Today's Gospel

The Purpose of Pain

Is there a word, a phrase, or an idea that jumps out at you today? It's an interesting reading. We've got this first section about, you know, don't give the dogs what's holy, don't throw your pearls before swine. We've all done that, right? And what does that mean? Like, manifests in so many different ways, right? How often has there been someone in your life and you wanted better things for them than they wanted for themselves? How often has there been someone in your life where you are willing to invest in them more than they are willing to invest in themselves? So we've all had that. That's the first part of the reading. Next part of the reading, whatever you want people to do to you, do to them. It's the law and the prophets. And then the third part of the reading is the narrow gate. And we're familiar with the narrow gate, right? We've heard this reading. We've heard this concept many, many times. But have we heard this concept? And how willing are we to listen to this concept and to absorb this concept? The reality is, is we understand it, okay? If you want your muscles to grow, you got to hurt them, right?

Growth is on the other side of pain. I don't know why. I don't know why it works that way, but it works that way. And me wanting it to work some other way is just delusional. Pain, growth. Pain, growth. Pain, growth. That's how it works.

Want to save money? Having savings is on the other side of pain. Growing your savings, growth, is on the other side of pain. You want to get good at anything. You know, there's the whole 10,000-hour theory. Growth, excellence, is on the other side of pain. And the pain manifests in lots of different ways. It isn't always like physical pain, like when you're lifting weights. You know, it can be the pain of discipline. It can be just the discomfort, you know, of having to get out of bed at 5 a.m. to go and do something, it manifests in lots of different ways, but the path is narrow.

There's no aspect of life, think about any aspect of life, there's no aspect of life where success comes through the wide highway. Excellence is rare, and one of the reasons it's rare. Because it's difficult and most people simply are not willing to pay the price. When it comes to our faith, we've got to be willing to pay the price of excellence. Growth is on the other side of pain. Let's go out in the world today and look to grow. Let's go out in the world today and accept God's massive invitation to grow. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold. Be Catholic.