you. I went check the pies, huh? You see the reason this had such a profound impact on me Was because I've thought about Debbie's question About what do I want it to my tombstone to say? And I'm okay if my tomb tombstone says, uh, Father depevanca Dave said yes Dave said yes Because that's what I want I want when the Lord asks me Anything That I'll say yes to it And I think that's why that evening had such a profound impact because the depths of my heart is that and at that moment I didn't say yes. I remember the first time I found myself praying and reflecting on this I was a college student and I was just praying and I was sensing the Lord speaking me And inviting me to do something and I remember just kind of wrestling with him a little bit I said well Lord, are you sure like are you sure you want me to do this and he's yeah Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a but why? All right, I asked the Lord why why me why not somebody else? Why don't you let them do it there be much better equipped? Why do you want me and the Lord said to me because you'll say yes That's not fair Seriously, what do you say after that? It's like because you'll say yes. So it's like yes Yes, and it is my desire And I remember 25 years ago the Lord saying will you profess vows to be a friar? Yes Will you say yes to being a priest? Yes Will you tell people people about me? Yes Will you go to China? Yes Will you pick up my cross? You know, I've been wanting to talk to you about that Now don't clear me clear. I'm not saying no. I'm just kind of why don't we talk about this? What exactly do you mean? I'm not saying no. Don't get I'm not. I just want more information Like my cross like how much of it for how long Are you willing to suffer? It's like yes, I'm willing to suffer sort of but like again I'm not saying no. Let's just what are our boundaries here. All right Yes. Yes. Yes. I'll pick it up I won't like it Will you love that person that drives you crazy? If by love you mean Put up with yes. I will yes. I will Will you forgive? If they grovel See the desire of my heart Has been for a long time To be able to say yes to the Lord because when I think about the alternative About saying no When you take a look at the scriptures and and there's probably lots of them, but I was just bringing we have this I mean, it's pretty simple. We have an option where you can say yes to the Lord or we can say no And I just found myself reflecting and praying a little bit about the scriptures and the occasions and the times when people said no And the first person that came into my mind was Jonah. All right, Jonah says the Lord says do this and Jonah says no And what happens to Jonah? You got swallowed by a fish. All right, so you've been warned. All right Say no to the Lord gets swallowed by a fish This is not too complicated Or the rich young man in the 10th chapter of john They were setting out on a journey and a man runs up and he kneels before Jesus and he asked him This is cool because Jesus had been in this area. It's in Jericho and he'd been there for a while He's now beginning to leave and the scripture says that he ran up to Jesus He runs up to Jesus because Jesus is leaving town and he wants to ask him a question before he leaves So he runs up and he says good teacher. What must I do to inherit eternal life? He goes through the commandments you shall not kill you should not commit adultery You shall not steal you should not pair false witness. He goes. I haven't done that. I haven't done that I haven't I haven't done anything. This is gonna be easier than I thought because I haven't done any of that Jesus says you lack one thing Go and sell what you have And give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven Then come and follow me And at that statement His face fell for he had many possessions I find this one of the saddest scriptures It may not be the only one but it's the one that I think of where where Jesus asks somebody very specifically for something and they say No There is an intimate relation and a connection between our saying yes to the lord And then inheriting the kingdom of god I mean this is such a sad story because he goes up to jesus and I believe that he authentically wants to inherit the kingdom of God and he goes this is what I want and I've lived a very righteous and wonderful holy life And jesus says you're right. You've just lacked one thing So will you do this? He says happened to him But the only story we know for sure is that he says okay if you want to inherit eternal life Do this and he says no And there's something important for us here because let's not ask the lord a question if we're not willing to do what he asks of us You know so oftentimes we go before the lord We say lord. What do you want me to do and he tells us and it's like lord. What else do you want me to do? Let's not ask if we're not willing to do it If we're not willing to say yes, and I think of my own story personally why In the times