Are you living out your faith, at one with Christ?
The people of Israel had a hard time holding onto their faith during their time of exile. But the prophet Isaiah has words of encouragement for them: Here comes with power the Lord God! Isaiah wants them to hold onto their faith, that they might speak comfort and hope to a city destroyed. The prophet reassures them that the Lord will do extraordinary things for them: every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low to facilitate their return home at the end of their captivity. They need to restore their own faith in the power of God at work in them, though they may not be where they think his power works. Psalm 104 reminds us that the Lord is great indeed; everything that happens, happens because of God’s will and care for his people. Though all God does may be beyond our comprehension, still, we hold to our faith, dependent on God’s mercy and generosity, always.
In Luke’s Gospel, John the Baptist similarly calls the people back from their wayward ways, offering them hope for a messiah: one mightier than I is coming… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Like the people of Israel hundreds of years before, John’s community is called back to faith, and must restore their hope and trust in God who loves them, for the one who is sent is God’s beloved Son, who will himself be baptized, not because he needs a radical transformation of heart, as the people do, but because it offers him a connection to humankind, an entrance into our humanness that will allow him to take our sin to the cross with him. The Letter to Titus reminds us that Jesus gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness, and to cleanse for himself a people as his own. Our own baptism has made us one with Christ; through our faith, we are heirs, but we must ever maintain that faith, restoring it when necessary, and most importantly, living it, giving evidence of that faith to our world. The grace of God is at work in us; that is extraordinary. If we live with an awareness of that gift, we can live as one with Jesus, trusting in God’s promise and hoping that one day, he will bring us home as well.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
No comments:
Post a Comment