Verbum Dei UK

Sometimes I think it seems it is more fashionable and “cool” to sin and to be attracted by evil thoughts and deeds, which end up leading us to a limited happiness and many times to brokenness and frustration.

So, I invite you to pray what the psalm says:

This led me to ask myself, why and how are Christians able to give their lives for the sake of the gospel? Why and how are Christians able to speak up even in secular environments, instead of being overwhelmed and knocked down by fear?

Precisely, today’s psalm tells us the strength of faith in the resurrection lies in believing that God will also save, redeem and guide all those who live according to God’s will and love. The proof of this is the resurrection of Christ. As the Father raised Jesus from the dead, He will raise us from the dead. As the Father glorified and fructified Christ’s work, He will fructify our work, when it follows the truth and real love.

WEDNESDAY: PSALM 66:1-7

Meeting the risen Christ filled the disciples with such a joy that they could not stop proclaiming the Good News to all:

The word that stands up for me in this psalm is: joy. We can really see how joyful the psalmist is for what God has done, for the power of His deeds.

Can we also recognise the power of God? Perhaps you may feel like me, that it is easier to recognise the power of nature, such as the power of the volcano in Iceland, affecting the environment and the aircraft; or the power of  anger, of the competitive world, which provokes anxiety, stress...

I invite you in today’s prayer to stop and ask God for the gift of recognising the power of his resurrection. The Holy Spirit may pop in your mind people’s lives that are witnesses of His resurrection. This led me to think, for instances, in a person I know who is passing through a difficult situation with serenity and hope. She used to despair, but faith has led her to be filled with hope. I also think about another person who recently told me he used to doubt a lot about his faith, and had even rejected God for long time. But now, for different reasons and experiences, he changed ways and is a believer who tries to follow Christ.

Lord, help us to recognise how the power of your resurrection is at work around us; how your resurrection has power to transform us.

Today, we continue with the yesterday’s psalm, but with its second part. Reading it, I was struck by the fact that the psalmist expresses his or her awareness of the power of God in his/ her life:

Lord, help me to reflect today and see how you have been powerful in my life; help me to see the small transformations faith has done in me.

The message of the risen Christ is also this one: “go out to the whole world, and proclaim the Good News.” The risen Christ commissioned the Church to continue his steps, to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God. In a world that is so marked by the poor and the rich, the intelligent and the uncleaver, the beautiful and the ugly, the one who is lucky and the one who isn’t, the one from one party and the one from another party... Jesus calls us to continue His mission to live and proclaim God’s Kingdom, in other words, that we are part of the same family, we are brothers and sisters, children of the same Father in heaven. And this reality is eternal, which we are called to live know what we will live after death, in heaven.

This is the main mission of the Church, this was the core of St. Paul’s call and mission, to proclaim Christ’s Gospel, that is a life that lived building up on earth what is eternal: God’s Kingdom.

So, let’s thank God for the gift of faith and for the gift of so many missionaries, who have had the courage to bring to us the Good News. Let’s also ask God to help us to make options that help His Kingdom to be visible on earth.

©Verbum Dei * Easter 2010