Posts Tagged ‘Real Faith; Knowledge of God; Being Strengthened by Faith’

Real Peace

Monday, April 29th, 2019

Divine Mercy Sunday

Acts 5: 12-16; Rev 1: 9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20: 19-31

Deacon Larry Brockman

“Peace be with you”.  Those were the first words of Jesus to his Apostles in his post-Resurrection appearance to them.   

Think about that for just a minute.  Jesus had been arrested, tried, tortured, and executed by an angry mob of Jews who had been whipped into a frenzy by the Jewish leaders.  The disciples were in fear that they would be pursued as well because the body of Jesus was missing from the tomb and they were the likely suspects!  They were terrified that the authorities would come after them.  And so, they were huddled together hiding from the authorities in the upper room.   

Jesus packs a big message in those first simple words to the disciples.  He is telling them to relax, and not to worry; to be at peace even with all that was going on.  Why? Because here he is, alive and well in the resurrected state.  Such a thing had never happened in the history of the world, and it will never happen again.  But by seeing and believing in the power of that resurrection miracle, a power that transcends any earthly power, Jesus is telling his Apostles to trust in him because no matter what, they will be given peace, real peace.  It was essentially a call to courage   

Then in his next words, Jesus sends the Apostles forward on their historical mission to be his witnesses and to convert the world because Jesus vests them with the power to forgive sins or not forgive them. This power also transcends any earthly power, because it is the gate by which one transcends this life to everlasting life or death; heaven or hell.  And so, Jesus is commanding his Apostles to go forth and exercise that power; to preach the Gospel.  This was going to take some courage, real courage.   

The first reading tells us that the Apostles were up to that challenge!  They were gathered in the Solomon’s Portico in clear view of the authorities.  Acts tells us very plainly that “None of the other’s dared join them”.  Indeed, the Apostles had been changed by Jesus visit and the gift of the Holy Spirit. They were fired up; ready to go; they believed with all their hearts; they had real Faith; they were courageous.  But the others were still afraid.  You can’t really blame them, after all, the Romans and the Jews were incredibly brutal to Jesus. 

They were afraid because of a lack of Faith.  They are like us- we have not seen; we are called to believe without seeing.   

And so, we have the story of Thomas.  Thomas actually put his fingers into Jesus’ wound.  After that Thomas says “My Lord and my God”.  Can you just imagine as a human being realizing that you are standing in front of God himself!  That realization flipped Thomas to a firm believer, a man of Faith.  But Jesus words to Thomas echo across thousands of years: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed”.  And that is what all of us are called to do.  We are all called to believe in the whole story of Christianity without having been there; without having seen first-hand. We are called to faith.  And not only that, we are called to have courage and to be at peace no matter what is going on around us.  That’s the essence of Jesus command “Peace be with you”.   

So, when you are attacked for your Faith; when someone ridicules you for following the Gospel by keeping the commandments and faithfully worshipping God; and when you suffer the consequences of your own personal “crosses to bear”- like illnesses, losses, infirmities, loneliness, and every other painful state we find ourselves in-that it is all worth it, because if you believe, really believe, then the Peace of God rests on you.  And that peace of God rests in his promise to save all those who believe in him, such that they will all inherit the Kingdom. 

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Accepting on Faith

Thursday, September 3rd, 2015

Thursday of 22nd Week of Ordinary Time

Col 1: 9-14; Lk 5: 1-11

Dc. Larry Brockman

Imagine the Apostles Peter, James, and John’s reaction.  Here were three seasoned fisherman who had labored all night in vain.  And now, this stranger orders them to pull out from shore and lower their nets.  It was the wrong time of day; the tides were not right; and they were weary from working all night.  But despite their objections and cynicism, they made an incredible catch.  In fact, it was just plain mind boggling to them, so much so that they dropped everything and followed Jesus.

These three apostles saw miracles like this over and over again.  They listened to all that Jesus taught them, yes; but they came to believe in Jesus through these mighty deeds.  The case was so compelling- between the authority of Jesus’ teaching and the impact of the miracles, that they came to believe, with certainty, that this man was the Messiah; and that motivated them to ponder in the depths of their hearts what Jesus teaching was and to reorient their lives to follow him accordingly.  They walked away from what was comfortable and what they knew.  There was just no way that they could not follow Jesus after all that they experienced first-hand.

What a contrast to the Colossians that Paul is talking to in our first reading.  You see, the Colossians had to accept on faith what they heard second and even third hand.  They weren’t privy to the miracles and the personal contact with Jesus.  That is why Paul’s prayer in our first reading is so incredibly beautiful, because Paul recognizes first that the Colossians had real faith.  They had come to believe on their own, without all the advantages that the apostles had.  And so, Paul’s first thought is to give thanks for their faith.

But then, Paul prays that God would bless them.  Notice that he doesn’t pray that they would love one another and keep all of Jesus’ commandments.  Rather, he prays that they “would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding”.  That was the very first item on Paul’s prayer agenda.   He is praying that they would do what the Apostles did.  Ponder the message in the depths of their hearts and find out what God’s will was for them.

We are in the same boat as the Colossians.   We have come to believe on the basis of faith alone.  And Paul’s good words of Thanksgiving apply to us as well.  But we need to move on from there, and before we can go out and just obey God’s commandments, we have a higher priority to establish first.  We need to discern God’s will for us so that we can “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord so as to be fully pleasing in every good work bearing fruit.”    Paul goes on to say that if we do that “We will be strengthened with every power in accord with his glorious might.”  Wow!

There’s a lot of times when people suffer consequences for making wrong decisions that are counter to God’s way.  For example, we are subject to civil penalties if we steal or hurt someone.  But there are more subtle consequences as well.  If we choose our careers; choose our mates, and choose any number of other things without God’s blessing, all kinds of things can and do go wrong.

This, however, is a different teaching.  It says that we will be strengthened when we make good decisions about how to live our lives that are in harmony with what God has in mind for us.  We will even bear fruit accordingly.

So, if you are unsure where you are going in life,  And if you are just trying to get by in life by keeping God’s commandments, why not read Paul’s prayer about the Colossians especially carefully and go off and follow Paul’s advice?  You might even find that a miracle of abundance will surface in your life if you do.

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