In today's first reading, Acts 20: 28-38, St. Paul tells his fellow Christians that, after he leaves them, he knows that "savage wolves" will attack "the flock." That message had got to have been terrifying for those whose faith may not have been all that strong. Jesus, at the Last Supper, less that 24 hours before leaving us in death, prays for us, asking His Father, and ours, to keep us in His name. He reminds the Father that while here he "guarded" us. "But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely" (Jn 17: 11b-19). He reminds the Father that He has given us the Father's word and that the world hates us, as the world hated Jesus, because neither Jesus nor we belong to the world. He then says to the Father: "I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One."
What a promise, a promise that Jesus continues to keep. Yes, you and I are shielded from the Evil One. He has no more power over us. Jesus crushed his head from the tree of the cross. For those of us who believe and rely upon God, evil will not overtake us eternally and eternity is NOW! Jesus is NOW and where Jesus is, so, too, is the Father and the Spirit. And where the Trinity is, so, too, is eternity--a life beyond this world's reality. If I live by faith, then, when I encounter evil, I will ultimately triumph over it, no matter from whence it comes. The resurrection is NOW. Rocks are rolled away from our tombs NOW as we rise with Christ to the new life of grace, to the power of the Spirit at work in the depth of our souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment