Raising Up Jesus
May 4, 2012
Friday of the
Fourth Week of Easter
By Melanie Rigney
“Ask of me and I will give you
the nations for an inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession.
You shall rule them with an iron rod; you shall shatter them like an earthen
dish.” (Psalms
2:8-9)
Jesus said to (Thomas), “I am the way and the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Piety
Jesus, set me on fire. Let my
tongue be loosed with the story of the Good News.
Study
Forget about Hunger
Games, The Cabin in the Woods, Three Stooges, or anything you can get on
demand at home. Acts of the Apostles is truly one of the most amazing stories
ever told. Set on fire by the Holy Spirit, the disciples go on a holy tear.
They perform miracles of healing and raising from the dead. They inspire
conversions. They demand that the Romans tolerate their emerging religion in
the same way that Judaism is tolerated. At least one of them is martyred. They
don’t stop to gloat or their victories or lick their wounds over their defeats.
They just keep going.
It’s easy to sit back and let our more evangelically minded
friends take the lead in proclaiming the good news. After all, we can lead by
example as well, right? Didn’t St. Francis of Assisi or someone say to preach
the Gospel and use words when necessary? Don’t we do Christ’s work in our quiet
ministries and study?
Of course we do. But we’re also called to emulate those
crazy disciples who didn’t care about what other people would say about their
actions or about what would happen as a result of those actions. They put aside
those earthly concerns and focused on the ways they could bring souls to the
kingdom, because Jesus had told them he was the only way to the Father and they
wanted everyone to have a piece of the action. Yes, they were crazy. Crazy in
love with God. Are you?
Action
Today, do something outside your comfort zone to lead a soul
to the kingdom.
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