JESUS SEEKS US
God wills the salvation of all. We are created for life not death, Jesus is our Savior, nobody else has the power. It is through the Mercy of God and his only begotten Son that we are saved! But God respects our free will given as gift by God. We can reject salvation! Is it all on Jesus or do I have to do something too?
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. For, just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” James 2:14-26
If you watch any of the Sunday Services on television you are likely to hear a lot of testimonials to being saved. “I am saved, Praise Jesus!” Yes, Jesus is our Savior. He laid down his life for us that we might have life. What does it mean to say Jesus saved me? Is it any more than fire insurance from Hell and I can do anything I want? I think not!
Many Non Catholic Christians believe that they are saved by making one single act of faith at a single point in time in their lives. Nowhere does Scripture say such a thing. As Catholics, we believe that salvation is a life-long process which begins with our Baptism.
MATTHEW 19:22
A rich young man once asked Jesus what he must do to be saved. Jesus did not say, “I am your Savior, love me and go on your way. No, he told the young man to keep all the commandments given in the Torah (first five books of the bible) and to detach himself from his possessions and come follow Him…Be like me…share my space…live like me…
God’s love for us is a “covenantal love.” He gives himself to us, God so loved the world as to give us His only begotten Son. John 3:16 The Law and Old Testament covenants are fulfilled in Christ. At the Last Supper, Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” John 13:34
The difference between covenant and contract is profound. It’s so profound that we could almost say that it’s the difference between prostitution (contract) and marriage (covenant). Or between owning a slave (contract) and having a son (covenant.)
When people enter into a covenant, they say: “I am yours and you are mine.” In a contract, you exchange something you have – a skill, a piece of property, money. In a covenant you exchange your very being, you give your very self to another person.
Ques. how do we show our love for God and Jesus? Ans. By loving our neighbor! “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.” Matthew 25:40
No one saves himself. Only by the mercy of God are we saved. We read an example of this in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans 7:18. Paul laments that he does what he doesn’t want to do and isn’t able to do what he knows he should do. While Paul holds the law of God in his mind the law of sin in his flesh overwhelms him. .
Grace is a gift from God to us, a sinner, earned for us by our Savior, Jesus Christ. “What is impossible for human beings is possible for God.” Luke 18:27 Grace is a share in divine life right now, here on earth and promise of eternal life. “Where sin increased, grace abounds all the more.” Romans 5:20
The more humanity retreats from God the more God comes after them. The intent of grace is to aid us to conform more to Jesus. Let me cite the example of Zacchaeus the tax collector who climbed a tree to better see Jesus. Luke 19:1-10
ZACHAEUS COME DOWN
I MUST STAY IN YOUR HOUSE TODAY LUKE 19:1-10
Jesus dines with tax collector and public sinner, Zacchaeus. to change him. Jesus succeeds in his mission. The tax collector pledges to make amends for his wrong doing. Jesus’s announcement of salvation follows Zacchaeus’s pledge to set right the things he has done wrong. “
And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.” Salvation is not simply about confession, it also involves transformation and restitution.
LET ME SEE JESUS!
LET ME HEAR JESUS!
LET ME KNOW JESUS!
Without God’s help we could never be saved. We are saved by “amazing grace,” before, during and afterwards. No one can come to Jesus, follow Jesus, conform to Jesus unless, “the Father draws him to me.” John 6:44
Sharing in the life of the Triune God occurs even in this life. Jesus explains that the Father and the Son will dwell with the believer even in this life: “. . . “We will come to him and make our home with him” John 14:23
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Prayer of St. Benedict
Gracious and holy Father,
grant us the intellect to understand you,
reason to discern you, diligence to seek you,
wisdom to find you, a spirit to know you,
a heart to meditate upon you.
May our ears hear you, may our eyes behold you,
and may our tongues proclaim you.
Give us grace that our way of life may be pleasing to you,
that we may have the patience to wait for you
and the perseverance to look for you.
Grant us a perfect end–your holy presence,
a blessed resurrection and life everlasting.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.