that I haven't been or chosen not to say yes, what is it? I think oftentimes it's fear It's a fear of what it's going to mean. It's a fear of what this is going to look like It's a fear of failure. It's a fear of not being able to do it right It's a fear of what people are going to say But there's something oftentimes about fear that inhibits us from doing what the lord is inviting us to do And the deepest desire of my heart is to say yes to whatever the lord wants because the reality Is if I say no god is not going to stop loving me But he's going to go to somebody else and he's going to ask somebody who'll say yes I don't want the lord to have to go look anywhere else Pope francis says that the lord gazed on him fixed his gaze and the lord fixed his gaze on me The lord fixes his gaze on you and he invites us to say yes But like the rich young man, it's often that thing which is very close to us That thing which maybe causes fear and I only I wonder what goes through his heart when he says I'm doing great I'm doing great and she says there's only one more thing. That's fantastic. What is it do this and fall? I can't do that I can't do that So we go before the lord and we say lord give me the grace and the strength to be able to say yes to you To say yes to whatever it is that you ask of me And is in the rich young man who wasn't able to respond to that and wasn't able to say yes He walks away sad Because in that he ultimately says no to the thing that he wanted the most And that was the ability to inherit eternal life So we go before the lord and we ask what is it that we ask and we looked in the scriptures and we see a couple of occasions But we look to our lady We've got the beautiful image when the angel gabriel comes to him comes to our lady in the beginning of loop The first thing the angel says is is mary. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid Oftentimes there's something that stirs in us when we when we hear the lord asking us or inviting us and it stirs And we find ourselves that we're frightened And mary wasn't frightened as if as if she was afraid like she she was just It's what I call this holy fear I remember the day that I was ordained I was ordained actually 20 years ago in this room About two weeks ago And I remember sitting in the chapel in the holy spirit friary and just thinking about me being ordained a priest And I was scared not because I didn't want to do it or not because it wasn't god wanted me to do because I Knew that it was But I was scared because I had no idea what I was getting into But I knew that I had said yes And I knew that the lord was faithful so in the midst of this fear Sitting in the chapel and put their fryer. I said yes to the lord again And I made this profound honest prayer and it was yes lord Don't let me screw this up That was from the depths of my heart Because I know me And I gave the lord lots of reasons why he should probably choose somebody else I said lord why me? Oh, yes Because you'll say yes So our lady continues to say yes in our yes echoes that yes But what we have to ask each one of ourselves and we have to be honest with ourselves and with the lord and that is Why is it that we're not able to say yes? What is it that stirs in us that causes us not to be able to say yes is it fear Is it because it's not convenient I think oftentimes if we're honest it's because it doesn't fit in with my plans That that that wednesday night in giant giant grocery store It did not fit into my plans to stop and to pray with that woman or talk to her say anything because I had in my mind Everything that needed to be done and that wasn't a part of it Which brings us to the place that is absolutely key for us to be able to say yes to the lord And that is surrender my will Surrender what I want Surrender how I want things to look or how I want things done or what I think is best or how I think it should work And allow the lord's will be made known to me I mean, isn't that what jesus does in the last sub in the garden of eden? Gethsemane is there in jesus and And jesus I love this because if there's just something so honest about it And he says you know if this cup could pass that would be great If there was any other way that would be wonderful and you had this beautiful intimate honest relation In this conversation between jesus and his father But ultimately he says brothers and sisters what each one of us has to be able to say If we're going to say yes to the lord and that is not my will But yours Because I think if we're honest honest What we often are saying to the lord is not necessarily I want to say yes to you rather I want you to say yes to me Lord, I want you to say yes to what I want because this makes a lot of sense. Why wouldn't you say yes to this? My mother who's had had ms for 45 years and I prayed lord heal her. Why wouldn't you heal her? Why wouldn't you heal devi's brother? Why wouldn't you do that? Say yes to my plans and everything will be wonderful But