“You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:48)

These are the words of Jesus to the disciples after appearing to them following his resurrection.  After showing them his hands and feet, eating a piece of broiled fish and demonstrating that he was indeed physically alive, he opened their minds to understand all that was written about him in the Scriptures.  He instructed them not to leave Jerusalem until they received the power of the Holy Spirit, and then go and preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name.       

While most of us will never be preachers, we can still be witnesses to Jesus in how we conduct ourselves and live our lives. Sometimes we will have the opportunity to witness with words, but most of the time we will demonstrate our belief and faith in Jesus with our conduct – treating people with respect and kindness, being honest and acting with integrity, and being open to care for others as the need arises. 

In fact, if our witness is comprised of only words before we establish credibility with our conduct, the words may have little effect and even accomplish the opposite of our intended purpose.  There are times, however, when Jesus expects us to witness to his presence in our lives, particularly with family and friends with whom we have an established relationship.  They should know that our Christian faith is important to us and that we strive to live by that faith. 

After being prayed with to be filled with the Holy Spirit, it changed the course of my life.  I had a greater desire to pray, read scripture and be open to following God’s will in my life.  I shared my experience with a work colleague.  He seemed to have accepted  it well, and in turn shared it with one of our senior executives who I knew but would not likely have ever had the opportunity to share directly with him.  As a result my witness was able to go beyond what I was able to do myself.  God loves to multiply our witness.

A number of years later this same colleague called me one day and asked if I would come to his office.  It turns out that he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.  He was very distraught and worried not only about his cancer, but also about his family and how he was feeling guilty because he had let his work take too much time away from his wife and two daughters.  We talked.  I listened, and offered to pray with him.  We prayed that God would bless him with a special peace and give him an opportunity to draw closer to his wife and daughters during his time remaining.  He died a few months later. 

How have you witnessed to Jesus with your conduct and words?

After the burial of my father, I was riding with my mother and brother out of the cemetery back to town, and I started to have this overwhelming sense of joy.  It was in the middle of January, on an overcast, cold day.  The snow drifts along the road were covered with soot from the windswept plowed fields of northern Iowa.  It was a bleak dreary day. 

Yet, here I was, inexplicably experiencing this heightened sense of joy.  I said to my mother and brother, “I know this sounds odd, but I have this great feeling of joy.”  They both looked at me as if I were crazy and said nothing.  We drove on, but the moment of joy in me remained.  The next morning while I was praying in my father’s bedroom, the following words came into my mind, “The reason for your joy yesterday was because your father is with me in heaven.”  As I shared these words with my mother the tears streamed down her face as she rejoiced in knowing that her husband of 50 years was with the Lord. 

This past Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ after his tortuous and cruel death, a turning point in human history.  For the Creator of all that exists completed the loving and humbling act of becoming one of us, and then willingly sacrificing his life so that we might live forever.  I have no doubt that my father, and now my mother and brother are alive with the Lord Jesus in a way that we will never be able to comprehend fully ourselves until we complete a similar journey.   

We may remember the words of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus after Jesus appeared to them following his resurrection.  “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)  Although not initially recognizing him, they said that their hearts burned within them as he spoke.  My heart burned within me as I experienced that sense of joy and heard those words, “Your father is with me in heaven.”

Praise God for his plan of redemption for the human race!  Praise Jesus for his humility, love and sacrifice! 

Have you ever experienced the presence of God or his word that burned within your heart?

“It is finished.” (John 19: 30)  These were the last words of Jesus from the cross according to John’s gospel.  He had done all that the Father had asked.  He submitted fully to the Father’s will.  Now there was nothing more for him to do in his human state.  Whatever was to follow was in God’s hands.  Jesus was showing his complete trust in the Father.  

In the end he submitted to the Father’s will to endure the suffering of the cross even though he asked three times that he might be spared.  Whatever his divine nature was, it did not relieve him of the agony of the garden, the reality of physical suffering and the realization that he was about to carry the weight of all mankind’s sin.  I am not sure we can begin to fully comprehend what he was feeling.     

Jesus introduced the kingdom of God on earth through his teaching, example and miracles.  He fulfilled all the prophesies about him as the anointed one, the Messiah.  He said he was the way, the truth and the life.  He said anyone who has seen him has seen the Father.  He was not only created in God’s image, he was God in human form.   He showed us what is possible if we are totally human and lay down our will to God’s. 

Like Jesus, God has a specific purpose for each of us. We are an unrepeatable creation of God. Not only are our fingerprints unrepeatable, but each of us is created with specific attributes designated to do only what we can do with the people and circumstances God places in our lives. 

