God Gracious

For very many Christians, belief in God is an intellectual assent to the Divinity of Jesus and His redemptive act and resurrection. Faith in God and specifically in Jesus, as God, is a more complex issue that involves trust in God and surrender to His will. It also requires that we cooperate with God’s grace in complying with His will for us and that the good deeds that we do evidence that faith [James 2: 17]. We are called to be beacons of light to those around us. We can radiate love, compassion, and kindness to all that we meet. This is what God wants for each of us.

As we travel our Christian pilgrimage in life, we may experience at certain times in our life the conditions described in the parable of the Sower. We ask the question: Where is our heart in terms of receiving the Word and acting on it? Is the soil of our heart rich and deep and able to receive the Word and be nourished by it or is the soil of our heart shallow, full of gravel and rock and unable to nourish the word [Mark: 1-8]. Spiritual development requires that we seek to develop a heart with rich soil and, for most of us, that is a process.

These are important questions for all of us as we contemplate the reckless love that God has for each of us and His call for us to be transformed.

Sherry Weddell in her book – “Forming intentional Disciples – the Path to knowing and following Jesus” has developed what she calls “Thresholds of Conversion [Evangelization]” to enable Christians to categorize themselves by determining where they themselves are in terms of conversion and then to apply these tools to help others to come to know Jesus and then to grow in their relationship with Jesus.

Thresholds:

1. Bridge of Trust: This describes a person who, because of a relationship with another, is inclined to look favorably on the Christian perspective. The bridge of trust can also be prompted by a thing such as a rosary which may have come into the hands of a person from a loved relative such as a grandparent.
2. Curiosity: A person influenced by a bridge of trust may [often on his or her own initiative] explore the Christian paradigm independently. However, as an evangelizer, our role is to help our friend, who is in a bridge of trust with us, to move into this threshold. A person in this threshold may know little about Jesus. We may fill the gap by discussing with them the Proclamation or Kerygma [Our first parents were disobedient and were cast out of paradise by God; God devised a plan to reach out to his people through the death and resurrection of His son, Jesus. Jesus came into the world [incarnation] and suffered and died for our sins and was raised from the dead. This happening enables any one of us through baptism to become children of God with the hope of eternal life] and/or we may refer them to a program such as Alpha, which will instruct them on the basics of the Christian faith.
3. Openness: [I believe! Help my Unbelief! Mark 9: 24]. Moving from curiosity into an openness that leads to Seeking and then to Discipleship is one of the most difficult transitions to make in terms of faith. Pope Benedict the XVI touches on this in his inaugural homily: “If we let Christ fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we then not risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? Many churched Catholics reside in this openness threshold fearful that their lives will be upended if they fully commit, even some of those who may be in leadership. They haven’t yet responded to the invitation of Jesus to drop their nets and to follow Him trusting in the Gospel promise that they can offer their bodies as a living sacrifice and allow a renewal of their minds to transform them [Romans 12: 1 and 2].
4. Seeking and Discipleship: Seeking has often been described as “Dating with a purpose”. It is always a precursor to Discipleship. The seeker centers on the possibility of a commitment to Jesus of Nazareth, as his Disciple. It is the exploration of an affirmative response to the invitation of Jesus to “Come Follow Me”.  The seeker is called to drop his or her nets. At some point, the seeker recognizes that following Jesus has personal implications in terms of time, commitment, priorities, money, and other aspects of life. He or she then has a choice to make.
5. Discipleship: Discipleship ischaracterized by a growing prayer life, the development of a personal relationship with Jesus and the need to surrender one’s life to God’s will every day. The Disciple understands the Great Commission and the need to be a beacon of light to those around him and her. Disciples reach out to share Jesus with those around them.

As Christians intent on building our relationship with Jesus we are ever mindful of Mathew 7: 13-14 [the narrow gate] and Psalm 119: 105 [ “Your word is a lamp for my feet – a light on my path”]. We are to be Holy [set apart and special] 1Peter: 16-17. We must allow the reckless love of Jesus to transform us so that we in turn can assist the Holy Spirit in transforming our community.

April 14^th, 2024.