Obeying the Father by Imitating Christ

03-17-2019Weekly ReflectionFr. Julius Kundi

The readings of today give us a glimpse of how the power of God can transform the most ordinary life and lead a person into ways he never dreamt of.

The first reading describes the transformation of a pagan into a believer in the one God. God called Abraham, a childless wanderer and promised he will make him become Father of many nations and have a wonderful land of his own.

Abraham took God’s providence seriously and trusted confidently that he will fulfill His promise. His faith was strong and sustained. And all he did was to obey God’s commands.

Beloved in Christ, there is need to remind you here that throughout Scripture God has given man a multitude of promises: love, forgiveness, salvation, Holy Spirit, Everlasting life, peace, joy, freedom, growth, encouragement, excellence and strength.

He makes promises when you are anxious, confused, impatient, tempted, weak, afraid, suffer and grieve. We have a God that is Almighty, who cares and desires that our hearts would heed His leadership for our lives.

The second reading explains the type of Lenten transformation expected of us. That we are transformed when we recognized the hand of a loving, providing and disciplining God behind all our hardships, pains and sufferings. That we are to know it's God who challenges us in the testing of our hearts and faith in Him so that we would grow in understanding of his ways, learning to stand upon the solid rock of His unchangeable and powerful promises.

This means that we should keep imitating Christ and giving true reverence and obedience to God the father because each trial shall surely be rewarded with the gift of the eternal home. We imitate Christ when we walk by the freedom of faith and never get misguided by false teachers.

The story of the transfiguration in the gospel is another miraculous vision that announces the solemn promise from God: our new identity. This promise is far more spectacular and glorious. It reveals how special and different we are from others. We are like God himself. For 1Jn.3:2 gives us the confirmation that we shall one day be like God and we shall see Him as he is. Beloved, If there is anything that we shouldn’t miss in this Lenten season is to rediscover who we are as people of God. The promise of mercy and protection we have in the readings today are to help us rediscover our true identity.

Rediscovering oneself isn’t an easy job. We need total submission to the healing power of God and the guidance of his spirit. The Holy Eucharist is the number one source of our strength. Just as ordinary bread and wine are changed into the Holy body and blood of Christ, so also do communion transforms us from our weaknesses and gives us the heavenly strength we need to renew our lives and fight against our own temptations.

This is the special season of achieving this. Don’t misuse it!

Fr. Julius.

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