It All Begins with a Word!
If you sow a word, you will reap a thought. If you sow a thought, you will reap an act. If you sow an act, you will reap a habit. If you sow a habit, you will reap a character.
The character which you or I reap is determined by the Word of Truth revealed to us through the Son of God Himself. The Jews are shocked because our Lord directly tells them that if they do not listen to His Word then they are not of God. The premise is clear: if you are of God then you will listen to the words of God. If you are not of God then you will not listen to the words of God. How can anyone not understand? Let us follow the dialogue of the Jews and our Lord.
“If any man keep my word, he shall not see death forever.” The Word of God creates an eternal personality because every word that comes forth from the mouth of God eternalizes (my special word). This means that all that I study of the Word of God will abide in me and create a union with the One from Whom the Word came forth. This means that it establishes our sonship to the Father from Whom the Word made Flesh proceeds. How important it is to encourage the study of the words of Jesus offered to us in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The reaction of the Jew reveals the manner of the modernist today. What is it?
Condemnation by an ad hominem attack on the personality of Jesus in which the Jew states that Jesus is infested with a demon and that He is a Samaritan (names means Guardian). Jesus outright denies the demonic but will certainly accept the role of being a guardian of God’s Word and God’s people. The Jew will attack the Word of God which enables a man to never remain in death. Abraham died, the prophets died, so who are you? This attack stirs the answer which will be the real reason for their crucifixion of the Son of God.
Jesus is glorified by the Father Whom He knows intimately. The Jew has rejected the revelation of the Father in the Son and so they have become ones who give lip service alone. They know not the Father and hence they persecute the Son. The Son lives on an eternal plane while the Jew remains always on the temporal and material order. Hence they are prepared to stone the Lord because His Words and His Works crucify their consciences.
All things, all events and all people are determined by their reaction to the Word of God. If one loves Jesus, then that person will read and study the word of God daily. The more one fills oneself with the Word of God the more that person resembles our Lord. Today we see very few “other Christs” because there is more concern with entertainment and words that flatter than to love silence and study Words with substance. Daily we are becoming poorer and poorer in the knowledge of Jesus. Meditation upon the word is not appreciated. Television, cell phones, pride fill the air with more and more noise and crowd out the Word of God from entering the heart. The conclusion is sure: we are worldly and fail to let Christ dwell in us. Jesus is hiding and only the true searcher will discover His Presence through His eternal word to us. May we like our Lady hear the word of God and guard it.
In the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Fr. Voigt, S.D.B.
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