I Have Conquered (Jn. 16:33)

If Jesus was able to stave off his opponents, it was not by the force of arms, violence or deception, but simply by the force of truth and love.  You can observe how the Church of Christianity has prospered throughout history.  In fact it had been through the sacrifice of many lives (martyrs).  Jesus, who only used the attraction of love, gentleness and truth had not forced people to follow Him or His Church, even till our days at present.  There is respect for the religious convictions of people (see Jn. 6).

            It’s of course important we look at the facts of history and events.  People gravitate towards goodness and truth.  Hence, we can ask Catholics what made them select membership in Catholicism when there are many other religious denominations, Christian and otherwise.  I guess people look at the attraction of reality, truth and facts.  Even the fact that Christianity stands on the historical evidence of miracles and the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus and the multiple miracles in the life of the Saints, mostly documented, is argument enough that can attract the simple or the reasonable-minded people to join their ranks.  You have only to look around and study the pages of history.  There is reason enough for those encouraging words of Jesus: “In the world you will have trouble but be brave: I have conquered the world” (Jn. 16:33). 

            There is strong reason why we should desire to belong to Jesus and His Church, to which He referred, saying: “Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man!  Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.  And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt. 16:17-20).  It would be a source of comfort to any person, after all the search for the truth, to be able to discover and belong to that authentic Church to which Jesus refers in the biblical quotation cited above.  After all, so many claim to have the truth, but which group shows those marks which identify and derive them from the original which Jesus founded upon the apostles producing many saints, teaching the same doctrines everywhere and serving the whole of the human race, rich or poor, young and old, irrespective of race and color.  Remember that Jesus talks of extraordinary signs or miracles accompanying and confirming the believers in the true faith (see Mk. 16:17-20; Lk. 10:17-20).

A Sincere Faith That Overcomes

(Many of them, however, believed in Jesus, even among the rulers, but they did not acknowledge him because of the Pharisees, lest they be put out of the synagogue. They preferred to be approved by people rather than by God” - Jn. 12:42-43)

In his parting words to the disciples, Jesus refers to a faith that is victorious over obstacles in our transitory life on this earth. “In the world you will have trouble, but be brave: I have conquered the world” (Jn. 16:33). If we keep our trust in Jesus and continue following His ways, most surely we are assured of victory and salvation, since God’s word cannot lie nor be mistaken. Of course, it is presupposed here that we are sincere and truthful in our hearts since God knows all, even our deepest secrets. I guess that’s what Shakespeare implied when he states in Hamlet (act i, sc.3: “to thine own self be true and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man..”

That is why in Psalm 91: 8-13 God asks us to look around, study or contemplate human history of persons and events – “You have only to look around to see how the wicked are repaid, you who can say, ‘Yahweh my refuge,’ and make Elyon your fortress. No disaster can overtake you, no plague come near your tent: he will put you in his angels charge to guard you wherever you go.”

In that same Psalm 91:7 God’s protection is assured for His faithful and believing people: “Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, you yourself will remain unscathed, with his faithfulness for shield and buckler.” This means, of course, as in the life of Jesus and the Saints, we have to have frequent recourse to God in prayer and conversation, as to a faithful friend. Such prayer and trust is based on our firm reliance on His very word that tells us: “We can be sure that we love God’s children if we love God himself and do what he has commanded us; this is what loving God is – keeping his commandments; and his commandments are not difficult, because anyone who has been begotten by God has already overcome the world; this is the victory over the world—our faith” (1 Jn. 5:2-4).

 Trust in the ever reassuring and unfailing word of Jesus: “Ask and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him” (Mt. 7:7). God will answer our prayers if we persevere, and with the help of the Saints we can always invoke or call upon, since we may ourselves feel weak and unworthy, we must keep on full of trust and doing God’s will.

God Provides

If you just read the Bible in Mt. 6:25-34, Jesus there answers us that God indeed provides for our needs, and cares for us. If He takes care of such animals as the birds of the air or even the beautiful flowering plants in the fields, Jesus assures us, saying “How much more will God care for you, human creatures created with an intelligent and an eternal soul?” The important thing is to keep up our faith and trust in God, since He does not leave our prayers unanswered.

God is certainly grateful. The more we trust in Him, the more He cares for us. But certainly He allows trials in our lives as He did in His own Son Jesus, since trials and sufferings have a cleansing effect in our lives and souls. (see Mt. 16:24-28; Lk. 9:28-36).

Graduation Tears

When we attend graduations we sometimes experience tears of joy because of many memories that light up the corners of our mind. Maybe we are reminded of our own graduations, the love and sacrifice of our parents, and the many years of toil and effort. Maybe then we realize the truth of the saying: no pain no gain, no cross no victor

But really it’s the love that was behind it all that touches our emotion as we see those loving parents shedding tears of joy at graduation time of their children. Then we remember that once upon a time our own parents did sacrifice and dream for our own success and achievement at graduation time. We pray for those loved ones, God reward them!

Victory in the Cross

Sometimes we fail to realize that the cross which is the common attribute among Christians is likewise a symbol of victory, if we live its deeper meaning. Because we are made for an eternal destiny, many crosses and humiliations in life are actually blessings in disguise. That’s what the many lives of the Saints attest to.

Basically this would mean going in accord with the pattern exemplified by Jesus. Hence there is the Latin adage that says: Regnat a ligno Deus (translated: God reigns from the wood of the Cross). It’s actually what the saints followed, living their lives according to the pattern set by our Lord Jesus who said: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it. What gain, then, it is for a man to have won the whole world and to have lost or ruined his very self? For if anyone is ashamed of me and my name, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Lk. 9:23-26). After all that’s what love really is, as enunciated summarily by St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians: “Love is humble, love is patient, love is forgiving” (see 1 Cor. 13:1-13).