We have Christ behind us!
Gospel Refection: Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Jesus said to the crowd:
“They will seize and persecute you,
they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,
and they will have you led before kings and governors
because of my name.
It will lead to your giving testimony.
Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,
for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking
that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.
You will even be handed over by parents,
brothers, relatives, and friends,
and they will put some of you to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”~Luke 21:12-19
I am not sure about you, but I was stuck with reality upon reading today’s Gospel. In today’s reality, we are told we have a right for things to be easy. Our lives, that is, our jobs, relationships, etc. As Christ tells us in the Gospel of Luke, “You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death.” We must not expect life to be easy, my brothers and sisters, we are called to be like Christ and he was handed over by his believed friends and crucified by His own people, therefore how can we expect a greater life?
With this realization, I think it is important to say that the abandonment or betrayal of others shall not discourage us.
We have Christ behind us!
We must accept him because he wants to bestow His grace upon us! “Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.”
I was listening to a reflection on the Catholic app “Hallow” that spoke of how Saint Augustine, in his book Confessions, spoke with the psalms as if unworthy of using his own words to speak a confession to God. Fr. Kevin Grove, CSC, continued to say that when Christ cried out on the Cross, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? (my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?). He was giving us the words when we feel separated from God. Therefore, Christ will provide us with the words to speak, for His words hold much power over our own and over the world.
God Bless~ J+M+J
Mikaila writes, “we are told we have a right for things to be easy. Our lives, that is, our jobs, relationships, etc.”
And much of this stems from the Enlightenment and it’s social contract theorists like John Locke for instance.
“My Rights” has ran over any notion of folks having a duty to things that exist in their life.
Why will our parents and other love ones hand us over? It’s because in those circumstances, we’ve chosen duty instead of our writers. We chose something greater than ourselves--the Lord.
I must admit I had been troubled for several reasons for awhile by Jesus words on the Cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Then I heard a sermon by my pastor who said Jesus had to take on our sins, our illnesses, our pains and our weak human emotions, and that to take them on himself meant they become His, and He experiences them to the extent that we do. It was both comforting and convicting. Comforting because Jesus really does get It personally as a human, and as God He has the power and deep self giving love to be fully with me in this "vale of tears"! Convicting because it didn't have to be this way for either Jesus or us, if I could have stayed away from sin and self-centerness to begin with. Alas I didn't!