It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of
Behold…Satan has demanded to sift all of us like wheat. Jesus, pray for us as you did for Simon during your Passion, that our own faith may not fail us when we face the test you face during this Holiest of Weeks. Help us to turn back to you and follow Peter’s example of reconciliation. With the gifts of the Holy Spirit, help us to further strengthen our sisters and brothers. Amen.
Studyhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/040307.shtml
After the dramatic revelation of Judas’ betrayal, Jesus prays for Simon’s faith and commissions him as a leader to strengthen his brothers. This interaction is another example of how Peter’s role is carved out by Jesus setting the stage for the importance Peter plays in the first half of Acts (after the Resurrection). Peter does become the leader and spokesman for the Christian community and the one who begins the mission to the Gentiles (Acts 10-11) but not until undergoing the descent into denial.
As an example for us, Peter shows how all Christians, especially all missionaries, must be prepared for the opposition they will face in a world hostile to their preaching.
Have we lost that edge now that the Church is aligned with the most powerful leaders and nations in the world? Wouldn’t Jesus have been more “effective” and “efficient” if he had aligned himself with the Sanhedrin? With the Pharisees? With the Romans?
But Jesus did not commission the disciples to go out to be efficient and effective. He commissioned them and us to love God, love each other and love our enemies.
ActionJesus calls us to that same mission in Isaiah 49. He made us the same way. Now, he wants us to do something with the toolbox He has supplied. He knows that we will follow him later. He wants us to be ready by practicing – through piety, study and action – the commandments He left us with.
The writer G. K. Chesterton has penned a line that says, “Chesterton says: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried."
Maybe people felt it too challenging. Maybe it pushes us too far from or comfortable sofas and big screen televisions with 5.1 surround sound speakers. Maybe it was too impractical because we would miss the Super Bowl, March Madness, and the Masters – let alone the 182-game baseball season, playoffs and World Series.
Yet everything we have tried as substitutes fails. So we have gifts like Cursillo calling us back to our Christian roots and the commandments of Jesus.
For example, as millions of Christians around the world prepare to mark Holy Week and the state-sponsored death penalty imposed on Jesus of Nazareth, the state government in Virginia will be meeting on Wednesday to attempt to override a veto by Governor Tim Kaine of attempts to expand the state’s death penalty – already one of the most used in the nation and the developed nations of the world.
You can help stop that! You can be a “light to the nations” by lighting up the phones and computers in
The Virginia Catholic Conference, led by our own Bishop and fellow Cursillista Paul Steven Loverde of
http://capwiz.com/vacatholic/issues/alert/?alertid=9561971.
In my case, this site helped me to send a message to Jeannemarie A. Devolites Davis (R-VA 34th). Enter your address and the message will be directed to your state senator.
Write in and ask three friends to do the same.
Too bad there was not a Governor like Tim Kaine around to reign in Pilate and Herod’s use of the death penalty on Good Friday.
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