Not Like Anyone Before

“So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why did you not bring him?’

The guards answered,

 ‘Never before has anyone spoken like this man.’” 

John 7:45-46

Have you ever met someone and thought to yourself, “Wow, I’ve never met anyone like that before.” I think in our lives we might encounter a couple of those people who come and go, but who really make a huge impact in either our own lives or on the lives of people we know. There’s just something about them. Maybe it was their genuineness. Something special.

When the chief priests and the Pharisees hoped that the guards would have brought Jesus to them for questioning, they were surprised because Jesus did not come back with them. The guard simply answered them, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.” They were captivated by the Lord. Something about this Jesus caught their attention. Something new. Something different. Something that tugged at their hearts.

The difference between the guards and the chief priests and the Pharisees is that the guards had an open heart, a heart that was not hardened by pride and self-righteousness. They allowed God to work in their hearts. They recognized that Jesus was someone special, so much so that they forgot why they were sent there in the first place! They did not just go find Jesus, they encountered Him. And an encounter always leads to transformation. There may be many people that may come and go in our lives that may captivate our attention and make us feel something special inside, but there is only one person who can move our hearts to such a drastic transformation — Communion with God, and that person is Jesus Christ. May we allow our hearts to be open so that we may come to encounter the Living God who call us to Himself — Him who is like no other.

The Gift of St. Joseph

“Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.”

Mt. 1:19

Today we celebrate the solemnity of St. Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The scripture verse we just heard seemingly suggests that Joseph thinks Mary has been unfaithful but at the same time out of his compassion did not want to “expose her to shame,” and so he decided to “divorce her quietly.” Does that make any sense, really? If Mary did commit adultery, would a righteous and just man allow this to happen, seemingly enabling it and move on? I don’t think so. 

Joseph was a righteous man, the man whom God has chosen to be the husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus. Some commentators say that because of this, Joseph was aware that something supernatural was happening with Mary and he, a righteous man, did not feel worthy to take on such a task and so he decided to leave. Then we know what happens next. The Angel appeared to him and assured him and encouraged him. 

St. Joseph was the man who protected Mary on the way to Bethlehem and guarded Mary and Jesus as they fled to Egypt.  He was the man who taught Jesus what it meant to be a man, a son, and a father here on earth. Such a gift was St. Joseph to Mary and Jesus.  What a gift he is to us. May we be encouraged by his life and by his humble and faithful witness. St. Joseph was the husband of Mary, who is sinless, and the foster father of Jesus, the Son of God. Let us today ask St. Joseph to teach us how to love as he loved Mary and Jesus, so that like him we may be ever close to the Lord. 

Turning Our Backs

“They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out,

‘This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’”

Exodus 32:8

How often do we try to kick a bad habit and find it coming back to us not long after we have made some progress? We are weak. There’s no doubt about that. But that doesn’t have to define us. In fact, it doesn’t and it shouldn’t.

After God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and into the wilderness, the Israelites promised God that they will listen to Him and follow His commands. However, not too long after, when Moses went up to the mountain, the people began to melt their gold and fashioned a golden calf to worship! Talk about turning your back on someone. They just saw how God worked in their lives, promised to be obedient, and now they do this. Betrayal, loud and clear. Some say well maybe they just wanted something that resembled God and so they made this golden calf - after all that’s what every other group of people seem to do. Yes, that’s right. They do. But these were people set apart by God. You and I are set apart by God. We were made holy and are called to holiness.

What are some ways we have turned our backs on God? What are some bad habits that keep us away from living the special mission that God has called us to? Yes, we fall and we sin. But that’s not the end of the story. Our sinfulness and weakness does not define us. How we are defined has already been determined by God - His Holy People, His beloved sons and daughters. It is His love that defines us. Let us not allow our bad habits and fleeting moments of temptation draw us away from that love and lead us to define ourselves, because when we do, we will become like the pagans who each worshipped their own false gods, believing that their worth comes only from earning it by appeasing their gods. They do not have a god who loves them. We do. Let’s not forget that. Let’s not turn our backs on the One who has loved us from all eternity.