Like Jesus, we need to grow in wisdom and seek God’s will in all that we do.  As Jesus told the disciples to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit so that they would be equipped to fulfill their call, he offers us a similar path with the same Holy Spirit.

As I look back on my life, that includes my wife of almost 60 years, my five children, their spouses and our thirteen grandchildren, a business career, a Christian ministry, etc., I am still not able to say, “It is finished.”  For as long as we have breath, we have purpose.  There are still people and circumstances to serve in line with God’s will. 

Jesus knew when he completed his work for the Father.  We may not be as certain.  But when it is finished, may we hear the words of Jesus, “Well done good and faithful servant!”  “Come, you who are blessed by my Father.  Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Mt. 25:21, 34)  

What purposes has God given you to fulfill?      

“Peter said, ‘Master, why can’t I follow you now?  I will lay down my life for you.”  (John 13:37)

We may be familiar with the story.  Jesus is trying to tell the disciples what will soon take place; that he will be with them only a little longer and where he is going they cannot follow.  Peter protests, pledging his loyalty and that he will follow Jesus anywhere, even if it means laying down his life. 

Peter was no doubt sincere in his intention.  Then the unexpected happened.  Temple guards came in the dark of night with torches, clubs and swords to arrest Jesus.   In the chaos of the moment, the disciples flee and Peter “follows from a distance.”   Later in the courtyard of the high priest, Peter denies that he knows Jesus three separate times. 

How often have our good intentions been laid aside when faced with challenging circumstances or just due to procrastination from our own sloth?   We tell God or someone we are going to do something and then we fail to do it.  The examples are numerous.

Our greatest failure with good intentions may manifest itself with the sin in our life.  Many of our sins are recurring.  We confess them or commit not to do them again, and then we do.  Good intentions are also negated when we fail to keep our word.  We commit to our family that we will be home for the family evening meal, and then we let a work demand get in the way, not just once in a while, but on a regular basis.   We say to a friend we have not seen for a while, “Let’s have lunch.”  Then, we never follow-up to schedule it.  We commit to attend one of our children’s or grandchildren’s sporting events, and then let an intervening circumstance take precedence.  We commit to have a prayer time before breakfast, and then fail to get out of bed in time. 

Good intentions, like love, require action to be fulfilled.  As we know, Peter later became a bold spokesman for the early church.  Tradition tells us that he was martyred by being crucified upside down.  What made the difference?  The Holy Spirit!  After his resurrection, Jesus told the disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the gift God had promised: “In a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:4, 8)    

The Good News is that this same Holy Spirit is available to us just as it was to Peter and the disciples.  With the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s grace, we too, can see our good intentions become a reality.

Are you sitting on any good intentions that need to be fulfilled?

At the transfiguration, Peter responded to seeing Jesus transfigured and the appearance of Elijah and Moses by offering to build three shelters, one for each of them.  A cloud then enveloped them, and God said, “This is my Son whom I love.  Listen to him!” (Mark 9:2-8)  It was almost as if God was rebuking Peter to get serious.  Quit thinking about building shelters.  It is my son you are with.  “Listen to him!”

Like Peter, it is easy for us to get caught up with the circumstances in front of us.  We forget that Jesus is with us.  We fail to remember all that he has said about the most important things of life.  We forget to ask him for guidance.  Yet he has so much to say:

• “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust in me.” John 14:1
• “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Mark 12:30-31
• “I am the way and the truth and the life.” John 14:6
• “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” John 14:23
• “Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”  Matthew 25:40
• “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged.” Matthew 7:2
• “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” John 3:3
• “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  Apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4, 5
• “Anyone who has faith in me, he will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these.”  John 14:12
• “In the world you will have trouble.  But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
• “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

So much truth!  So much wisdom in what Jesus has to say to us! 

Over the last couple of decades we have seen the effects of people not listening to Jesus: the devaluing and decline of the two parent family, the continuous erosion of sexual morality, and the increasing lapses of integrity among people in authority.  We have seen a crisis in opioid and other addictions, and increasing acts of violence and mass shootings in schools and public places.

Unlike Peter, James and John, we are not covered by a cloud from God, but the haze of a culture increasingly focused on self and moving away from its creator.  But through the haze, God still says, “Here is my Son, whom I love.  Listen to him!”

How do you listen to Jesus?

“Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Mt. 7:21) 

Jesus expects more from us than just to worship him on Sundays; he expects us to carry his presence into all aspects of our lives.  He certainly expects us to bring his love to those closest to us, including our family and friends.  But he also expects us bring his presence into other areas of our lives such as our work and social lives. 

