Finding the Truth

FINDING THE TRUTH

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:14-19)

As St. Paul prayed for the Ephesians, so must we pray for each other.  The only way the message of Christ, which is the will of God, can be spread throughout the world is for believers like ourselves to search for the ultimate truths about God which we can then share with others.  We must reach back past the institutional church, past the laws, the customs, the traditions and seek, as Paul says, the breadth, length, height and depth of Christ. 

When the authorities confronted Jesus, he knew everything they knew. They tried to trip him up but he was not fooled.  He questioned their motives and warned them, that if they maintained their attitudes of self-justification and self-righteousness, they were heading for disaster, but they ignored him. They crucified him instead and in 72AD Rome came down on them and destroyed their temple and their city. 

It wasn’t that God had punished them; it was something they brought on themselves by refusing to live their lives according to Scripture.  They built a power base of laws by which they ruled the people. They used Scripture and tradition as their rationale for lording it over the people, but in reality they ignored Scripture except when it suited them. 

St. Paul is always cautioning the early Christians to avoid complacency, rather, to grow in faith and understanding through the Holy Spirit. He encourages them to know Christ. He tells them to be brave, to speak out as he has done because God is with them and will give them the words and the strength to proclaim them.  It’s as true today as it was then.  Except for some particulars, we are no different than the early Christians and we can invite God to dwell within us so that we, too, will be grounded in the love of God through Jesus Christ.

We would do well to remember to pray for those in this world who must speak out even though they are at risk if they do..  Like Paul, we should kneel before God and ask him to strengthen these disciples with the power of the Spirit.

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA