Sunday, April 15, 2018

Keep on Seeking, Jesus Says

Luke 11:9-10
The word of God highlights how Peter proclaimed everywhere he went the good news: God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus Christ lives. And because He lives, we live. He is the author of life. Peter concluded: “repent,” refocus your lives upon God.

In the passage from the Book of the Acts, the spontaneous but impulsive Peter stands out. Who was Peter? It appears he had a good fishing business. He probably was uneducated but street-smart, married, and left the business to become a disciple of Jesus. Yet Peter denied he was a disciple three times, then begged forgiveness, and persevered in discipleship with Jesus, until he was martyred. Peter, for me, is a model of persistence, seeking and finding God despite one’s stumbles.

We seek God in prayer, and especially in the Mass. We should also seek God's wisdom in the bible, seek his Spirit in trying to do right, seek his presence in our daily activities. 

Yes, the bible highlights what God wants us to know about himself, his relationship with the universe, his purpose for us. At the heart of the bible is the Christian belief that Jesus, the God-man, entered into our history so that we could be in relationship with God forever. Jesus Christ is our way into the future, our truth who exemplifies our truest self, and our life in and through and with whom we breathe and live. We open the bible to hear from God about the baffling questions of life.

Seek God's Spirit persistently. Jesus encourages us to pray. He explains the importance of persistence in our relationship with God. Keep on asking...keep on seeking...keep on knocking... For everyone who asks receives; and they who seek find; and to those who keep knocking, the door shall be opened. That’s what Luke Chapter 11, verses 9 onward is all about. Yes, we may have doubts. We may wonder, if I ask will I receive? Remember, Jesus emphasizes, “How much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:13) Obviously, we should seek the right things. The point is never give up seeking God, his kingdom, his grace, his Spirit.

Finally, seek God's presence enthusiastically in our daily activities.

How we relate to others is tremendously important and the subject of seven of the ten commandments. However, our relationship with God is even more important. Out of this relationship our love for others flows authentically: our relationships in our family and with others. Seek God daily, as the disciples did, and God’s life—awesome divine life--will transform us into new creatures in the way we love and serve one another.

Even though we may stumble or fall, if we seek God, he will lift us up, as he lifted up Peter, so that we can discover and enjoy our true treasure: God and the things of God.