The idea that faith should be separated from living out the rest of our daily lives has become conventional wisdom for much of our culture.  We hear the phrase, “separation of church and state” and see it be applied to other venues such as the workplace and the public square.  We are told that that our faith should be private, not to be shared with others or manifested in our words or deeds, particularly in the workplace. 

This perspective is 180 degrees from God’s intention as indicated by the words of Jesus and scripture.  Jesus tells us that he is “the way, the truth and the life.”  He says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14: 6, 23)  With Jesus and the Father living in us, he calls us to be and bring his presence to the people and circumstances in our lives.  In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, he says that those who reflect his presence by bringing food, drink, clothing, shelter, medical care and prison visitation to those in need will be welcomed into his kingdom. 

Even the workplace is not excluded from the Father’s call.  In Genesis 2:15, God reminds us that after creating us in his image and likeness he places us in the garden of his creation “to work and take care of it.”  Civilization is an extension of God’s creation, and he expects us to be good stewards of it and carry it forward through our work. 

There have been times in my life when I have put God in a box by compartmentalizing my life, separating my faith from my work and other areas of my life.  The unfortunate thing when this happens is that his presence may not then be available to the people in my life who would otherwise be blessed by him through me. 

Do we imprison God, only to be released on Sunday, or do we let him be manifested in every aspect of our lives?

Peter followed him at a distance into the high priest’s courtyard, and was seated with the guards, warming himself at the fire.” (Mark 14:54)

Like Peter, we may profess our allegiance to Jesus that “even though all should have their faith shaken, mine will not be.” (Mark 14:29) We may recite the creed every Sunday declaring that we believe in “God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.”

Yet, like Peter, there may be times when we keep our distance from Jesus.  We may fail to show up for the daily prayer time we have set for ourselves.  After a busy week of work, and a Saturday filled with our kid’s sports activities, we may let a round of golf or some other activity take precedence over our attending mass on Sunday.  We may fail to respond to a friend’s request for help because it is not convenient.  We may put a higher priority on our comfort as Peter did when he warmed himself by the fire.

Like Peter, we may be thrust into circumstances where we are reluctant to be identified with Jesus.  In Peter’s case, it was the guards, the elders and the mob.  For us, it may be a boss who has disdain for God, or social friends who consider any reference to Jesus as foolishness.

Early in my career when I attended company meetings followed by cocktails and dinner, the conduct could sometimes get a bit macho and boisterous. It was not unusual for the conversation to involve exaggerated exploits, the building up of self and the putting down of others, off-color jokes, gossip, and the fawning over whoever might be the most senior person present. At some point I began to realize that when I went along with this kind of conduct I was distancing myself from Jesus. It was so easy to go with the flow and tempting to want to be a part of the group. It required a decision on my part not to participate.

Just as Peter’s faith was tested, so is our faith tested in numerous ways, some obvious and significant, others subtle and small.  From a faith perspective, the subtle can cause as much harm as the obvious because of its corrosive effect.

The world inclines us to keep our distance from Jesus, while Jesus bids us to draw near.  He says come to me all who are burdened from the cares of this world and I will give you rest.  Come to me all who are thirsty for meaning in life and I will give you understanding.  He says step across the distance that separates us, and you will experience my love, my strength and my peace.  He warns us that in the world we will have trouble, but assures us that he has overcome the world.

Are there times when you follow Jesus at a distance?

“All, from the least to greatest, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34)

As Christians, we are quite familiar with God’s promise to forgive us of our sins when we repent of them.  Even Jesus’ name meant that he would “save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)  And forgiveness is one of the petitions we recite in the Lord’s Prayer. (Matthew 6:12)

But Jeremiah promises that God will not only forgive us of our sins, he will remember them no more!

This is so contrary to our human nature.  For our part, we tend to resist granting forgiveness when we have been offended and may struggle even more with forgetting the offense.  When we have been the offending party, we also tend to hold on to the memory of our offense even when we have repented of the sin and received forgiveness or absolution in the sacrament of reconciliation.

When I was in my early 30’s and working in New York, I received a call from my father’s boss inviting me to my father’s retirement party in Iowa after 40 years of service with the H. J. Heinz Company.  I had just been transferred to New York to take a new position and had a business conflict with the date of the retirement party.  At the time I thought it was an important meeting critical to my new job.  I agonized over the decision for a while, but ended up opting for the so-called important business meeting.    

It didn’t occur to me that I might be disregarding the Fifth Commandment to “honor your father and your mother.” When it finally did occur to me, I repented of my mixed up priorities and inordinate self-focus that was so prevalent at that time in my life.  Today, I can’t even remember what the business meeting was about. 

