The Confidence of Paul and Barnabas

In today's first reading, Acts 14: 5-18, Paul and Barnabas encounter opposition to their proclamation of the Good News of Jesus' resurrection. The jealousy of the leaders of an empire and their leaders' fear of losing their power led to Jesus' arrest and condemnation to be crucified, a fate that happened to anyone who was a threat to those in power at that time. However, death would have no power over Jesus, the Son of God. Efforts to destroy Him, then and now, would be in vain. Hence the confidence of Paul and Barnabas. They simply moved to other towns open to the Good News.

Neither the early Christians nor us today are promised a life free of problems, even problems within the Church, within our own families or society as a whole. What we are promised is that God is with us to the very end of the world as we know it! Some people may oppose us as Christians, as practicing Catholics, especially as believers in the Eucharist--the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus, our spiritual food, of which Jesus invites us to partake:  "Take and eat!  This is my body given up for you. Take and drink!  This is my blood poured out for you" (Compare Luke 22: 19-20; Matthew 26: 26-28; Mark 14: 22-24). Many people walked away from Jesus when He said this about His body and blood. They would have none of this teaching. Jesus asked the apostles if they, too, were going to leave and Peter responded: "To whom shall we go, Lord? You have the words of everlasting life."

We may, in some instances, also be mocked for believing that the Scriptures, the Word of God, "is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely: it can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit, or joints from the marrow; it can judge the secret emotions and thought. No created thing can hide from [God]; everything is uncovered and open to the eyes of the one to whom we must give an account of ourselves" (Hebrews 4: 12-3). Jesus' friend Mary gave priority to sitting at Jesus' feet, listening to His every word. We do that when we spend time reflecting upon the Scriptures or take time quietly pondering God's presence in nature, in the quiet of our rooms or in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in a Catholic Church or a prayer space in any church!

Developing a personal relationship with Jesus, as Paul and Barnabas did, is important if we are going to weather the storms of this life!

A Non-slumbering God is the Lord

 In the first reading of today’s liturgy,  1 Kings 17: 1-6, Elijah tells Ahab that as long as he was serving the people, “there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.”  Imagine the uproar once the people heard Elijah’s proclamation. And what might have been their reaction at hearing that Elijah was  nowhere to be found.  The author of 1 Kings tells us that the Lord commanded Elijah to leave and “go east and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.” There, God tells him, “[y]ou shall drink of the stream, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there.”  Elijah follows God’s command. As he settled by the Wadi Cherith, ravens “brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening and he drank from the stream.”

How can this be, I ask myself!  I may rant and rave:  “How unfair to the people he was serving!  And God protects him! What about the people whose land is being ravaged by drought?” 

Life is unfair, so it seems! Like Ahab and his people, we sometimes face drought (or flooding or fire) that destroys the land's ability to produce or, we ourselves are in an accident that deprives us of our ability to provide for ourselves or our families. At other times, like Elijah, we, too, have to relocate to protect ourselves and our families.  Sometimes, we do not know from where our next meal will come, yet it does. Someone reaches out to help us when we least expect it.  Sometimes, we are the ones helping others who have encountered tragedy.  When disaster strikes out of nowhere, it seems, God provides, as He did for Elijah.   As today's responsorial psalm says, the “guardian of Israel” neither slumbers or sleeps” (Ps. 121).

Lord, may I look upon life through the eyes of faith, knowing that you are beside me at my right hand (see Ps. 121). And may I remember this truth especially in "bad" times.  And, as important, may I remember that you have no hands or feet but mine. At times I am the "raven" you command to "feed" the hungry!

The Value of Heroic Acceptance of Difficult Challenges

The difficulties that Paul and Barnabas encountered may seem overwhelming to us (see today’s first reading, Acts 14: 19-28).  If I had been stoned in one place, or even if I had gotten an inkling that the “Jews” were coming to the cities in order to attack not only my ministry but also attempt to kill me, would I have hung around or returned to those cities?  Paul and Barnabas, in fact, do leave for what probably was safer ground, but returned.  In each place they proclaimed “the good news,” made “a considerable number of disciples,” “strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith,” reminding them that “it is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.”  Sometimes I forget that living the Gospel life entails hardship. In fact, many times, I attempt to avoid that which is difficult—that is the ego in me. My spirit self follows a different path, namely becoming one with the Lord in living life to the full, including dealing with life’s difficulties in ways that leads to my transformation into Christ and making decisions that are not always pleasant to my ego self.  Jesus does not promise that life in Him will be easy. He only promises that He will give me peace. “Not as the world gives do I give it to you,” He says in today’s Gospel, Jn 14: 27-31a.

I learned that recently in that I was out of control in something as mundane as snacking.  I’d have a snack when I was bored. I’d have a snack to reward myself after accomplishing a task.  I’d have a snack to celebrate another person’s success.  Excuses abounded! I denied myself nothing in this regard.  The path from my office to the refrigerator was becoming thin bare.  I put on 5 lbs in one month and that would have added up to being close to 200 lbs by the end of this year.  I resolved to stop the downward spiral and to discipline myself, after all it was Holy Week when I made that decision.  I have not snacked between meals since and have relearned the value of discipline, of saying “no” to self-indulgence and “yes” to an ascetical practice.  This sacrifice, the result of grace at work within my true self,  has not only effected by physical well-being but has affected me spiritually.  Perhaps I will deal differently when difficulties arise in other areas of my life, now that I am relearning the positive effects of self-discipline and have strengthened a spiritual “muscle” that I had allowed to atrophy.