Readings:
Ephesians 3: 14 – 21
Luke 12: 49 – 53
Reflection:
To Know Christ and the depth of his Love
Often in life we travel very much on the surface – people to see, jobs to be done, mountains to climb, etc! In the readings today, the Lord calls us to a deeper, more mature experience of him.
Paul prays for his Christians at Ephesus: “Out of his infinite glory, may he give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith” … and that you may know and experience the love of Christ … with all the saints (meaning with the other Christian people in the community … fellow travelers). Paul prays that we may have a deepening experience of the Love of Christ, and that this will strengthen our faith and love.
Jesus in the Gospel shares the intensity of his passion for life and his Father with his disciples: “I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!”
We remember that Jesus came to bring a baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit … He also faces with growing dread his coming suffering and death. Jesus calls us to experience to the healing power of the Paschal Mystery by which we are immersed in his suffering and death and new Life. We can feel the fear and dread of things too in life – it may be in illness or the loss of loved ones. But through this Jesus offers us a new level of the experience of his Love and the Peace of the Holy Spirit. Let us embrace the Cross and the challenges it entails without fear.
Pat McIndoe CP, a Passionist at St. Gabriel’s Retreat, Boroko, Port Moresby