Tested Faith

 

Good Morning, dear reader. It would seem that spring has finally sprung here in my corner of the world. It's about time!! 

We shall SPRING 😊 into our first reading!! We hear much about a servant in the book of Isaiah. God is once again foretelling that He will send Someone who will be His "ambassador", who will carry out His will. It describes all the things that Jesus will suffer through while on this earth. We can see this as an example of how our own behavior should be. We are Jesus's "ambassadors", following in His ways. The things we say and do should speak clearly of our faith. When it becomes a challenge to be Christ-like, that is when it is most important to rely on Jesus to help us. It's not going to be easy, times will come when our faith is tested. Can we survive these difficulties by just relying on our faith? Think about it.... 

In Matthews Gospel we are again reading of the Passover and Jesus's betrayal by Judas Iscariot. Jesus knows His days are numbered and that someone closest to Him will be disloyal to Him. I was looking for a synonym for the word betrayal. A few of the choices mentions Judas; there was "play Judas", "give someone a Judas kiss" and "be a Judas to". It's interesting how Judas is equated with being deceitful. It is similar to Janus, who was a Roman god of beginnings and endings. He became associated with being "two-faced". Perhaps this is how Judas got his name. It's almost prophetic! 

I found it quite sad that, for a mere fifty pieces of silver, Judas would sell out the one Person who trusted him. When someone has that kind of faith in you, you don't turn your back on them. If we pair this with our first reading, though, we can see faith being tested. And this is one test that Judas failed. He allowed his greed to overshadow his faithfulness to Jesus. We need to set our priorities according to our faith. We can't allow "worldly goods" to obscure our vision. If we continually allow Jesus to guide our steps, it will become easier to walk in our faith.

These next few days will test Jesus's faith. And, there will come a point when He will question His Father's motives, just as we all do in times of struggle. As hard as it is, if we remain firmly with Jesus, He will get you through. That's where I am at today. The struggle, the uncertainty. There has to be a reason for all this. But, my faith, my belief in God's plan is what's getting me through. 

Try to see God's plan for you. If you can't, ask Him! He will tell you. You just have to be patient. While you are waiting, make sure that you remain a nice human. 😇

Father Bill's reflection on today's readings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FOYcWc8Pdg