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
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
No Doubt!!!
Hello folks!
Did you know that there is very little known about most of the Apostles? We know about St. Peter because of the many times he is mentioned in the Gospels, in the Acts of the Apostles, his letters, from the stories passed down about his leadership of the early Church and his martyrdom and burial on the site that is now St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. We know about St. John and St. James also because of their closeness to Jesus in the Gospels and of their writings after the Resurrection. Most of what we know about the rest of the apostles is a word or two about them in scripture and the legends that grew about them as they tried to follow Jesus’ command to spread the Good News to the world.
St. Thomas is kind of in between the Apostles that we know a lot about and the ones we know little about. Thanks to Deacon Joe Chathaparampil, I know that according to tradition St. Thomas went to the lower west coast of India to begin Christianity there sometime after the Resurrection and Pentecost. What we know most about him however, is this story that we hear from the end of St. John’s Gospel. In this story he told his fellow Apostles that he would not believe in Jesus’ appearance to them unless he got to see it himself. Since he was not in the upper room on the first night after the Resurrection, he needed more proof than just his companion’s words. Because of that St. Thomas has since been known as Doubting Thomas. Jesus had to show up a second time to Thomas and the rest. He had to offer Thomas the wounds of His hands and side as proof of just how alive Jesus really is.
Yet St. Thomas is the only person in all of the Gospels to confess so boldly who Jesus really is. When he sees Jesus Thomas calls Him, “My Lord and My God!” No where else does anyone describe Jesus as truly who He is. Other references to Jesus are qualities or qualifications of Him. Jesus is called Messiah, Lord, Teacher, Rabbi, Master, Christ, and even Son of God. But only Thomas proclaims Him as boldly as “my GOD”. No qualifications just the truth.
While I enjoy the humanity and weakness of St. Thomas in being called the “Doubter” because it gives me hope that my imperfections will not keep me from intimacy with Jesus in this life and Communion with Him forever; I believe that his confession of who Jesus really is to Thomas is more inspiring. I believe that is where I’d like to have my faith grow. I want to always confess that Jesus Christ is my God. And I want that confession to be evident in how my life is lived. How about you?
peace,
Fr. Chuck
Did you know that there is very little known about most of the Apostles? We know about St. Peter because of the many times he is mentioned in the Gospels, in the Acts of the Apostles, his letters, from the stories passed down about his leadership of the early Church and his martyrdom and burial on the site that is now St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. We know about St. John and St. James also because of their closeness to Jesus in the Gospels and of their writings after the Resurrection. Most of what we know about the rest of the apostles is a word or two about them in scripture and the legends that grew about them as they tried to follow Jesus’ command to spread the Good News to the world.
St. Thomas is kind of in between the Apostles that we know a lot about and the ones we know little about. Thanks to Deacon Joe Chathaparampil, I know that according to tradition St. Thomas went to the lower west coast of India to begin Christianity there sometime after the Resurrection and Pentecost. What we know most about him however, is this story that we hear from the end of St. John’s Gospel. In this story he told his fellow Apostles that he would not believe in Jesus’ appearance to them unless he got to see it himself. Since he was not in the upper room on the first night after the Resurrection, he needed more proof than just his companion’s words. Because of that St. Thomas has since been known as Doubting Thomas. Jesus had to show up a second time to Thomas and the rest. He had to offer Thomas the wounds of His hands and side as proof of just how alive Jesus really is.
Yet St. Thomas is the only person in all of the Gospels to confess so boldly who Jesus really is. When he sees Jesus Thomas calls Him, “My Lord and My God!” No where else does anyone describe Jesus as truly who He is. Other references to Jesus are qualities or qualifications of Him. Jesus is called Messiah, Lord, Teacher, Rabbi, Master, Christ, and even Son of God. But only Thomas proclaims Him as boldly as “my GOD”. No qualifications just the truth.
While I enjoy the humanity and weakness of St. Thomas in being called the “Doubter” because it gives me hope that my imperfections will not keep me from intimacy with Jesus in this life and Communion with Him forever; I believe that his confession of who Jesus really is to Thomas is more inspiring. I believe that is where I’d like to have my faith grow. I want to always confess that Jesus Christ is my God. And I want that confession to be evident in how my life is lived. How about you?
peace,
Fr. Chuck
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
