Before I Forget…

· "There is only Christ, and He is everything."
Colossians 3:11

· "I believe that nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…and I look on everything else as rubbish if only I can have Christ." 
Philippians 3:8

· "But who do you say that I am?"
Jesus in Matthew 16:15

Easter is the greatest feast of the Church.  As St. Paul tells us, of Christ is not risen from, the dead, our faith is in vain.  We are the disciples of the Risen Christ, the Lord of all creation, the One who is offering us to God.  Yes, we love the feast of Christmas which lasts for 12 days.  But Easter is the BIG feast, lasting for 50 days.  Jesus the Christ, the greatest gift of our lives!  We belong to Christ.  As you live your life, with all its ups and downs, who do you say that Jesus Christ is for you at this time in your life?  And, how did you come to your answer?  This is an important question that Jesus Christ asks each one of us.  As adult Christians we need to answer the question…"Who do you say that I am?" In the gospel of John, Jesus says, "He who sees me sees the Father."  (John 14:9) I know there are good people who have issues with the Church, for one reason or another.  The institutional church is not perfect.  It never was and maybe never will be.  But the church is the body of Christ.   Christ continues to be the head and we are the members of His body.  Could you or I ever give up on Jesus Christ, the One who leads us to God?  To pray to any other "god" that the God of Jesus is an illusion, superstition, probably cowardice.  We believe in this great Tradition that God was revealed to the human race in the person of Jesus.  For 2000 years, this Christ has captured the minds and hearts and lives of countless people.  Now, in these days, He calls us. 
       One of my favorite stories from John's gospel takes place after the resurrection.  Christ appears to Peter on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias.  Christ knew that Peter was a good person.  He knew that Peter simply had a  "temporary" loss of nerve during the trial and denied him three times.  Now, by the sea, He asks Peter three times if he loves Him.  Three times Peter says yes.  Christ allowed Peter to repudiate his triple denial.  Now, I ask you, is this a great sign of deep love and acceptance?  How could you not fall in love with someone as wonderful as Jesus Christ?  Peter did, and even became a martyr because of his love for his Lord.  Peter could only live and die because he was empowered by Jesus.  From that day on the beach, and for the rest of his life, Peter preached from his weakness and the power of God.  He was able to convert the Roman world because they saw the power of God at work in Peter.  We, too, must let the power of God work in our weakness.
Peter had to allow Jesus to be who He wants to be--not who Peter wanted Him to be.  The spiritual life of a Christian is realizing that we are made to know how God longs to love and serve us, to free us and to forgive us, to heal us and make us whole.  After all, we are the children of God.
Christ asks us, as he asked Peter, "do you love me?"  Our faith life is simply about falling in love with Christ.  Is  anything more important? 

Fr. Bill