Deacon Larry

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

Acts 8: 26-40; John 6: 44-51

Dc. Larry Brockman

“They shall all be taught by God”.  Such was Jesus’ quote from the prophets.  Such is Jesus affirmation that the prophets were right.  So, God is constantly teaching his people- all of them.  Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Muslims;  Hindus, Taoists, and Buddhists; even Cultists, Agnostics and Atheists.  Whatever people may characterize themselves as, and whether they like it or not, God is teaching them constantly.  It’s just that they may or may not know it; and they may or may not be responding to it, and even when they are inclined to be responsive, they may not respond in the proper way. 

Our Easter joy comes because we not only hear God calling us, but we believe and are seeking out the Word of God.  That’s why Jesus tells the disciples that:  “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him up on the last day”. 

I think the Ethiopian Eunuch is a great example of how this works.  Here is a man who travels far from home, and is praying sincerely to the Hebrew God, even reading and studying the scripture.  He has heard God calling him, he wants to believe, and he is seeking God’s word and its meaning.  And how does God answer Him?  Does God talk directly to him? Not as far as we can see.  Rather, He sends a man- Philip, to unravel the scripture for him, and convert him to Christianity. 

How does all this apply to us?  Well, you and I are being sent out on a Mission too, just like Phillip.  Now that we have experienced the Easter joy, the Risen Christ, and the promise of everlasting life, we need to share our faith with others.   We may not have an angel of the Lord tell us where to go or what to do like Philip did, but we do have a God that puts us in the exact place he wants us at the just the right time for somebody, sometime, and somehow. so that the Word of God will come alive for that somebody.   It could be in the grocery store- someone who strikes up a conversation and needs help; it could be at work or at school; it might even be just something we do that others see even when we are unaware of it.  That’s how God works.  And that’s how we can evangelize.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 at 12:40 pm and is filed under Holy Family Weekday Homilies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.