Thursday,
October 23, 2014
29th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Eph 3:14-21
Gospel: Luke 12:49-53
Jesus said to his disciples, “I have come to bring fire upon the earth and how I wish it were already kindled; but I have a baptism to undergo and what anguish I feel until it is over!
“Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on, in one house five will be divided; three against two, and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Over the phone a caller I still had to meet told me between sobs:“Father,” he said, “I cannot understand why I am having all these fears when in fact I have drawn nearer to God after I have abandoned my carefree lifestyle.” “What fears, for example?” I inquired. “I am inclined to say I had more peace before than now,” he declared. As I listened, he sounded like he was a man remorseful of his past, disappointed of his present and fearful of the future. When he felt silent I knew it was my turn to talk.
As empty vessels make the most noise, a life full of fun does not guarantee inner peace. Some people give up their carefree lifestyle and return to the Lord. But by expecting that life will treat them better this time, they are not really giving up anything but are just trying to switch from one source of fun to another.
When one by returning to the Lord leads God to believe that a remorseful inner disposition exists deep within him, and God timely acts upon that representation and sends that person the grace to complete the process of repentance, that person is presumed to have submitted himself totally to God’s plan. Admittedly, God’s ways can truly be scary because after He shows the repentant person the root of his problem, He leads him to discover the solution which can be as frightening. The discovery can be disturbing and the person can lose even the external peace he used to experience. But the loss is momentary – as momentary as the pangs of birth, which God allows if only to lead the repentant person to resurrection. One has a choice. He can continue the external fun and hold on to skin-deep peace, or he can return to the Lord, allow God to disturb his peace and eventually attain inner peace.
“Father, I want this kind of peace”, my telephone counselee declared.” He stopped sobbing and put down the phone. I had my peace! – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:[email protected]. Website:www.frdan.org.
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