IN this Sunday’s Gospel, Peter remarked to Jesus, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Such is Peter’s testament of unwavering faith and fidelity to Jesus. Can we also express the same faith and sentiment, especially in times of difficulties and challenges?
Many of us would say that we can do it. It’s because we have learned to turn to Jesus through prayer, the Scriptures, and the Sacraments when the going gets tough. We get our strength and live in hope through the Spirit of Jesus that is in our hearts and in our faith community. We’ve learned to draw strength from our faith in Jesus in trying times.
It’s not that we have been programmed like a computer to respond in this way as some unbelievers would rationalize. For our Christian life is a relationship with the person of Jesus, whose words are spirit and life.
We can obtain wisdom from self-help books, podcasts and videos or from the latest research on how we can live a more successful, healthy, and wholehearted life, but, ultimately, it’s our faith in Jesus that would help us navigate through many uncertainties.
We can numb ourselves from experiences of pain and suffering from alcohol, drugs, clothes, jewelry, gadgets, sexual pleasures, travels, and vacations, but in the end, it’s our faith in God, our relationship with Jesus, that would grant us the graces of perseverance, endurance, and hope.
I’ve seen it in many Christians of various economic and educational backgrounds. I’ve witnessed it in people who suffer from separation from their loved ones because of their occupation. Their trust in God, their personal relationship with Jesus, inspires and encourages them to be faithful to their families and married life.
John M’s life is a concrete example. He earns a living by working on a cruise ship that takes him to different countries, but he is separated from his wife and children for eight months every year. He endures the hardship of not being with his family in order to provide for their material and educational needs. His love for them, his commitment to their welfare, and his Christian faith are what keep him going every day at work. As a Catholic, he does not have the privilege of attending Sunday Mass on the cruise ship, but the weekly bible study with some of his fellow workers sustains his Christian faith.
Like John M., may Jesus renew and reinvigorate our lives every day! May he be our Spirit and life. Amen!
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1991-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.