that's not what jesus said He said yes to his father He said yes, let it be done according to your will Not mine And I think our ability to be able to say yes to the lord There has to be this part of us that we radically allow ourselves to be just revealed and open to the lord It's all of these things that I want you to do for me. I surrender them to you Because as debbie said I believe in your promises And I believe that you're bigger and I believe that you're greater Far greater than what I have The lord wants to be able to allow us and give us the grace To be able to say yes to him, but I often find myself saying well lord Yeah, I'll say yes as long as you give me some sense sometimes when people come to confession to me And this is good because when I talk about this nobody comes Uh, I I ask them I say okay. Here's your penance your penance is to say yes to the lord and they go Okay, well like what am I saying yes to I said that's just it Well, I mean if you tell me what I'm saying yes to that doesn't work like that To be able to say yes without conditions Because so oftentimes it's the lord. Tell me whatever you want me to do. I'll say yes to and then I realize That's not what it's about It's not saying yes to necessarily what god wants me to do rather It's saying yes to him It's saying yes to him Dave Will you be in relationship with me? Yes Will you let me love you? Yes Will you love me? I'll try my best Will you let me be merciful to you? Yes Even when you failed for the hundredth time Yes Will you let me pour your my love upon you? Yes And the more times we say yes to that And the more times we say yes to the love of god and the more time we say yes to his mercy Something begins to change in us Actually We begin to change And we become more like him And my yes Echoes and is united to this eternal perfect. Yes of jesus to his father Will you let me call you? Will you let me love you? Will you let me be merciful? Will you let me be generous? Will you let me be kind? Yes a million times yes And in this That it's not just it's it's not just my decision or it's not my strength that that every time I say yes to the father Every time I say yes to his love and his mercy that that we you I begin to be changed And It's not just my yes But it's jesus's And we're saying yes not to necessarily what he wants us to do rather We're saying yes to him. I mean isn't that what happens when we come to the eucharist and in the priest says the body of christ We say amen and we say yes yes Yes Had an opportunity about three weeks ago. I was in guadalupe Uh in just a wonderful blessing to be able to go on pilgrimage there We were actually visiting a town of puebla You were in this little church and and I was just kind of taking some time by myself praying And walking up in the middle of the the church was young gal maybe I know high school age 15 16 years old And as soon as I saw her she was walking with a sense of purpose and she was just kind of walking straight up and And I heard the lord say to me, uh, I want you to talk to her so explain to the lord. I don't speak Spanish It's okay. It's okay. He doesn't I do not expect him to remember everything. All right Lord says to me I can handle this But but as she was walking up just this this sense of a the lord wanting me to speak to her And I had this image of her as a girl and she was in her schoolyard And she was walking away and all the kids were making fun of her She walked in the front and when she went over and I wasn't actually sure if she had actually left because there was a Another accident on the side of the church. So I said, okay, lord. Okay. I don't know exactly how this can work But I'll go talk to her so I go up there and as it turns out she was still there As was the interpreter standing right next to her It's like, okay, lord, but if there's jelly here, I'm definitely Definitely So I went up to her and and through the interpreter I just What the lord was saying to me was that that he greatly greatly delighted in her And he loved her and I just shared with her a little bit about Her feeling not accepted because of her friends and and and she began to have tears in her eyes and her grandma That was actually there and she came over And myself and the interpreter and the grandma and this young girl We sat there and we prayed and I just told her and preached the lord's love on her and told her about how the lord Delighted in her and tears were running down her cheeks and her grandma's cheeks And there's just this beautifully tender intimate moment Because we say yes The lord wants to be able to do great things first in my heart and in my yes Transforming me and changing me and making me more like jesus But our yes Has profound impact on other people In my in your ability to continually go before the lord and say yes to him say yes to the love Say yes to your inheritance. Say yes to being a son. Yes to being a daughter Yes to all that the lord has for us He does great things amen