The Question
In the Acts of the Apostles we read, “Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the
hands of the apostles.”
Signs and wonders are not things of the
past.
A friend told me about his friend’s
sister. His friend is a Baptist preacher; and, the preacher’s sister converted
to Catholicism. It began with a question to a priest about the Catholic faith.
Signs and wonders are still working through Christ’s apostles.
My friend then asked me the question,
“What do Catholic’s believed?”
My reply, “I believe in God the Father….” He was amazed, it was what he
believed.
He asked about the Blessed Virgin Mary,
it's the question you’ve all heard in one way or another. “Do Catholics worship
Mary?” Then we discussed the real presence. He liked my answers.
My greatest failure was that I didn't
tell him about Mercy. This is the Year of Mercy. This is Divine Mercy Sunday
and I failed to talk about mercy.
I should have explained how we are justified by faith through God’s Divine Mercy. This is grace. We
do not receive Grace by our performance, works, or future plans. Grace is the
source of mercy. Grace, the source of our faith which is a deep confidence in a
loving God, comes to us as Divine Mercy from our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the truth of Jesus. This is the
good news the apostles preached. It is the gospel that attracts believers like
the sister of a friend of my friend. “More than ever,
believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women were added to them.”
Today believers have lost their way,
but many returned to their faith and home to the Lord.
Believers come from
Christian churches outside our faith. These are believers who have discovered the real
presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
There
are believers who came to believe from unbelief. Think of the courage it
takes to leave family and friends to follow Christ.
They come to believe because Christ has touched them. Their hearts have reached out to God, The Holy Spirit has thrust their hands into the side of
Christ. They believe, “Do not be afraid…. I am alive
forever and ever.”
They are believers. They no longer
doubt, praying “My Lord and my God.”
Remember, I was
hard pressed and was falling, but the LORD helped me, when someone asked you the question, “What do you
believe?”
Have confidence in the Lord’s words, “Do not be afraid….” The nail marks of Christ are in
the hearts of believers. It is our faith. Believe and testify with life;
don’t hide behind locked doors. Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, and through this belief you have life in his name.
“Many signs and wonders will
be done.” They
are not things of the past. Live out loud in the signs and wonders of your
faith and belief in Jesus Christ.
When someone comes with the question,
by God’s grace and the Divine Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord speaks
for us. He removes our fears and doubts with “Peace be with you....”
Y’all
be good, y’all be holy. Preach the gospel by the way you live and love. Amen
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