Why does the love of Christ do not overwhelm us?
God reserved the first time of the Church, gathered as a community, after the revelation to the first Pope, Saint Peter, on Acts of Apostles (chapter 11) and the powerful pouring down of the Holy Spirit over the pagans, to be called Christians ONLY AFTER SAINT PAUL was along together (when he was still called Saul).
"Barnabas then left for Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. AND IT HAPPENED THAT THEY STAYED TOGETHER IN THAT CHURCH A WHOLE YEAR, INSTRUCTING A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE. IT WAS AT ANTIOCH THAT THE DISCIPLES WERE FIRST CALLED 'CHRISTIANS'." (Acts of Apostles 11:25-26)
Maybe he is one of biggest reasons we can call ourselves Christians nowadays, with the freedom and grace of a whole civilization who was built under Christian values, doctrine and blessings. He preached the good news of Our Lord Jesus Christ among every sort of people and thanks to his life, freely given to God, we have wonderful letters and teachings that sometimes is unknown for people who call themselves Christians...
Saul was a man full of wisdom, knowledge, power, goods and feared among all people. He had everything he wanted as a good man of God, and he was persecuting Christians for the sake of his Lord and God. His life was completely and absolutely changed when he met Jesus. Everything he was, everything he had, everything he once had pleasure in, his entire life, made no sense when he compared with Jesus Christ. He even called everything as FILTH, when compared with Christ! (other translations call it SHIT)
"Finally, brothers, I wish you joy in the Lord. To write to you what I have already written before is no trouble to me and to you will be a protection. Beware of dogs! Bewared of evil workmen! Beware of self-mutilators! We are the true people of the circumcision since we worship by the Spirit of God and make Christ Jesus our only boast, not relying on physical qualifications, although, I myself could rely on these too. If anyone does claim to rely on them, my claim is better. Circumcised on the eight day of my life, I was born of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrew parents. In the matter of the Law, I was a Pharisee; as for religious fervor, I was a persecutor of the Church; as for the uprightness embodied in the Law, I was faultless. BUT WHAT WERE ONCE MY ASSETS I NOW THROUGH CHRIST JESUS COUNT AS LOSSES. Yes, I will go further: because of the SUPREME ADVANTAGE of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, I count everything else as loss. FOR HIM I HAVE ACCEPTED THE LOSS OF ALL OTHER THINGS, AND LOOK ON THEM ALL AS FILTH IF ONLY I CAN GAIN CHRIST and be given a place in him, with the uprightness I have gained not from the Law, but through faith in Christ, an uprightness from God, based on faith, THAT I MAY COME TO KNOW HIM AND THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION, AND PARTAKE OF HIS SUFFERINGS BY BEING MOLDED TO THE PATTERN OF HIS DEATH, striving towards the goal of resurrection from the dead. Not that I have secured it already, nor yet reached my goal, but I AM STILL PURSUING IT IN THE ATTEMPT TO TAKE HOLD OF THE PRIZE FOR WHICH CHRIST JESUS TOOK HOLD OF ME. Brothers, I do not reckon myself as having taken hold of it; I can only say that forgetting all that lies behind me, and straining forward to what lies in front, I am racing towards the finishing-point to win the prize of God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:1-14)
Some people would say he became crazy, he was out of his mind, that this was just for a brief moment, that no one could bear such words, that on the first suffering he would change his mind, that his life was very blessed and that's why he would say so beautiful words...
From persecutor, he became persecuted and from a glorious and luxurious life he gained sufferings, pain and crosses.. day and night. not for only one day, one week, one month or one year, but for the rest of his life. MANY AND MANY YEARS OF SUFFERING FOR CHRIST!!
When writing to his brothers in faith, The Corinthians (and today to us) he was talking about not boast yourself and be examples to be followed, when there were false Christians among them. Let's learn with him and see if he had authority to write:
"Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I speak in utter folly -- I am too, and more than they are: I have done more work, I have been in prison more, I have been flogged more severely, many times exposed to death. FIVE TIMES I HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE THIRTY-NINE LASHES BY THE JEWS; THREE TIMES I HAVE BEEN BEATEN WITH STICKS; ONCE I WAS STONED; THREE TIMES I HAVE BEEN SHIPWRECKED, AND ONCE I HAVE BEEN IN THE OPEN SEA FOR A NIGHT AND A DAY; CONTINUALLY TRAVELLING, I HAVE BEEN IN DANGER FROM RIVERS, IN DANGER FROM BRIGANDS, IN DANGER FROM MY OWN PEOPLE AND IN DANGER FROM THE GENTILES, IN DANGER IN THE TOWNS AND IN DANGER IN THE OPEN COUNTRY, IN DANGER AT SEA AND IN DANGER FROM PEOPLE MASQUERADING AS BROTHERS; I have worked with unsparing energy, for many nights without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty, and often altogether without food or drink; I have been cold and lacked clothing. AND, BESIDES ALL THE EXTERNAL THINGS, THERE IS, DAY IN DAY OUT, THE PRESSURE ON ME OF MY ANXIETY FOR ALL THE CHURCHES." (2 Corinthians 11:22-28)
What made he bear all things? What was his motivation? Glory and boasting? I don't think so, for his boasting was on the cross of Christ, where he says he was crucified with Christ (Galatians 6:14). Was it any human gift he relied on? Praise, supernatural powers? I don't think so, for he had a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to batter him; and even though he pleaded three times to the Lord, Jesus didn't take the thorn from his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:8).
