Homily | May 30, 2026 | The Cost Of Hesitation | (Episode 141)

Well, as we wrap up this week on Saturday, come, Holy Spirit, come.

Hope you did your homework this week.

But as we wrap up this week, one of the most dangerous things that can happen to the soul is not outright rebellion against God.

It's hesitation, half belief, half surrender.

Standing close enough to hear Jesus, but never close enough to let him truly change you.

That's exactly what we see in today's gospel.

The chief priest, the scribes, the elders approach Jesus and ask him, By what authority are you doing these things?

Now the irony is almost painful.

They're standing before the Son of God, truth himself, with a capital T.

And instead of seeking truth honestly, they're calculating politically.

Notice their conversation.

They are not asking what is true.

They're asking, what answers protect us?

And that changes everything.

Because once a person becomes more concerned with protecting themselves than surrendering to truth, the heart begins to harden.

That's why their final answer is tragic.

We do not know.

But the reality is they did know.

Or at least they suspected.

They saw the miracles, they heard the authority in his teaching, they witnessed the holiness of John the Baptist, but accepting the truth would require conversion, humility, and change.

And that is why they resisted.

And honestly, we can do the exact same thing.

Because sometimes we already know where the Lord is calling us.

We know the relationships that need to heal.

We know the sin that needs to go, that addiction, that vice that we keep falling into.

We know that prayer life we keep postponing.

We know the compromise that we just keep justifying.

But like the religious leaders, we hesitate because conversion costs something.

That's why this first reading from St.

Jude is so powerful today.

Build yourselves up in your most holy faith.

Keep yourselves in the love of God.

You see, faith is not something passive.

It must be protected, strengthened, fed.

Because the world constantly pulls us towards cynicism, compromise, confusion, distraction, and spiritual laziness.

And then St.

Jude says something beautiful.

On those who waver, have mercy.

I love that line because it reminds me that many people are struggling quietly.

Some people in church today are wavering.

They believe, but they're tired, they're exhausted, they're wounded, they're confused, they're carrying disappointments with God and the church.

So what does the scripture say?

Well, have mercy on them.

Not contempt, not arrogance, mercy.

The Christian life is not about standing above people, it's about pulling each other out of the fire.

And then the reading ends with one of the most beautiful, comforting lines.

To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling.

Notice that carefully.

Your salvation does not rest merely on your own strength.

God himself is holding you.

God himself is sustaining you.

God himself is fighting for your soul even when you're weak.

Well, that doesn't mean we become passive.

It becomes we stop living with despair.

Because some people think holiness means never struggling.

No, holiness means continuing to return to Christ even in that struggle.

The saints were not perfect because they never fell.

The saints were people who stopped running from the truth.

Maybe that's the question for us today.

Where am I resisting God's authority in my life?

Because every one of us has an area where we prefer control over surrender.

But peace only comes when we stop negotiating with God and finally trusting Him enough to say, Lord, not my will, but your will be done.

And when that happens, faith stops being theoretical.

Faith now becomes transformational.

Amen.