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| Fully Rely on God |
God Had Called Us
During the night, Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood
before him and implored him with these words, “Come over to Macedonia and help
us.” When he had seen the vision, we
sought passage to Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to
proclaim the Good News to them. Acts 16:9-10
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name because they do not know the one who sent me.” John 15:20-20-21
Piety
God, grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change,
which is pretty much everyone, since I’m clearly not you, God. At least
not the last time I checked.
And while you’re at it, God, please give me the courage to
change what I need to change about myself, which is frankly a lot, since, once
again, I’m not you, which means I’m not perfect. It’s better for me to
focus on changing myself than to worry about changing other people, who, as
you’ll no doubt remember me saying, I can’t change anyway.
Finally, give me the wisdom to just shut up whenever I think that I’m clearly smarter than everyone else in the room, that no one knows what they’re talking about except me, or that I alone have all the answers.
Basically, God, grant me the wisdom to remember that I’m not you. Amen
Study
Paul and his companions go where the Spirit leads them.
They stay away from the places where the Spirit warns them not to go. Paul had
an obligation to the community to preach the Good News. However, he did
not do that in a vacuum. He relied upon grace from the Father, Son, and
Spirit to guide his way.
God comes first in Paul’s mission. Paul might have planned
on going to Iconium or Lystra. However, the vision drew him to
Macedonia.
Paul’s example in the Acts of the Apostles teaches us that our
plans come in a distant second to God’s plans. Jesus also explains to us
how what happened to him is intertwined with what will happen to us.
Jesus reinforces this message of unity with Him and how it makes us estranged from what we want to do and where the world wants us to go.
To avoid being drawn
along in the world, the solution Jesus suggests is to become separate from the
world. He knew how COVID-19 would drive us from our schools, offices,
factories, and even churches. This forced
separation, this counter-cultural reaction to the world, is where and why the
hatred seeds grow. We can see that with protests about individual
liberty and economics over community health.
Action
Action
Two thousand years from now, do you think
anyone will be able to report on our actions? Do you believe in the Acts
of the Virginians that they will somehow say,” day after day the churches in
Fairfax and Arlington, in Alexandria and Chantilly, grew stronger in faith and
increased in number?”
God calls us to be Catholic 24/7/365. We do
not take a vacation from being Catholic even when there is a stay-at-home order
for social distancing.
Likewise, we do not
take a vacation from being ourselves. Anywhere
we go, anytime that we are anywhere, we are still we, and we cannot ever get away
from that.
Jesus’ message is
“out of the world.” Where Christ leads us differs from where popular culture leads
us. Christ was put in the world to take us out of the world and make us realize
that we are children of God, here to build His Kingdom, not our own. Was
your plan of Christian action carried out last week? What is your plan for next
week?
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