Luke 11: 15-26 They Tested Him
Life is a battle. Every day is a struggle. EVERY DAY is a struggle. If I do not pray, then I am fighting with both hands tied behind my back. I will lose. I will cave in. I will die. I will easily forget why I am here. Why am I here? The answer is shocking: to be another Christ to the world. And maybe my world right now consists of taking care of my newborn baby, staying close to a dying relative, being faithful, loving to my spouse, devoting my life, money or talents to a particular mission or apostolate. It could be all of the above too. If I do not pray, then I will make some horrible decisions. I will be confused as to what I must do. I will not follow the Lord’s shadow but rather my own. Or worse, I will follow someone else.
This morning I woke up and found the following messages: “Good morning Father! I hope you have an awesome day…Help save or change someone’s life today.” And another: “Thank you Father for talking to me yesterday, I had the most amazing day today. God is good all the time. Have a blessed day…” Of course they are not always so loving and so inspiring. But must we not accept the good as well as the bad from God? Of course! The Lord is an expert in taking the bad and converting it, transforming it, into a good. He can do it in any situation and he can do it through me, with me and in me; in the unity of the Holy Spirit. All glory and power is yours Almighty Father, forever and ever.
Today, I will be tested. I can be sure of it. The angels of heaven and hell, light and darkness, good and evil are already gathering to do battle on earth. Waves of evil will sweep across the earth. Waves of love, mercy and compassion will fill the earth. I will hear the voices of the angels telling me to do this or to do that. I will be thrown into the arena. I will hear the shouts from the crowd gathered to watch the enormous spectacle. I will either bear witness, either to weakness or to power. Today will either be a test or the real thing! I may die or I may live. I may return unscathed or brutally beaten. But no matter what, I will never return the same. How I fight will determine how I live, how those around me live, how the next generation remembers me and how I am remembered by the Lord. For this reason, I pray “Lead us not into temptation.”
“A house divided cannot stand.” The devil loves to divide and conquer. He loves gossip, chatter, nonsense. He despises honor. He enjoys spreading fear and rejection. He loves broken friendships, dishonest friends, selfish friends, and self serving individuals. He loves those who do not trust, do not commit and do not serve. He loves the ones that depend on themselves. He loves Independence Day. He invites all of us to cut the strings that tie us to the Lord and wrap them around a tree, like Judas. “Cursed be everyone who hangs from a tree.” (Gal 3:7-14)
The Lord promises us what he promised Abraham: Through you shall all the nations be blessed. And it happened. Will it happen through me? This is why life is a battle. The lines have been drawn: Life or Death, Heaven or Hell, Good or Evil. “Cursed be everyone who does not persevere in doing all the things written in the book of the law.” The Law and God are very clear. We don’t want to hear these words. Unfortunately, they do not come from me. They come from God.
Today, let us go out of our homes and into our field of battle with a loving heart, a gentle heart and a heart made of steel. I will accomplish what the Lord demands from me or die trying.
From my meditation on the Gospel this morning this verse was the one that spoke to me. "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters" (Luke 11:23).
ReplyDeleteThere is no middle ground. We cannot be stagnant in our faith! If we are not moving forward in our faith then we are falling backward.
As you constantly remind us Fr. Alfonse, every day we must pray. Every day I must lay my life at the foot of the Cross and say,"Thy will, not my will be done."
Every day we must meditate on holy Scripture. The Lord speaks to us through the Word. We learn how to imitate Christ through the Word.
We are told that "absence makes the heart grow fonder"; but that is not the case with Christ. If I don't spend time with our Lord everyday then I become weak. I am an easy target for Satan. I sin and then I am filled with shame and in my shame I fall even further from Christ. I fall into darkness that gets deeper and darker making it even harder to reach out to Him.
"Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness" (Mother Teresa).
Wow Father,
ReplyDeleteThe description of the battles I will face today in the "arena" was so vivid and powerful.
Thank you for sharing your words of strength with us.
Father, I just want to thank you for your service! I am sure everyday is a battle for you and all of us. However, I hope you don't let your heart become steel...only a develop a will of steel.
ReplyDeleteFather, thank you for always giving us food for our spirit. Daily we use your meditations to pray.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless you. We miss seeing you. Ed & Marilyn Jordan
Thank you Fr. Alfonse, for your meditations every day. I'm learning more about Christ and it's so comforting.
ReplyDeleteYou are a God send to this Diocese and a beacon of light for those who follow your words! God bless you for your ministry.
ReplyDelete“Life is a battle. Every day is a struggle. EVERY DAY is a struggle.”
ReplyDeleteThe battle seems to be a theme lately. It IS a struggle EVERY single day. I feel it EVERY single day. I live it EVERY single day. And for me the battlefield is in my mind.
I can literally feel the struggle of good and evil pulling against each other inside myself. Not in a physical way but in a spiritual way.
“He enjoys spreading fear and rejection.”
Fear and rejection are the weapons the devil uses against me most often. When I put down my guard for a second, the devil is there ready to knock me over and stomp on me before I even know it’s him. Sometimes I ‘wake up’ in the middle of a ‘beating’ and realize what is going on but choose to continue to take it because I am feeling weak, which is another lie he uses to keep me from fighting back. Sometimes it takes me hours or days until I gain my sense of self-preservation and stand up and fight for my sanity, my life and my soul. Believe it or not, this is a vast improvement because it used to be weeks, months or years before I would realize I had the power to choose my own destination and even my mode of travel.
“The Lord is an expert in taking the bad and converting it, transforming it, into a good. He can do it in any situation and he can do it through me, with me and in me; in the unity of the Holy Spirit. All glory and power is yours Almighty Father, forever and ever.”
God has always, always, always turned bad into good in my life. I used to only be able to see the good in my rear view mirror when I was a long way down the road. But now I know there is good to be had and I look for it while I’m still in the crisis. Sometimes it even eases the pain a little.
“Through you shall all the nations be blessed. And it happened. Will it happen through me? This is why life is a battle.”
Every single day I see God using me in small ways. And I am happy to be of service. I am in this battle to win, I’ve chosen a side, The Side and I will work to accomplish what the Lord demands or die trying.
Lord give me the Grace to fight for You until my last breath.
Of course you are attacked every day! Think of all the good you do for all of us every day! I just think of the what you have done just for my family. Satan would like nothing more than to stop you. One less Priest to worry about bringing Christ to the world. You will win this battle! God has surrounded you with people who love and support you and will not stop praying for your success! I know the crisis' are tough...just make sure you learn the lesson from it the first time! No, Ground Hogs Day!
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