Faith Message

Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me" (John 14:1-12). This is how the gospel opens for this weekend but I listed all the verses in parenthesis because this is a beautiful reading for our reflection. Jesus tells his disciples a little later that he is going away for awhile and that he will come back and take us with him. Thomas questions Jesus about his comment and our Lord says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Our Lord is inviting us to follow him but along the way there is some work that we need to do. In the first reading, Acts 6:1-7, we listen to the call of the early deacons. These were the men being sent out to bring the Good News to all peoples. To be a deacon means to be of service. Of course, we are all called to serve the needs of our brothers and sisters. We are to bring the message of Christ to them. As we hear in the second reading, I Peter 2:4-9, "You are a chosen reace, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." We are being built up, we are the living stones called to praise the name of the Lord. Let us not be afraid to live our faith in the world, in the very communities in which we live. The risen Christ walks this journey with us. He gives us the grace and strength that we need. Our message today is one of faith. Live that faith to the fullest and as the song says, "Take the Word of God with you as you go!" Have a blessed weekend!!!