Was it any human recognition? I don't think so, for he was left apart and the disciples didn't even know he existed. Only after three years he came to meet Peter (Galatians 1:18). Was it money and material goods? I don't think so, for he needed to learn to live with or without food and drink (Philippians 4:12). Was he mad or sad for living among so much suffering? I don't think so, for he was happy to suffer and offer his sufferings to complete in his flesh what lacked in the cross (Colossians 1:24-25).
What was it then?
ONE MEETING THAT COMPLETELY CHANGED HIS LIFE! ONE MOMENT THAT CHANGED THE DESTINY OF HIS EVERYDAY ON EARTH AND ETERNITY IN HEAVEN! ONE SINGLE WORD HE HEARD FROM THE MOUTH OF CHRIST THAT CHANGED HIM AND TRANSFORMED HIM IN A NEW CREATION...
"For the love of Christ overwhelms us when we consider that if one man died for all, then all have died; his purpose in dying for all humanity was that those who live should live not any more for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life. From now on wards, then, we will not consider anyone by human standards: even if we were once familiar with Christ according to human standards, we do not know him in that way any longer. So, for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old order is gone and a new being is there to see." (2 Corinthians 5:14-17)
There are millions and millions of people all over the World who denominate themselves Christians. But either by a rotten tradition or by a lack of formation or lack of seeking, they don't know that being a Christian actually means being Christ, being another Christ! It does mean live, love and go throughout life like the Lord Jesus Christ did... or at least try!
As Catholics we have the history of 2000 years of the Church, blood of martyrs shed, we have thousands of saints and the communion with zillions of angels and fortresses in heaven on our side, we have the presence of the general of the armies of the Lord - the Virgin Mary, we have the communion with the Militant Church (Earth), the Suffering Church (Purgatory) and the Glorious Church (Heaven), we have priests, we have the seven sacraments, we have the whole Word of God in the 73 books of the Bible, the whole revelation of God to the humanity through Christ and even though all of that, many of us don't know Christ!
I am not talking about a superficial or acknowledgement of the historic Christ who came to Earth, lived, loved, died and was raised on the third day... because nearly everywhere on Earth the name of Christ was pronounced (but maybe not announced) but I am talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God, the Savior of the humanity, the one who went beyond us to open and prepare a place for us in the glory of Heaven with God the Father, the one who made himself the Eucharist, the one who is our friend and wants to call us friends, like he called the apostles.
"I shall no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know the master's business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father." (John 15:15)
Can Jesus call me and you as friends? It means, did he make known to us the secrets from the Father's heart? Did we learn something from Jesus as a person? Sadly and unfortunately, if we are sincere we need to answer no.
NO BECAUSE MANY OF US ONLY HEARD ABOUT JESUS BUT WE NEVER MET HIM PERSONALLY LIKE SAINT PAUL DID TO THE POINT OF FALLING OVER FROM OUR PROUD AND GLORY! WE NEVER LOOKED AT JESUS LIKE SAINT PAUL TO THE POINT OF BECOMING BLINDS; BLINDS TO THE WORLD AND TO ITS ATTRACTIONS! WE NEVER HEARD HIS VOICE LIKE SAINT PAUL TO THE POINT OF BECOMING DEAF TO THE WORLDLY VOICES...
FINALLY NO BECAUSE WE NEVER FELT THE LOVE OF CHRIST TO THE POINT SAINT PAUL DID, WHERE HIS EFFORTS DAY AND NIGHT WERE TO REVEAL THIS LOVE...
"This, then, is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every fatherhood, in heaven or on earth, takes its name. In the abundance of his glory may he, through his Spirit, enable you to grow firm in power with regard to your inner self, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love with all God's holy people you will have the strength to GRASP THE BREADTH AND THE LENGTH, THE HEIGHT AND THE DEPTH; so that, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond knowledge, you may be filled with the utter fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:14-19)
We are no more than shallow and superficial Christians... No more than that! We don't have the courage of becoming friends with Christ, if needed like Zacchaeus who went to the top of the tree to call Jesus' attention nor even like Nicodemus who went to meet Christ in the night, hidden from the his friends...
The love of Christ doesn't overwhelm us because we are unaware of this love: we have never felt it, we have never heard of it, we have never seen this love, we haven't touched it... Ohhh if only we had the same feeling as Thomas who wanted to see and touch Christ's wounds to believe.
Where's our will, our wanting? Are we too attached to material things, to worldly things, to pleasures, to people, to positions, to money, to our own security?
MAYBE THE BEST THING YOU WILL READ TODAY IS THIS: FORGET ABOUT EVERYTHING FOR ONE BRIEF MINUTE AND ASK JESUS CHRIST TO SHOW HIMSELF TO YOU! ASK HIM INSISTENTLY UNTIL HE SHOWS HIS LOVE AND SHOW YOU THIS BREADTH, LENGTH, HEIGHT AND DEPTH OF HIS LOVE THAT SAINT PAUL TALKS ABOUT!
Ask the Lord to come to your life and be your friend... tell him from the bottom of your heart that you miss his presence, his grace, the fire of his love to guide your decisions and all in your living... Ask Christ to inflame and fire up your heart in this very moment while you read these words... Stop if necessary and have your own moment of intimacy with Christ! That is enough!!!
Theologians and people who did study deeply the Sacred Bible reveal that Saint Paul had something really supernatural and that was his ability to even in the midst of all suffering and pain he went through, his worry day in day out, was his anxiety for the well being of the Church as a whole. That's why they said his heart became the heart of Christ...
I pray that through this formation and his intercession Christ reveal his heart to each one of us!
God bless you and may the love of Christ start or get back to overwhelm us!
Comments
Post a Comment