January 17, 2021

January 14, 2021

Our faith is not just about ideas. It’s really about having an encounter with God and, in particular, the Risen Christ! Once we give ourselves over to the notion of God’s presence, we have to train ourselves to listen for God’s voice and be attentive to God’s call. Having companions on our faith journeys is so incredibly important as they can help us fine-tune our listening skills and discern God’s voice from others we may be hearing. Faith is all about having these profound encounters not only with God but with our brothers and sisters, and creation itself. Anyone or anything that is alive with God’s presence becomes an occasion for God to speak and call us to deeper graces and experiences. “Come, and you will see.”
The example and teaching of Jesus, the lives of the saints, those living among us and those glorified in heaven, and the wonder and beauty of creation can all serve to help us listen more clearly and assist in positioning ourselves for this profound God meeting. It is an encounter that can quickly and easily lead to a friendship and intimate intertwining of our souls to their Maker, making a claim on us like no other. Then, the Word of God moves from being just a body of ideas to something we simply accept and do. The person of Jesus Christ swiftly moves from being just a good prophet in word and deed to the incarnate presence of God Himself, the Lamb of God. The voice leads us to the Person behind it.
The Gospel is hard to follow. We can intellectually debate whether what Jesus said is really what we are asked to do. The Gospel ideas do not always make sense in our practical, secular world. The person of God always does. We can debate the practicality and sense of ideas and doing so often keeps the more difficult ones at a safe distance away from us. Jesus said to love our enemy, but we really don’t need to do that, our minds try to convince us. It just doesn’t make sense. Yet, if we are truly in love with the God who is behind the voice of those words, they make perfect sense. Our deep and intimate love of this God would even find us laying down our lives for Him if necessary. Speak Lord, your servant is listening. ©LPi