S
SOGFPP
Guest
Sirach 2:
*1. My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials. *
2. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity.
We are in service to the Lord as Christians… but so often today people are looking to better their “relationship” with the Lord. Service to the Lord has been reduced to something akin to “self-help”… as if Christianity was no more than a self-help course. The core of Christian faith is discipleship… mission… service to others. Our faith is not a dead faith, it is a faith of action. Not just a faith of prayer and personal growth, but a lived faith in service to others.
This passage in the Holy Scriptures reminds us that living the Christian life has its trials and that we must prepare ourselves to overcome the daily challenges in life. Unlike the secular view of preparation… which involves self-oriented, active effort… our preparation must be a denial of self. A submission to the grace of God. Only when we are sincere of heart in our devotion to the Lord, only when we trust in God’s power… only then will the Christian overcome adversity.
The Apostle Paul tought that “all who want to live religiously in Jesus Christ will be persucuted.” (2 Tim 3:12)… it is the desire to “live religiously” that should stand out. To only have an internal faith… to only seek a personal relationship with Christ… is not what our faith is about. We must strive to live a life worth of Christ. We can not let our faith be hidden… we must be that city on the hill that shines bright so all the world can see… but how does one gain the strength needed to live a life like this?
Look at verse 13:
9. Woe to the faint of heart who trust not, who therefore will have no shelter!
When you think of shelter, what comes to mind? The first thing that comes to my mind is the traditional idea of a building… a roof over your head. We must trust in the Lord and not be faint of heart to be able to persevere… we must trust the one who the builders rejected but who became the cornerstone: Christ. Like any other physical structure, the Church - the building itself, if you will - can only provide shelter if one stays inside. We come inside the Church for shelter… but in the Church we can get so much more. This “building”, this “shelter” is where we receive the grace of God. We are Baptised, Confirmed, Married, our sins are forgiven… we are spiritually nourished by the Blessed Sacrament. Instead of using our shelter to hide from “the elements”, the evil in this world, we have a source of strength… of grace to live the Christian life.
In this, the year of the Eucharist, we all should endeavor to view the Church as our shelter… as our strength. We should view the Church as the Cenacle… the Upper Room which was the place of the first Eucharist, then of the first meeting with the Risen Lord, then the birth of the Church on Pentecost.
The fires of Pentecost are still burning in our Churches… and all these many years later, our “shelter” is kept warm by these flames… draw near, and take comfort.
Peace in Christ,
Scott MacDonald
*1. My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials. *
2. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity.
We are in service to the Lord as Christians… but so often today people are looking to better their “relationship” with the Lord. Service to the Lord has been reduced to something akin to “self-help”… as if Christianity was no more than a self-help course. The core of Christian faith is discipleship… mission… service to others. Our faith is not a dead faith, it is a faith of action. Not just a faith of prayer and personal growth, but a lived faith in service to others.
This passage in the Holy Scriptures reminds us that living the Christian life has its trials and that we must prepare ourselves to overcome the daily challenges in life. Unlike the secular view of preparation… which involves self-oriented, active effort… our preparation must be a denial of self. A submission to the grace of God. Only when we are sincere of heart in our devotion to the Lord, only when we trust in God’s power… only then will the Christian overcome adversity.
The Apostle Paul tought that “all who want to live religiously in Jesus Christ will be persucuted.” (2 Tim 3:12)… it is the desire to “live religiously” that should stand out. To only have an internal faith… to only seek a personal relationship with Christ… is not what our faith is about. We must strive to live a life worth of Christ. We can not let our faith be hidden… we must be that city on the hill that shines bright so all the world can see… but how does one gain the strength needed to live a life like this?
Look at verse 13:
9. Woe to the faint of heart who trust not, who therefore will have no shelter!
When you think of shelter, what comes to mind? The first thing that comes to my mind is the traditional idea of a building… a roof over your head. We must trust in the Lord and not be faint of heart to be able to persevere… we must trust the one who the builders rejected but who became the cornerstone: Christ. Like any other physical structure, the Church - the building itself, if you will - can only provide shelter if one stays inside. We come inside the Church for shelter… but in the Church we can get so much more. This “building”, this “shelter” is where we receive the grace of God. We are Baptised, Confirmed, Married, our sins are forgiven… we are spiritually nourished by the Blessed Sacrament. Instead of using our shelter to hide from “the elements”, the evil in this world, we have a source of strength… of grace to live the Christian life.
In this, the year of the Eucharist, we all should endeavor to view the Church as our shelter… as our strength. We should view the Church as the Cenacle… the Upper Room which was the place of the first Eucharist, then of the first meeting with the Risen Lord, then the birth of the Church on Pentecost.
The fires of Pentecost are still burning in our Churches… and all these many years later, our “shelter” is kept warm by these flames… draw near, and take comfort.
Peace in Christ,
Scott MacDonald