Risen Christ, help me to choose the way of faithfulness to God...

Psalm 119:25-32  & Acts 6:8-15

                                              
Jesus was made if very clear throughout his ministry, that “the work of God is to believe in him (Jesus) whom he has sent.” Being faithful to this belief is not so much an option as a necessity as it is how belief is nourished and grows. Being faithful to my belief in Jesus, is not defined by how much I pray, how many religious things I possess, or even do, by how often I ‘praise the Lord’, or by how useful I am to other people. Being faithful primarily means choosing to believe in Christ Jesus, the Son of Man who was the Son of God whom God sent to save humankind from a trajectory of darkness and death.  Faithful belief in God then becomes the system of beliefs and values that underlines and drives all my choices and decisions day to day and minute by minute. The good deacon Stephen of the early Church, who became the first martryr, was a man who clearly chose the way of faithfulness to Jesus -he was known to be full of grace and power and did great wonders among the people. Indeed, he was so full of the Holy Spirit of Jesus, that when he was being grilled by a ‘council’ and testifying to the truth of Jesus, the Messiah, his face shone like the face of an angel and he was given a vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Then as he was stoned to death for his beliefs and values, he, like Jesus, was given the grace to ask for God’s mercy for his murderers. Will I, like Stephen, and other followers of Jesus truly choose the way of faithfulness? Risen Christ, help me choose the way of faithfulness to God.   
   
You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me.(Psalm 31: 3)
 
Christ’s call is revolutionary, there is no denying it.  If we Christians would put it into practice, it would change the world in a few months.
Catherine Doherty. Living the Gospel Without Compromise  
 
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Soli ad gloriam Dei