Who Are You?
It is the middle of September already; and this has me starting to think about the approaching fall weather. Many of you might not like to think about fall, I can understand – winter comes soon enough.
In the gospel this weekend Jesus asks us a very hard question. You could call it “The Jesus Question”.
Much like the approaching fall weather, it is easy to keep putting off this question. There are plenty of distractions in life, let’s not worry about this question right now. But, like Fall and Winter that are approaching, we won’t live forever, and we don’t want to knock on Heaven’s door only to hear Jesus say, “I don’t know you, depart from me”.
So…what is “The Jesus Question”?
Well simply the Jesus question is, “Who is Jesus? And why does it matter who He is?”
Jesus is probably the most controversial person in the world. We can talk about many people but bring up Jesus and suddenly things get pretty tense. If Jesus was simply an historical teacher that lived about 2,000 years ago, then why all the fust about Jesus? Well, Jesus is “God in the flesh”. Or as St Peter testifies, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
But who do “you” say that Jesus is? Do you really know Jesus personally, and does Jesus know you?
If we say that Jesus is God, then following Him is vitally important. This is why it matters who we say that Jesus is. But following Jesus is not always easy. Following Jesus requires courage to overcome our hesitations and attachments. There is a song that brings to mind the faith that we need to follow Jesus:
Wherever He leads, I'll go. Wherever He leads, I'll go. I'll follow my Christ who loves me so, Wherever He leads, I'll go. Take up thy cross and follow me, I heard my Master say. "I gave my life to ransom thee, surrender your all today".
Remember, God loves us and desires for us to come to Him. He always surrounds us with His care and protection. But, we need to respond to Him. We must get to know Him personally and intimately.
October 2 is the Feast of the Guardian Angels. I will end with a prayer to our guardian angel, because beside each of us stands our guardian angel as a protector who’s job it is to get us to eternal life. If we ask our guardian angel for help, then this angel will guide us in the narrow way.
“My guardian angel, you always behold the Holy Trinity. You are deeply loved by the divine Majesty. You know how desperately I need the grace of God to know what He wants me to do and the strength I need to surrender my stubborn will to His divine will. How I need your powerful intercession with the Almighty. I trust you will hear my prayer and I am confident that with your help I will live my life as a sacrifice of myself to God and thus merit to join you in that celestial glory where you are waiting for me. Amen.”
Peace and Blessings to you,
Deacon Michael Braun