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| Storm in Lahinch, West of Ireland |
In the book of the
Apocalypse (also known as Revelations) Saint John has a vision of a
being that terrifies him. He describes what he saw like this:
…“I
saw one like a Son of man…His head and his hair were white with the
whiteness of wool, like snow, his eyes like a burning flame, his feet
like burnished bronze…out of his mouth came a sharp sword, double
edged, and his face was like the sun shining with all its force”
(Rev 1:13-16).
John writes that he was so
afraid when he saw this being that he fell down as if dead, but then
the being in the vision touched him and said:
“Do not be afraid; it is
I, the First and the Last; I am the Living One, I was dead and look—I
am alive for ever and ever and I hold the keys of death and the
underworld” (Rev 1:17-18).
Who was this being? It was
of course Jesus, the one that John had lived with for three years.
Why would Jesus who was so close to John, appear to him in this
terrifying form? Probably to remind John and us, who He is; not just
the Jesus whose name we carelessly throw around as a swear word, but
Jesus who is Son of God, who will come to judge the living and the
dead. This is the one we believe in. When we die, we will all come
before him face to face and all people of every religion will
understand who He is and what He has done for us.
At this time we are seeing
great changes in the world around us. So much violence and hatred. It
is a very disturbing, even frightening time, but I think that we need
to remember who it is we believe in and who it is we put our trust
in. If we put our trust and hope in earthly power, we will be
disappointed, because people will let us down. If we rely too much on
the human side of our Church, we will be disappointed, because people
will let us down, but the one we trust and believe in, is Jesus
Christ, who is God. All things are in his power and all things are
completely subject to him.
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| Image from the Hubble telescope |
Sometimes you get the
impression, especially from Hollywood, that the battle between good
and evil, between God and Satan, is an equal one. It is not. There is
no question of evil being equal to God. All things are subject to God
and I think we need to be reminded of that.
As a priest I need to keep
reminding myself that Jesus is the one I worship as God and try to
serve. If I stay focused on the world around me, I find myself
getting depressed, or disillusioned. Also if I spend too much time
worrying about the state of the Church, I also find it hard to keep
going, but the Lord keeps reminding me that He is the one I need to
stay focused on, because He is the one in charge. He is master and
Lord of all things. What we have seen happening in the Church over
the last few years is the work of his power purifying his Church,
because He loves us and will not allow his people to continue with
poison festering under the skin. So God allows his Church to be
purified and renewed, which is what we are seeing happening. I have
no doubt that what is happening in the world is also a kind of
melt-down which God is allowing which will bring many people back to
him. Nothing like a crisis to focus the mind! There is nothing like
disasters from nature to focus the mind and be reminded of just how
small and mortal we are. These devastating fires, or hurricanes,
remind us of just how small we are and that can be a good thing.
Ultimately we rely completely on God for everything. Thankfully we
got away lightly here in south west Florida with hurricane Irma, but
think of the effect those fires must have on the people in
California. One moment they are alive and well, and within hours
everything they owned is in ashes.
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| California fires 2018 |
People who have a certain
amount of power like to show it off and make it felt. People who are
really powerful don’t seem to feel the need to show it off. But God
who is all-powerful, goes one step further and shows his power in
weakness. This is an extraordinary thing and something we find
very difficult to get our heads around.
The greatest demonstration
of God’s power was shown to us in the death of Jesus on the cross.
The Lord God did the exact opposite to what we would do and showed
his power by not doing anything; by appearing to be a failure.
So the people laughed at him and mocked him, not realising that what
they looked at was a demonstration of the power of God. This is why
we use the symbol of the cross and why it is so powerful. This is
also why Satan hates the symbol of the cross, because it is a symbol
of the extraordinary power of God and it is a reminder of the event
that broke the power of sin and death.
Writing to the Christians in Corinth, St. Paul says,
We
are preaching Christ crucified; to the Jews an obstacle that they
cannot get over, to the pagans, madness, but to those who have been
called, whether they are Jew or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and
the wisdom of God (1Cor 1:22).
What the power of Jesus on
the cross also shows us, is that in the bleakest and darkest
situations of pain and suffering, loneliness and abandonment, Christ
is there with us, in his strength. We are never alone no matter what
we are going through. God is with us.
Jesus Christ is our king,
the most powerful king in heaven and on earth. If we accept him as
our king, we also share in his power, but it is not a power as we
understand it and this is where many people find it hard to accept.
We want something that we can see and touch. We want to know that we
are important and that our King is the greatest of all. But God in
his wisdom knows that this isn’t the most important kind of power.
If Jesus is Lord and God, as
we believe He is, then we have nothing to be afraid of.
Every being in heaven, on
earth and under the earth,
shall bend the knee at the
name of Jesus;
and every tongue shall
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the
Father (Phil 2:10-11).
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