"I have overcome the world"

Jesus told us that in Him we shall find peace (cf. Jn. 16:33), continuing that “you will suffer in the world.  But take courage!  I have overcome the world”.  Has he really overcome the world?  I believe so.  How?  Through His death and resurrection He has opened Heaven’s gate for us all; also, because the bigger number in the world are those who freely chose to become Christians, without being forced at all.  This is not a matter of force or pressure.  Jesus’ attitude is one of love and gentleness, to invite people to the truths about God and our final destiny, this being done with full respect to each person’s free conscience, unlike the forces of terror that arms themselves with threatening death-dealing tactics. 

It may take time to discover the truth but with time and patience we shall be victorious.  As St. Faustina expresses in her Diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul (1514), “I have learned that the greatest power is hidden in patience.  I see that patience always leads to victory, although not immediately, but victory will become manifest after many years.  Patience is linked to meekness.”  Jesus has conquered sin and death because He died and rose from death for the sake of truth and love.  Those who follow Jesus willingly are there because they sincerely seek for the “truth that sets us free” (Jn.8:32), and the Reign of God that declares ‘Fortunate are the meek and gentle, they shall possess the land’ (Mt. 5:5).

Game of life

Sometimes we fight for nothing, for children’s games.  Is that quite right?  Don’t we realize there is a better game, a larger sphere,---the game of life.  It’s so sad people could die fighting in the smaller battles or games or gambles. Lose a battle but win the war, the ancients said.  Did not Jesus do just that?

St. Augustine spoke of it.  He said here in the world there are two cities: the City of God and the City of Satan, the devil.  We must fight to resist the forces of evil and strive to belong to the kingdom of the sons of God.

“The kingdom of God is like a net catching all kinds of fishes, then the fishermen chose the good and threw the bad away.  That is what shall happen at the end of time.  The angels will select the good and throw to the fire the bad people”(Mt. 13:47).  May life's game keep us ever on the right track--Jesus' camp!

Prayer and change of heart

Prayer will make us leave sinning, or sinning will make us leave prayer.  Such a simple formula.  If one goes about doing his/her best giving time for the things of God, such as Holy Mass, prayer meetings, being together with the family or one’s brethren, then sooner or later, especially if one prays to God for the grace, the person will achieve the change for the better.  This change is what is called in Greek—metanoia, or a conversion of heart.

After all, what we’re after is really a change, but for the better.  What else?  Christianity is not a “palabras” but a religion of grace and power.  Yet like a person who needs water and opens faucets, we too can meditate on God’s word and receive the Sacraments, since these are instruments of change.  If human ideas can, how much greater will the change/conversion produce by divine ideas be.

In a homily delivered in June 1968, Blessed Paul Vi expressed this idea, thus: “We can imagine, then, that each of our sins, our attempts to turn our back on God, kindles in God a more intense flame of love, a desire to bring us back to himself and to his saving plan…God, in Christ, shows himself to be infinitely good…He loves us, seeks us out…He will be—so to say—delighted on the day when we return...”  Let us never forget that we are God’s children, and He awaits our final return at journey’s end.