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Meditation: Acts 25:13-21

They had some issues with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but who Paul claimed was alive. (Acts 25:19)

You’ve heard the adage: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” That’s because most of our successes involve failings along the way. Babe Ruth was known for his home-run hitting prowess, but he also struck out 1,330 times in his Major League career—twice as often as the average batter of his time. And Thomas Edison tried thousands of times before inventing a light bulb that worked. “I have not failed,” he once remarked. “I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.”

In Acts chapters 25-26, Paul must have been frustrated to find that his evangelistic efforts before king and court were fruitless. No one was convinced by his preaching, and Paul remained a prisoner bound for Rome. But he didn’t give up. And like Paul, we too should never give up. After all, we have been called to announce the same good news of Christ’s love and salvation that he proclaimed.

So how do we get the word out? We can start by not being afraid of temporary setbacks. If someone seems turned off, don’t worry. Just pray that God will continue to work in that person’s heart. Try your best to be honest, authentic, and transparent, just as Paul was in his effort to “become all things to all people” (1 Corinthians 9:22). If you persist humbly and gently, if you remain conversational rather than confrontational, if you let the Spirit work through you, then you can leave the rest up to God!

Not all of your efforts will meet with success, but that’s okay. Remember Mother Teresa’s remark: “God did not call me to be successful. He called me to be faithful.” Not everyone is going to get it, but don’t let that dissuade you from planting seeds whenever you can. You never know when someone will respond. And who knows? What you consider a failure may well bear fruit later. Or it may teach you something about God’s mysterious ways. Whatever happens, don’t give up!

“Holy Spirit, give me the courage and perseverance I need to share the good news of Christ. Take away my fears, and replace them with your love for the world!”

Psalm 103:1-2,11-12,19-20; John 21:15-19

21 May 2010

The Heart of Jesus: Source of the Supernatural Life

This writing on the Sacred Heart of Jesus comes to us from the Carthusian, Dom Juan Anadón, a seventeenth-century Prior of Cartuja de Aula Dei in Spain. In harmony with the Carthusian way, he writes that Jesus desires ‘to be with us in silent peace and in peaceful silence’. He died in the year 1682.

In me is all hope of life. ~ Ecclesiasticus 24:25

‘Longinus with a spear has opened for me the Side of Jesus Christ’, says Saint Augustine. ‘I have entered into It, and there will I dwell in security and repose sweetly; there I am comforted with delights and fed with deliciousness’. Yes, the Side of Jesus was designedly pierced near the Heart, in order to open for us a way and a door of access to that Heart. This is the opening in the ark, through which all those who escape from the deluge find entrance. Contemplate this Wound of the Sacred Heart, for therein is the source of your life. There indeed, has our heavenly Father regenerated us for the life of heaven. There we see unfolded for our contemplation the incomprehensible love of Jesus for us, for we see Him wholly immolated for us. He has reserved nothing for Himself, but has offered all for us. What more could He do? He has opened to us the hidden sanctuary of His Heart, and He introduces us as His intimate friends, for His delight is to be with us in silent peace and in peaceful silence. He has given us His Heart, all covered with cruel wounds, in order that we may be able to dwell therein until, having become purified and perfectly conformed to that Heart, we shall be deemed worthy to be taken and cast with Him into the Bosom of His heavenly Father. Jesus gives us His Heart to live in, and asks to live in ours. He gives us His Heart like a bed full of roses purpled with His Blood; and He asks for our hearts in return. We should present them to Him adorned with the white lilies of purity. Who will dare to refuse Him what He has lavished upon us with such generosity? Behold how He invites us to enter into His Wounds sweeter than honey, into His loving Side, which is wide open to receive us! It is the mystic store filled with all heavenly delights. ‘Arise’, He says, ‘My love, My beautiful one, and come, My dove, in the clefts of the rock’ (Canticle of Canticles 2:13, 14), that is to say, into My Sacred Wounds.