May
8
“Take Courage”
May 8, 2008 |
Sometimes, I find myself really focused on one group of saints - those who saw Mary, saints, angels and Christ himself. Is there a greater afffirmation of faith - to get to believe and to see?
I was thinking about these apparitions in reading today’s first reading (Acts 22). St. Paul is in prison, yet again, and we learn that ”the Lord stood by him and said ‘Take courage. For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome.’” I would think Christ gave St. Paul a little pick-me-up just then.
“Take courage” - that’s what he says to us each day. He may not physically appear to us, but he does send us the Holy Spirit and one of his gifts is fortitude or courage. No matter what we are going through - no matter how dire our predicament - all we need to do is reach out to Christ and take courage.
St. Paul understood Christ was sending him to Rome. I even wonder if he knew that the entire future of the Church would be dictated by his decision. He also probably understood that he would die in Rome for his faith and preaching. Yet, he took courage and did what he had to do to get to Rome.
Today’s Entrance Antiphon is from Hebrews 4:16 - “Let us come to God’s presence with confidence, because we will find mercy, and strength when we need it, alleluia.” This passage is the essence of courage - having confidence, finding mercy, finding strength when we need it.
Christ gives us this confidence, his mercy, and all of the strength we need - we just have to take courage and receive the gifts he offers to us. With courage, we can do anything that Christ calls us to do, whether he appears to us or not.
And while we are on the subject of apparitions, I often wonder what would we really do if Mary or an angel appeared to us directly. Would we believe or think it was just something we drank?
