What a beautiful passage we have in the first reading, one of my favorites. We would do well to make it the subject of a prolonged meditation today.

St. Paul prays that we may be strengthened by the knowledge of Christ’s love and of his abiding in us. Everything that follows comes from this: the knowledge of Jesus Christ and of his love for us. It is the blast-off that sends the spacecraft to the universe and back. Said otherwise, the knowledge of Jesus and the love he has shown and still shows us is the power that enables the Christian to walk the path with energy and vitality.

The juxtaposition of this passage with the Gospel of the day is enlightening. Jesus promises the fire of suffering and division that will occur among his hearers because of his message. Can we walk the path of suffering with Him? (I didn’t promise you a bed of roses.) Challenges will come that we must face, and divisions where we least expect them. The fire of His love, as shown by His Passion and Cross, will call us to a journey of faith, speaking the truth with love, which is not easy.

So, Saint Paul explains that the strength of the inner life is the source of spiritual victory. Saint Peter Julian taught that Holy Communion feeds our inner spirit precisely when we feel weakest, so Jesus himself can be our guide and foundation: the way, the truth, and the life.

Let Us Pray:

Jesus, I pray, let me touch the reality of your presence within. Open my mind and heart to the Holy Spirit as I go forward through the desert of life together with you both in times of joy and of suffering.