While I have considerable regrets for this failure, I take great comfort in God’s promise spoken through Jeremiah that this sin has gone into God’s shredder of repented sins and he remembers them no more. 

This promise reminds me of St. Paul’s recitation of the various actions that constitute love in First Corinthians 13 — love “keeps no record of wrongs.”  But then, as the apostle John reminds us, “God is love.” (1 John 4:16) 

Do you have past sins that you may have repented, but continue to hold onto and worry about?

“Don’t you know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Co. 3:16) Three times St. Paul declares in his letters to the Corinthians that we are God’s temple, or that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  (1 Co. 6:19, 2 Co. 6:18)

In connection with the Jerusalem temple, all four gospels relate the story of Jesus clearing the temple courts of cattle, sheep and doves, and the people selling them.  He said, “How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”  He made a whip out of cords and drove them from the temple, overturning the tables of the money changers.  He said, “It is written: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of thieves.” (John 2:14-17; Mt. 21:12-13)

Obviously, Jesus felt passionately about upholding the sacredness of God’s temple, and he was compelled to clear it of anything that detracted from that sacredness.  If, as St. Paul says, we are a temple of the living God, then there may be things that need to be cleared from our lives in order to maintain the sacredness of our temple.

Like many a building, have we allowed things to accumulate that get in the way of our relationship with God?  Perhaps bitterness and unforgiveness; maybe an addiction to alcohol, opioids or pornography?  Have we allowed work or some other activity to become an idol detracting from our responsibilities to family and others? 

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen in his book, Life of Christ, observes that it was naturally a problem for people who came to the temple to get ahold of the material to sacrifice. Accordingly, a flourishing trade in sacrificial animals gradually developed closer to the temple and, for the sake of convenience, eventually moved inside the temple courts. For the sake of convenience, do we allow our busyness to get in the way of a regular time of prayer with the Lord each day?

When I was young, I remember my mother doing “spring cleaning” every April.   She would take down our lace curtains to clean and stretch them, wash the windows and thoroughly clean the whole house.  My father would clean out the garage and basement of things that had accumulated over the winter. 

Similarly, we may need to do a periodic cleaning of our temple of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it may require just a good vacuuming or a little dusting; other times, a junk removal service may be required.

We can be confident that Jesus, who is experienced in clearing temples of things that don’t belong, will assist us in making our lives a fitting residence for the Holy Spirit and the presence of God!

As Lent begins this week, does your temple need some cleaning?

When Jesus sent out the seventy-two to proclaim the Kingdom of God, he gave them very specific instructions. He said, “Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you…Do not move from one house to another.  Cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’” (Luke 10:7-9)

These instructions provide an important message to all Christians who are trying to share their faith with others: Build relationships, serve people’s needs, and then share your faith and proclaim the kingdom of God.

How often have we tried to share our faith without first having established a relationship? Without the credibility of a relationship, without serving someone’s needs, our words about God and the life he offers through his Son and the Holy Spirit may ring hollow. 

After Jesus called Matthew, he dined and spent time with Matthew’s tax collector friends.  He invited himself to lunch with another tax collector, Zacchaeus.  He stayed on two days with the Samaritans after encountering the woman at the well, and John’s Gospel reports many became believers. (John 4:39)

The Parable of the Yeast seems to confirm the need to mix it up with the world in our relationships.  “The kingdom of heaven [God] is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.” (Matthew 13:33) The yeast, which is the good news, needs to mix with the flour, which is the world, in order that the dough, God’s kingdom, can rise.

In my own walk, I can think of several people who reached out to me with sincere friendship that deepened my faith walk.  There was Father John, who gave me instruction to join the Catholic Church when I was a teenager.  We shared many hours together in our mutual love of music, in addition to his individual instructions about the faith.

In my mid-thirties there was Ann, a fellow teacher of Religious Education to teenagers in our church.  Ann had the radiance and joy of the Lord.  She kept inviting my wife and me to various charismatic Christian events, which resulted in my meeting Jesus in an entirely new way and experiencing a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

In my mid-40’s, I was introduced to Christians in Commerce, a Christian outreach to business, that helped me better live out my faith in the workplace.  All three founders of this ministry, who lived in different cities, spent time guiding me in becoming a better Christian at work.  They offered witness and friendship, and stayed with us whenever they were in town.

Like the seventy-two, Jesus sends us out and instructs us to build relationships, serve people’s needs, and then proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand.

How do you build relationships in order to share about Jesus?