Knowing Christ

“Be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and put on the new self,
created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.”

Ephesians 4:23-24

As baptized Christians, we are a new creation. This means that we must live our lives embodying the joy of the Gospel. Knowing Jesus changes everything. It changes what we have come to believe about ourselves. It changes what we have come to believe about the world. It changes what we have come to believe about God. Knowing Christ changes our lives and we must never go back.

In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul implores the people to get rid of their old selves and to put on their new selves and to be renewed. He tells the people that they have been re-created in the “righteousness and holiness of truth.” Righteousness is right relationship with God and holiness of truth means to be set apart by God to live in His truth. Being Christians means then we must live in a way that is distinct from others; we must live knowing that this earthly life is but a journey and that our final destination, our true homeland is heaven. We live not for this world, but for heaven, and every thing that we thing, say, and do ought to reflect this mode of living. Do the words that I let pass my lips build others up and help them and ourselves grow closer to God? Do that things I choose to do reflect the joy and holiness of heaven? Do my thoughts increase my desire for God and heaven? These are the questions we must ask ourselves. If our answer is “no” then we do not really know Christ and we have slowly falling into the trap of the world. For knowing Christ means we know that we do not belong to the world. Have we cast off our old selves and put on the new or do we cling on to our old selves, afraid of what the world might say about us?

So, brothers and sisters, do you possess the surpassing joy of knowing Christ?

Click below to watch this week’s reflection on the Bread of Life.

Trusting God Provides

Elisha said, "Give it to the people to eat."
But his servant objected,
"How can I set this before a hundred people?"
Elisha insisted, "Give it to the people to eat."
"For thus says the LORD,
'They shall eat and there shall be some left over.'"
And when they had eaten, there was some left over,
as the LORD had said.

2 Kings 4:42b-44

Have you ever been in a situation where you were asked to do something that seems physically impossible? Maybe it was trying to keep a school program running with small numbers or trying to keep the lights on without a paycheck. Maybe it was someone telling you Hang in there, this too shall pass when things seem hopeless and the tunnel dark and without end. Whatever the particulars may be, when we are in the midst of a situation that seems impossible, how do we respond? Do we throw are hands in the air and say I give up! I don’t know! or do we bring our hands together in prayer, trusting that if the Lord has allowed you to experience this, He will also bring you through it?

The multiplication of the loaves is a miracle that is well known by believers and non-believers alike. But this miracle has also happened in the Old Testament. When told there were only 20 barley loaves, Elisha told the servants to give it to the people and that there will be leftovers. It’s quite interesting because it seems like there is some competition here — Elisha with 20 barley loaves and 100 people and Jesus with 5 loaves and thousands! But of course the number and quantity is not what is important here. Elisha trusted that God will provide and He did. Jesus trusted that His Father will provide and He did. The one thing different with Jesus is that He is the Bread of Life come down from heaven Himself. They trusted that God will provide and He did.

There is also another dimension to this. Where did the bread come from? The people. The people brought the loaves to Elisha and Jesus. It was the offering of the people and Elisha and Jesus blessed and brought before God. Similarly at Mass, where does the bread come from that the priest blesses? The offertory, when the people bring up the gifts. Imagine that for a second. We give to the priest small, thin pieces of wheat flour and water and in turn we receive the Bread of Life! We give to God was seems menial, and He in turns gives us Himself! God does not ask us to offer up something big and grandiose, but whatever we can and whatever is in our hearts. For the people, five loaves and two fish were all they could give, and God in turned transformed that into more than enough. When we find ourselves in situations that seem impossible or hopeless, we only need to give to God whatever we can muster up, and God will use that to show us the light at the end of the tunnel. Even if it is a simple, pure, and authentic, I need You, Lord and I trust in You! God will transform that prayer into life.

Trust that the Lord hears you. Trust that the Lord will provide. Trust that He loves you.

Made For Life

“For he fashioned all things that they might have being.

For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him. But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world,
and they who belong to his company experience it.”

Wisdom 1:14a; 2:23-24

Death was never God’s plan for human beings. In being made in the image and likeness of God, and since God is Life, human beings were made for life, a life that does not end. However, because of sin, death entered into the world. But, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son into the world so that this Life might once again be restored.

Because life is a gift from God and because all life was fashioned by God, to be rid of it means to be rid of God. That is why the Church (in the US at least) has always emphasized the right to life — no to abortion, no to capital punishment, no to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, and no to artificial means to conception. All of those aforementioned “no’s” deny the “gift” aspect of life. In Catholic Social Teaching we are told that the right to life is the most fundamental human right. Even the Declaration of Independence echoes this, that all persons are entitled to rights and chief among them are that of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” By our nature, we strive to live. We have to always support this striving for living. If someone says “I no longer want to live,” it is contrary to our very human nature to reply, “Well, if that is really what you want, then, you should die.” Sadly, our world has come to this with the legal “protection” for people to engage in physician-assisted suicide. Truly, as Pope St. John Paul II has said, we are living in the midst of a “culture of death.”

In the Gospel we see a very different picture. Instead of succumbing to euthanasia to alleviate his daughter’s pain and affliction, the synagogue official Jairus, pleads with Jesus to heal his daughter who was “at the point of death.” Even as his daughter was close to death, Jairus fought for her life because that is what humans were made for — life! Although we know that as they were making their way to the house, Jairus’s daughter died, Jesus continued on because He has come to give us life and life to the full. Even when all seems lost, Jesus fights for us. He comes to us. He breathes life into us once again just as He did for Jairus’s daughter, who lived.

The woman who was suffering from hemorrhaging for 12 years heard that Jesus was in town and she immediately followed, hoping to get close to Him so that she might be cured. Think about that. Bleeding for 12 years? I do not think I could even bear that for a week! Yet, she chose to fight for her life. Twelve years. She went to different doctors, but nothing, no cure at all; in fact, things got worse. But, she did not give up. When she touched the hem of Jesus’s garment, she was cured. When we come to encounter Jesus in an intimate, personal way, there will be healing, but we must desire it and at times, we must fight for it.

The one thing in common in both of these healings is the element of faith. Jairus believed that Jesus could heal his daughter and so, even as a synagogue official and perhaps ignoring the complaints and jeers of some Jewish leaders, he went to look for Jesus to heal his daughter. When his daughter’s condition worsened, Jesus encouraged Jairus, “Do not be afraid; just have faith” and he did. Jairus, knowing that the man before him could heal his daughter, believed and kept the faith. The woman who suffered tremendously in life seized the opportunity when it came, pursuing Jesus in the hopes of being healed, and it was granted unto her, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.” In the end, life prevailed. The woman and Jairus’s daughter were made for life, and as long as they were willing and desired it, the Lord of Life will always grant it to them.

Brothers and sisters, do we know and believe that we were made for life? Do we have faith that Jesus has come to give us life and life to the full? What are those areas in our lives that are dead or dying? Maybe it is resentment, a grudge, past hurt, unforgiveness, doubt, anger. Whatever it may be, we must remember that we were made for life. We must seek to live and strive for life. Let us invite Jesus into those parts of our lives that need healing and resurrection, and ask Him to give us the desire to grow deeper in faith so that like Jairus’s daughter and the woman with the hemorrhages, we too might be cured of our afflictions and can live in peace.