Sunday:       10 th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Date:         June 10, 2018.
Year:         B
The readings: [Gen. 3:8-15; 2 Cor. 4:13-5-1; Mk. 3:20-35]
The message:  Stumbling blocks to Salvation.
Prepared by:  Catholic Doors Ministry.
Total words:  1087

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My brothers and sisters in Christ, there are situations in life that might make it difficult for you to obtain your salvation. There are situations in life when you might hesitate regarding your spiritual growth in Christ. There are situations in life when you come across obstacles that interfere with your spiritual values. Yes, there are obstacles in life when you come face to face to stumbling blocks.

What are stumbling blocks? In the Sacred Scriptures, when reference is made to stumbling blocks, it means anything that leads to sin.

Today's readings had perfect examples of stumbling blocks. In the First Reading from the Book of Genesis, we heard how Eve was a stumbling block to Adam's salvation. Adam trusted the woman that God gave him and she betrayed him. Once she had sinned by eating the apple, she knew that she had done wrong. Having experienced guilt, she tricked Adam into entering the life of sin.

This Reading tells us that one's spouse can become a stumbling block in life. To those who are married, I say, resolve right now to never put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of your spouse. [Romans 14:13]

Today's Second Reading from the Second Letter to the Corinthians tells us that the lack of perseverance is a stumbling block to our salvation. The lack of perseverance in faith and hope is a stumbling block to our spiritual growth. Jesus tells us that the lack of perseverance against any kind of sin is a stumbling block. He commands us to "Stay awake and pray that [we] may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” [Mt. 26:41]

This Reading tells us that we can be a stumbling block in our own lives. To you I say, resolve right now to never become a stumbling block to your salvation. Fight the good fight. "Even though [your] outer nature is wasting away, [your] inner nature is being renewed day by day." [2 Cor. 4:18] For what awaits you at the end of the road is worth the good fight.

Today's Gospel Reading also speaks of stumbling blocks. There are those who falsely accuse others. Jesus was accused of casting out demons by the power of the ruler of the demons. In other words, he was accused of acting in the name of the devil. Those who obstruct the work of God, any kind of work of God, they have a stumbling block that they must dealt with. For as Jesus said, "a house [that] is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand." If you are a Christian and claim to be for God, than you cannot be against God. You cannot serve two masters. Either you are with God or you are not with God. The choice is yours.

Another stumbling block in one's salvation is "whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, [he] can never have forgiveness. One might say, "But God is all merciful. Surely, He did not create us just to condemn us to hell for eternity." Let me tell you this, God gave everyone a free will. He who rejects the grace of God, he who refuses to be sanctified in Christ, he who refuses to obey the Ten Commandments, who refuses to receive the Sacraments, he who rejects the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary through the Sacramentals, he is rejecting every tool that has been given to him to obtain his salvation. Such is blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. Such is a rejection of the inheritance of the eternal Kingdom of God. That stumbling block can only lead to eternal damnation. For that reason, he can never have forgiveness. It is not because God is denying him forgiveness. It is because he is rejecting God's forgiveness.

In today's Gospel Reading, Jesus concluded by saying "Who are my mother and my brothers? Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." My brothers and sisters in Christ, this is the greatest stumbling block of the non-Catholics. Many of them, knowing with certainty that the door to the Catholic faith is the only means of salvation, refuse to enter the door because they may offend their parents, their brothers and sisters, their grandparents, etc... Their preference is their worldly family over a spiritual family in the Catholic Sacramental life that assures salvation.

Within the Catholic family, you will also find stumbling blocks, where one or more members can be an obstruction to salvation. When little children want to go to Church on Sunday but their parents cannot be bothered because they are tired from partying the previous night, such a stumbling block shall be severely punished by God. Such a stumbling block impedes on the spiritual growth of the child who may one day just give up on the Church.

Parents who refuse to take the time to raise their children in the living faith, including taking them to Church on Sundays and holy days, they are creating a stumbling block to their own salvation.

Family members, parents and children, who are constantly fighting with one another, who are constantly yelling at each other, who are constantly abusing other members of the family, such behaviors are stumbling blocks to the harmony of the family. Such stumbling blocks can only lead to the deterioration of the psychological well-being of individual members of the house. It is of the utmost importance that there be peace and joy in the home. Otherwise, how can Jesus dwell in the hearts of its members?

Jesus said, "Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!" [Mt. 14:13]

My brothers and sisters in Christ, today message is, you may be a stumbling block to your own spiritual growth in Christ. Your spouse may be a stumbling block. Your family may be a stumbling block. Your peers may be a stumbling block. Your co-workers may be a stumbling block. Anyone and everyone may be a stumbling block in your life.

So I say to you, "Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” [Mt. 26:41]

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"After the woman and the man had eaten from the tree, they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” [Gen. 3:8-15]

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Second Reading...

"Brothers and sisters: Just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture — 'I believed, and so I spoke' — we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." [2 Cor. 4:13-5-1]

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Gospel Reading...

"Jesus went home and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, 'He has gone out of his mind.'

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, 'He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.'

And Jesus called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, 'How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin' — for they had said, 'He has an unclean spirit.'

Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, 'Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.'

And Jesus replied, 'Who are my mother and my brothers?' And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.'” [Mk. 3:20-35]

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