Homily for the Hispanic Youth Congress: February 8, 2009

Given by the Most Reverend Stephen E. Blaire at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton.

It is really wonderful to see all of you gathered here for the Hispanic Youth Congress. I see that the Church is young because it is made up of so many young people like yourselves. In the gospel passage from Mark, Simon Peter says to Jesus that everyone is looking for him. Today so many young people are looking for meaning to their lives and you have come here to find out what life is all about by coming to know Jesus. You believe in Jesus and each day your faith can grow. Faith is like a seed that is planted in the ground; you fertilize the earth and water it and the seed begins to grow into a plant. As it grows, weeds also grow around it and you have to remove the weeds. You have to keep watering the plant and taking care of it, making sure that it gets enough sunlight and fertilizer. As it develops you may also have to trim it to keep it looking good and growing in the right way. Building a friendship with Jesus, growing in faith, getting to know Him, takes time. If you are a student in school and love to study the history of the Americas, the more you study the more you learn and want to learn. You never stop growing in knowledge. Faith is the same way. You never stop growing in faith. If you are in construction, the more homes you build the better you become at it. The same with faith. The more you believe and practice your faith, the better you become at it and the closer you grow to Jesus.

When Peter told Jesus that everyone was looking for him, Jesus said that he had to go to the neighboring villages and preach and drive out demons. There are all kinds of demons that can keep you from Jesus. One of the worst is fear. If you are afraid to be a friend of Jesus, afraid to do what he wants you to do, afraid that your friends might reject you or make fun of you, Jesus will drive out that demon if you let him. Another demon which gets in the way says that you should not think about God. Only think about what you want to do; how much fun you can have; how much money you can make. Do not let God get in your way because He might ask you to think about helping others in life and loving others more than you want to do. Jesus can get rid of that demon from you also. Another demon says that life is miserable and painful and the only way you are going to get ahead is to push yourself and do not let other people get in your way. You are the only one who counts. Do not listen to what Jesus says. Do not look at other people who are hurting; only think about yourself. Jesus can cast out all these demons if you let him be your friend.

If you go to Sunday Mass, if you pray to God every day, if you read your Bible, if you hang out with good friends who love God, if you go to confession once in a while, especially before Christmas and Easter, if you belong to Catholic youth groups, everyday your faith will deepen and you will grow closer and closer to Jesus. He will be the center of your life. If you are devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe and ask her as your mother to pray for you, she will be there with you to strengthen your faith in Jesus and help you to stay close to Him. When you are close to Jesus you know that he loves you and you love Him. Your faith will make you into a loving person. You will love God and you will love others.

Ah, you might say: these are beautiful ideas but they are not easy to do. That is true, we can give in to the demons and let them take over our lives, or we can invite Jesus to come in and cast out the demons. No matter how many times we fail or sin or do not do the right thing Jesus never abandons us. He is always with us. Even if we get down on ourselves or even give up on ourselves, Jesus never gets down on us and never gives up on us. He always waits for us to be his friends.

Last Update February 9, 2009