Superstitiosiores | Religious

"You are very religious in all things" - Acts 17:22 (WEB).

There are many people in the world. Many of them do not know Jesus. Sometimes we do have friends who are not Christians. They also look for truth and answers to their questions: Why is there war? Why do people suffer? Why does God allow bad things to happen?

For us Christians, it is much easier to find the answers because we read the Scriptures. There are words of God and we understand more thanks to the Divine Word. In the times of Paul the Apostle the situation was very similar. Paul as a new believer was aware of these problems of humanity. He tried his best to respond with divine grace. First of all, he did appreciate his interlocutors. This is a good lesson for us. We also need to focus on good things in other people and the world. 

As Christians, we do know that God lives in us. He gives us "life and breath and everything" (v.25). He created the beautiful nature around us and "fixed the ordered seasons" (v. 26). For that reason, each person is capable of searching for God and finding him. 

Moreover, the Holy Spirit abides in the human soul. So "we live and move and have our being" (v. 28). Everyone too is his offspring and the child of God (v. 29). This knowledge gives us relief and peace in every circumstance. We can accept the Good News or neglect it. We also can believe in the truth of Jesus or ignore it. The choice belongs to each of us. Let us join Jesus Christ and his followers. In this way, we will become messengers as Paul the Apostle was. 

Reflection on Acts 17:16-34 by Józef Trzebuniak.

(Listen to the Podcast here)

Nolite peccare | Stop sinning

"Be sensible and stop sinning" - 1 Cor 15:34.

Photo by Zhuwei061973 on Pixabay

Apostle Paul reminds us about eternal life in the heavenly kingdom. Since we involve ourselves in our daily duties so much. We pay a lot for health, well-being, furniture, clothes, jewelry, etc. When we go to the shopping center, we see hundreds of people looking for promotions. Of course, it is not bad to live a pleasant life and enjoy it,  but we cannot forget our future life and prepare ourselves for it.

Because of the pandemic, we lost so many friends and this fact made us sad. So, we should appreciate the gift of life from God. We live today and tomorrow we can die. Are we ready for that? As baptized people, we need to live as Christ lived. We should be brave and know how to face death (v. 31). We can learn from the example of Paul who was with Christ Jesus all the time. He was not afraid even when he stayed at the risk of death. With the Lord, he was capable of fighting beasts. These beasts were temptations, desires, weaknesses, pleasures, dangers, sickness, etc.

Apostle Paul lived a sensible life as a soldier of Christ. He was not a fool when he changed his way of life and followed Jesus. He stopped sinning and said goodbye to bad friends (v. 33). As a follower of Christ, he felt embarrassed that some people still were far from God (v. 34). He did his best and offered life for the salvation of human souls. Let us do the same. 

Reflection on 1 Corinthians 15:29-35 by Fr. Józef Trzebuniak SVD.

(Listen to the Podcast here)