WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.379 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:02.379 --> 00:00:05.839 of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:11.980 Glory forever. How we perceive the world around 00:00:11.980 --> 00:00:18.179 us affects how we live. How we view life and 00:00:18.179 --> 00:00:22.839 reality impacts our thoughts and our actions. 00:00:24.339 --> 00:00:27.379 When we have the right facts, we can make right 00:00:27.379 --> 00:00:32.579 decisions. There is one central fact that brings 00:00:32.579 --> 00:00:36.280 all of us here together today, and that is that 00:00:36.280 --> 00:00:42.060 God exists. Many people don't believe that. They 00:00:42.060 --> 00:00:46.619 somehow have believed an untruth that God does 00:00:46.619 --> 00:00:51.380 not exist, and so they make wrong choices. God 00:00:51.380 --> 00:00:55.500 exists, and a second fact is that God created 00:00:55.500 --> 00:00:59.869 everything else that does exist. including you 00:00:59.869 --> 00:01:07.510 and me. Today's epistle reading said, For it 00:01:07.510 --> 00:01:10.269 is God who commanded light to shine out of the 00:01:10.269 --> 00:01:13.109 darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give 00:01:13.109 --> 00:01:16.030 the light of knowledge of the glory of God in 00:01:16.030 --> 00:01:20.209 the face of Jesus Christ. God exists, Father, 00:01:20.370 --> 00:01:23.790 Son, and Holy Spirit, and created the world we 00:01:23.790 --> 00:01:27.430 live in, and created each one of us. And here 00:01:27.430 --> 00:01:32.650 is a third fact. God loves us, everyone, and 00:01:32.650 --> 00:01:37.909 wants what is best for us. Properly understood, 00:01:38.189 --> 00:01:42.310 knowing these three facts helps us to make right 00:01:42.310 --> 00:01:47.349 decisions. We actually will trust God, and we 00:01:47.349 --> 00:01:51.170 will do things that are good for our souls, for 00:01:51.170 --> 00:01:56.909 our souls and for our bodies. God exists. God 00:01:56.909 --> 00:02:00.150 created everything else that exists. God loves 00:02:00.150 --> 00:02:03.890 us, everyone, and wants what is best for us. 00:02:04.670 --> 00:02:08.930 And yet, even knowing these three facts, and 00:02:08.930 --> 00:02:12.210 even acknowledging that we know them right now, 00:02:12.389 --> 00:02:20.150 somehow we still make mistakes. Why? Because 00:02:20.150 --> 00:02:24.969 of the simple, selfish pride that each one of 00:02:24.969 --> 00:02:29.990 us has. Even when we acknowledge these three 00:02:29.990 --> 00:02:32.689 facts, knowing and believing God is the creator 00:02:32.689 --> 00:02:35.590 and that we are the created, we think we know 00:02:35.590 --> 00:02:40.210 better than God. We justify our pride in our 00:02:40.210 --> 00:02:45.870 minds and make a wrong choice and we sin. And 00:02:45.870 --> 00:02:51.949 the vice of pride has tricked us. But every vice 00:02:51.949 --> 00:02:56.259 has a corresponding virtue. And for pride, the 00:02:56.259 --> 00:03:00.319 corresponding virtue is humility. And fortunately 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:03.879 for me and for you, we can learn to be humble 00:03:03.879 --> 00:03:08.199 and to have that humility that God wants us to 00:03:08.199 --> 00:03:12.520 have. Fact three, God loves us, everyone, and 00:03:12.520 --> 00:03:16.599 wants what is best for us, means that God desires 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:21.120 to teach us humility if we would only learn. 00:03:21.699 --> 00:03:26.330 In today's gospel reading, St. Peter gives an 00:03:26.330 --> 00:03:31.009 example of this faith and this humility. For 00:03:31.009 --> 00:03:34.530 Peter was a fisherman by trade. He knew fishing. 00:03:34.789 --> 00:03:38.090 He knew that he'd been out in a boat. He knew 00:03:38.090 --> 00:03:42.870 that no fish had been caught all night. His knowledge 00:03:42.870 --> 00:03:47.530 and experience told him to set out again was 00:03:47.530 --> 00:03:53.370 foolishness. And yet, Christ called him to do 00:03:53.370 --> 00:03:58.469 it. And he said one word that each one of us 00:03:58.469 --> 00:04:04.830 needs to learn. Nevertheless. He knew he was 00:04:04.830 --> 00:04:08.370 right, but he listened to the Lord Jesus and 00:04:08.370 --> 00:04:14.750 said, Nevertheless, I will do as you say. May 00:04:14.750 --> 00:04:22.480 we learn that lesson. Peter said, Master, we 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:25.060 have toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, 00:04:25.620 --> 00:04:28.899 at your word, I will let down the net. He humbled 00:04:28.899 --> 00:04:33.000 himself, not giving in to his pride as a fisherman, 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:37.100 and he was obedient to Christ our Lord. And because 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:41.899 of that, a miracle happened. We know that the 00:04:41.899 --> 00:04:44.699 fishing nets were filled to the point of breaking. 00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:49.240 and Peter's humility is demonstrated in his words 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:54.040 after experiencing this miracle. He said, Depart 00:04:54.040 --> 00:04:58.459 from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Sometimes 00:04:58.459 --> 00:05:02.379 we think we know better than God about a given 00:05:02.379 --> 00:05:06.500 situation, like Peter, who was an expert at fishing. 00:05:07.339 --> 00:05:12.079 But what if Peter had said no? The miracle would 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:16.449 not have happened. So let us say yes to God and 00:05:16.449 --> 00:05:19.910 watch God work miracles in our lives. And let 00:05:19.910 --> 00:05:23.949 us diminish our self -focused pride and grow 00:05:23.949 --> 00:05:27.930 in our humility because of who God is and his 00:05:27.930 --> 00:05:32.410 love for us. Archbishop Andre of Novo de Vivo 00:05:32.410 --> 00:05:38.290 says, Only take the gospel in your hands. Only 00:05:38.290 --> 00:05:41.920 try to apply it to your life. Take everything 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:46.000 which the Holy Church gives us. Then a miracle 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:49.560 will happen to you too, a greater miracle than 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:53.660 the wonderful catch. Christ himself will be revealed 00:05:53.660 --> 00:05:58.120 to you as he was revealed to Peter. Then you 00:05:58.120 --> 00:06:01.980 too will say deep in your heart, I am a sinful 00:06:01.980 --> 00:06:05.300 man, O Lord. And if you are a sinner, it means 00:06:05.300 --> 00:06:08.139 that you are sick and need a physician. And if 00:06:08.139 --> 00:06:10.920 a physician, then who is the physician of the 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:15.879 heart? Christ alone. And we would come in humility 00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:20.579 before him. God exists. God created everything 00:06:20.579 --> 00:06:24.160 else that exists. God loves us, everyone, and 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:27.660 wants what is best for us. Let us learn humility 00:06:27.660 --> 00:06:32.120 following God's commandments and expecting miracles 00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:34.779 to follow. Glory to Jesus Christ.