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

Be Like Jesus

Good Morning, dear reader. We are another step closer to the end of our story. It's been a pleasure for me to bring you along. 

This morning, we once again learn about being a humble servant to God. He has carefully crafted each and every one of us according to His purpose. We are reminded that the work we do for His glory is not in vain. My husband said basically this same thing to me when I complained that no one was following my blog. He said that God knew what I was doing and that is all that mattered, which is very true. This has been a labour of love and learning. 

As we move on to our Gospel reading, we see that Jesus makes it known that He knows who the one is that will betray Him and also deny Him. I imagine this must've been quite heart breaking to Him. He had hand-picked these twelve men because of what He saw in them. These were His faithful ones. Once Judas was identified, he beat a hasty retreat rather than face Jesus. 

Betrayal and denial are hard things to fathom. What would move a person to do that? In Judas's case, it was greed. With Simon Peter, it was just a case of him wanting to save his own skin (by denying the fact that he was a follower of Jesus). Actions such as these say a lot about our character. It says we are not to be trusted and that we are not loyal to those who are important to us. It says that you think of yourself first. This is not how someone who revers and treasures their relationship with Jesus should act or have a reputation such as this. I imagine, though, that this must've been a poignant moment, as Jesus had been nothing but kind and loving to everyone, and yet His closest ones still turned on Him. However, Jesus being the kind and loving Person He was, He did not lash out at these two. He did not get angry. I think, because of this, Jesus decided to remind his disciples that we should treat others as He has treated us. We are to show mercy and forgiveness. It is in this way that we can be known as followers of Jesus. 

When we are faced with troubling and difficult people, rather than acting in a similar manner, take a deep breath and think for a moment. You need to chose your battles carefully. Most are not worth getting upset over. Sometimes it's easier to not say anything and just walk away. And, as I always remind you... be a nice human. 😇

Have a listen to Father Bill and his wise words to us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQTg31Zrxc