DAILY REFLECTION ARE YOU DIFFERENT? GOOD, YOU ARE ALSO THE SAME! This two-day celebration of the Holy Apostles SS. Peter and Paul and the Synaxis of the Holy Twelve Apostles brings together men from different walks of life, with different characteristics, temperaments, and social statuses, for the purpose of fulfilling their one united vocation of propagating the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the world. If we were to look at the roster of these prominent saints of the Church, we would notice stark variations in their lifestyles and demeanors. One of my personal favorite comparisons is juxtaposing Saints Peter and Paul. The former: a direct disciple of Christ; an illiterate Jew and hardworking fisherman hardened by his occupation; a married man with a family; and a man of simple faith with weaknesses revolving around trust but with passion for Gods truth and the redemption of Gods people. The latter: a later, indirect disciple and apostle of Christ; a very educated Jew knowledgable of Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin; a lawyer (interpreter and scholar of the Mosaic Law); a single man without a family; a Pharisaic Jew who was most religious and fervent in his faith; and initially, a merciless persecutor of Christians. Lifes circumstances and conditions led these men down two different paths. But God did not look at their differences but at their similarities; He saw the common thread that united both men, a thread that the Lord Himself knitted through all of humanity. What God saw in Peter and Paul was the beauty of the divine image in them, and it was this divine image that was to be glorified in these champions of the Faith. However, He also saw in Paul and Peter the zeal for God, a zeal that the Lord would transform and further empower to direct their apostolic and evangelical efforts, for the accomplishment of His glory. Men may look at each other as different and that is perhaps the fundamental reason why we live in a fragmented world, separated by external factors that God would consider peripheral. God looks at us as the same divine image expressed in unique ways. The characteristics of this divine image include the capacity to believe, to love, to communicate, and to freely choose, among other things. How we express these characteristics are our own personal contributions to fulfilling the will of God, our 100% of the synergistic equation. So, the celebration of any apostolic or saints feast day is a celebration of God honoring the divine image in man and allowing man to live up to the image in his own special way. The saints in heaven are all very different in their journeys toward sainthood, yet they are permeated by the risen and living Lord and the grace of the Holy Spirit and this is what binds them --- the perfection of the divine image that unites mankind anyway from conception and birth. Perhaps if we could adopt Gods eyes and see this image clearly in each other, ours wars and disagreements could give way to festivals and celebrations ... perhaps sooner than later. --- FrDr Stel
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 01:02:15 +0000
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