God made me do it !

Dear friends,

The comedian, Flip Wilson, used to play a character by the name of “Ernestine” I believe. Whenever she/he would try to rationalize why she was misbehaving she would cry out, “The Devil made me do it!” In the first two reading today from the Acts of the Apostles and the book of Revelation the Apostle Peter and then the all of the creatures of the world cry out, “The Lord made me do it!”


The religious leaders are trying to put a stop to Peter and the other disciples healing and preaching in the name of Jesus Christ. In response Peter tells them that he can’t disobey God and therefore must disobey their human laws. In the Apocalypse John has a vision of the Throne of the Lamb of God. Around the Throne are all of the creatures of the earth. Even the creatures cannot contain their excitement about being in Christ’s presence so they praise and worship Him. Even the creatures cry out praise.

I think this is a good week to pray and meditate upon what compels us to act and speak as we do. The early disciples were so on fire with the love of Christ that He is what compelled ever action and every word that came from them. Besides the readings and the books that we hear from today, all of the letters from Paul, James, Peter, John, et al, are words driven by the authors passionate love of Jesus Christ. If you have ever had a hard time reading one of St. Paul’s letters it is probably because he wrote with his emotions for Jesus on his sleeve. His enthusiasm for the Christ he is trying to describe sometimes makes St. Paul’s writings hard to understand. He writes like a kid who has some exciting story to tell.

We are called to live and speak likewise. Let us spend some time this week figuring out if the love of Christ is the driving force of our words and actions. Or are we driven by concerns and pleasures that are not Christ’s?

paz,
Fr. Chuck