Do
you believe that God's word has power to set you free and to transform your
life? When Jesus taught he spoke with authority. He spoke the word of God as no
one had spoken it before. When the Rabbis taught they supported their
statements with quotes from other authorities. The prophets spoke with
delegated authority - "Thus says the Lord." When Jesus spoke he
needed no authorities to back his statements. He was authority incarnate - the
Word of God made flesh. When he spoke, God spoke. When he commanded even the
demons obeyed.
Augustine
of Hippo (354-430 AD) remarked that "faith is mighty, but without love it
profits nothing. The devils confessed Christ, but lacking charity it availed
nothing. They said, 'What have we to do with you' (Mark 1:24)? They confessed a
sort of faith, but without love. Hence they were devils."
Faith
is powerful, but without love it profits nothing (1 Corinthians 13). Scripture
tells us that true faith works through love (Galatians 5:6) and abounds in hope
(Romans 15:13). Our faith is made perfect in love because love orients us to
the supreme good which is God himself as well as the good of our neighbor who is
created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26,27).
Hope
anchors our faith in the promises of God and purifies our desires for the
things which will last for eternity. That is why the word of Christ has power
to set us free from all that would keep us bound up in sin, deception, and
despair. Bede the venerable abbot of an English monastery (672-735) contrasted
the power and authority of Jesus' word with the word of the devil: "The devil, because he had deceived Eve
with his tongue, is punished by the tongue, that he might not speak"
[Homilies on the Gospels 1.8].
Faith
is both a free gift of God and the free assent of our will to the whole truth
that God has revealed. To live, grow, and persevere in the faith to the end, we
must nourish it with the word of God. The Lord gives us his Holy Spirit to
enlighten our minds that we may grow in his truth and in the knowledge of his
great love for each of us. If we approach God's word with trust and submission,
and with an eagerness to do what the Lord desires for us, then we are in a much
better position to learn what God wants to teach us through his word. Are you
eager to be taught by the Lord and to conform your mind, heart, attitude, and
intentions according to his word of truth, goodness, and love?
(Servants
of the Word)
Date
to Remember
Fr.
Phil’s Valentines Roast Beef Dinner and Dance
(50’s, 60’s and 70’s)
Sunday
February 18, 5pm –Cocktails - 6pm Dinner
Adults
$25, Children under 12 $10, Under 5 free
Fr. Phil
