Living My Life for What?
May 30, 2017 – Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (18:9-18)
From Miletus Paul had the presbyters
of the Church at Ephesus summoned.
When they came to him, he addressed them,
“You know how I lived among you
the whole time from the day I first came to the province of Asia.
I served the Lord with all humility
and with the tears and trials that came to me
because of the plots of the Jews,
and I did not at all shrink from telling you
what was for your benefit,
or from teaching you in public or in your homes.
I earnestly bore witness for both Jews and Greeks
to repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus.
But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem.
What will happen to me there I do not know,
except that in one city after another
the Holy Spirit has been warning me
that imprisonment and hardships await me.
Yet I consider life of no importance to me,
if only I may finish my course
and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus,
to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace.
“But now I know that none of you
to whom I preached the kingdom during my travels
will ever see my face again.
And so I solemnly declare to you this day
that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you,
for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God.”
Reflect: I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course; and bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace. The Holy Spirit has spoken to the heart of Paul and he is well aware that his faithfulness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his willingness to preach God’s grace will lead to trials and death. But that same Holy Spirit gifts him with the conviction to be faithful to what God has called him to until the very end. Paul had his priorities clear. He knew why God made him and for what purpose he was called. For each of us, no matter what vocation we may be called to live, God is asking us to be disciples. We are called, given our state in life, to give witness without tiring to his lavish grace and mercy. What are our priorities? Through the sacraments we receive, we are gifted, fortified and sent forth to proclaim Jesus as Lord. We can accomplish that only if we commit ourselves to seeking Christ with all that we have. We may not be able to do that perfectly one hundred percent of the time; but our desire to live that commitment will give witness and bear fruit. Ultimately, we were made for one thing: to love, honor and serve God in this world and to desire to be with him forever in the Kingdom to come.
Questions: What is my priority in life? For what purpose do I expend my energy each day? Does my life give witness to the “Gospel of God’s grace”? In those areas where I fail, can I ask the Holy Spirit to re-create me and to strengthen me for the journey ahead?
Pray: Loving God, send your Holy Spirit to dwell within me and to make your ways my own priorities in life no matter the challenges I may face. I pray this in the powerful and perfect name of Jesus. Amen.
I am the first and the last, I was dead and am now alive. Behold, I am alive for ever and ever. Alleluia, alleluia!
