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| Rembrandt's Emmaus |
Today's word of God, from one viewpoint, is about persistence.
Peter had denied he had been with Jesus, denied he was a disciple, denied he even knew Jesus. But Peter suddenly realized what he did and wept bitterly. He begged forgiveness. He wanted to start afresh. Peter had fallen badly, but God lifted Peter up.
God continually lifts us up so that we can begin again to live a life worthy of our baptismal calling as sons and daughters of God our Father. God empowers us to persevere in becoming our true self, the very “likeness of God.”
In the Acts of the Apostles, a repentant Peter, on fire with the Spirit, fearlessly proclaims that Jesus, once crucified and now risen, lives and because he is gloriously alive, we live. That is the Easter message.
The letter of Peter explores perishable and imperishable things. Peter contends that perishable stuff like silver or gold didn’t free us from death. No! The imperishable blood of Jesus, the lamb of God, freed us death and nothingness so that we can be with God forever.
And so, with our eyes of faith fixed on this imperishable prize, God graces us to live like new creatures. Imagine: the awesome triune God dwells within us and we dwell within the triune God. We are becoming new creatures, in the likeness of God!
The Gospel of Luke describes two disciples walking on their way to Emmaus. Even as they walked and talked with the resurrected Jesus, they didn’t recognize him at first. They’re disheartened. Eventually in the breaking of the bread (the Eucharist) the two recognize with their eyes of faith the transfigured bodily reality of Jesus Christ.
God also reveals himself to us if we persistently seek God with faith. So seek God in prayer, and especially in the Mass. Seek God's wisdom in the Bible; ask his Spirit to guide us in trying to do the right thing; and become aware of God's presence in our daily lives.
The Bible highlights what God wants us to know about himself, his relationship with the universe, and his purpose for us. The Bible is not about scientific theories; it's about religious truths, communicated by many authors through the languages and literary forms with which they were familiar. At the heart of the Bible is Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, who entered our history so that we could become “like God.” Jesus is the way into a glorious future, the exemplar or model or blueprint of our true self and the life in and through and with whom we breathe and live. We hear from God about baffling questions: Who really am I? What is the purpose of my life? How should I live?
Seeking requires persistence. We pray for the grace to seek God daily, to patiently listen to God especially in the sounds of silence. Jesus explains the importance of persistence. Keep on… 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 on is all about. I think of that great hymn “Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart and You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
We may have doubts like the many heroes and heroines of Christianity. We may wonder, if I ask will I receive? Of course we should seek the right things. The point is: never give up seeking God, his grace and his Spirit.
Seek God enthusiastically in daily life. We are meant for something beyond getting and spending, beyond having a nice home, a big car. But what is that something we are meant for? The answer points us to a relationship with God; and out of that relationship with God will flow our love for others will flow: into our families, our friends and colleagues and our neighbors.
We have to pursue our ultimate purpose in life. Seek God daily, persistently, and enthusiastically and we will find God in all his fullness, and his life – divine life – will transform us into new creatures so that we can become "like God" and love and serve one another.
