NEVER LIMIT GOD'S WAYS
We are called during this Easter time to be Christ's presence in a world
that hungers and thirsts for compassion and love, forgiveness and peace, and
the spiritual joy that leads others to life.
God can deal with
us in any way He chooses. God is all-powerful, and so, in our thinking, we must
never limit His way of acting. God most often interacts with us through other
human beings. This is especially true since the time of the Incarnation.
Jesus is the Son of
the Father from all eternity, and equal to His Father in all things. Yet, at
the moment of the Incarnation, in accord with the will of His Father, Jesus
became human like us in all things but sin. Jesus was sent to us in the flesh
by His Father. That is what Jesus had in mind when He said, "Whoever puts
faith in Me believes not so much in Me as in Him who sent Me." As Jesus
was sent by the Father, so other human beings are sent by the Holy Spirit to
continue the mission of Jesus on earth. We see an example of this commissioning
in the first reading. The Holy Spirit declares: "Set apart Barnabas and
Paul for Me to do the work for which I have called them."
The liturgical
readings of Easter tell the story of the journey of discipleship. We see and
hear the active presence of the Trinity, God the Creator, the Redeemer and
Sanctifier, at work in the disciples' journey of faith. We, like Barnabas and
Paul, have companions on our journey of faith. We are challenged as companions
to reach out toward others in need with various types of gifts that we can
offer: giving encouragement to the disheartened, being a voice for those who
have no voice, providing food and clothing for the homeless. We are called
during this Easter time to be Christ's presence in a world that hungers and
thirsts for compassion and love, forgiveness and peace, and the spiritual joy
that leads others to life.
The readings today
reminded me about a story I once read in a magazine. A nursing sister in a
mission hospital who was showing a visitor around some of the wards, and the
visitor was appalled at the sort of things the sister would have to do in
caring for the patients, who were victims of all sorts of diseases. As they
were leaving, the visitor said, "You know Sister, I wouldn't do this for a
million dollars." And the nun's reply was simply, "Neither would
I." She truly had Jesus' love and compassion in her heart for those
people.
In Jesus Christ,
God wanted to be close to us in a way which we could understand and appreciate.
God continues to be close to us through the bishops and priests, deacons and
other ministers of the Church. We ought to rejoice that God has chosen to deal
with us in a human way. This is still another sign of His love and concern for
us. Although human ministers are weak and make mistakes, God in His wisdom sees
that His way is best for us.