Strength of Faith
"I love you, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer." (Psalm 18:2-3a)
"I love you, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer." (Psalm 18:2-3a)
In our First Reading, Jeremiah was heard prophesying and then scourged {sounds familiar}. In our Responsorial Psalm, David sings to the Lord after the Lord rescued him for all his enemies and from the hand of Saul {which we do on Easter morning}. In our Gospel, Jesus rebukes the people, basically calling them out by saying: if I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I DO perform his works {so you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in Father} then what the heck?!
On various corners, markets and events, we encounter people holding a sign ready to proclaim their faith. No one is badgering them, more often people just walk by. However, as a CATHOLIC, how often do we feel we are being “scourged” by the very same people who want to speak and share their beliefs? Sometimes, we feel this even within our own family; those that have turned away or have little to no faith.
My husband shared an incident with me, the very same day I was writing this reflection. As he was loading the car after running errands, a young woman approached him, handed him a promo card, and began to ask him if he believed in God. “Yes,” he replied”. She proceeded to ask him “are you absolutely sure and believe you’ve BEEN saved?” “That’s the hope,” he replied. She proceeds further and asks if she could pray over him, which he allowed. After that, she says “Repeat after me.” Not comfortable allowing her to put words in his mouth, he responds, “allow me,” and he prayed over HER instead, asking God’s intervention over this sister before him and for blessings, concluding with the sign of the cross, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. She graciously accepted his prayer, wished each other a blessed day, and they both parted.
If faced with a stranger, do you proclaim your faith with strength by including them in a prayer of thanksgiving to our Lord, our rock, our fortress, our deliverer?
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of our faith and for providing opportunities to share it with others. Amen.
Judi Prinzivalli is a native New Yorker and has been a Tampa Bay resident since 1999. Judi attends Resurrection Catholic Church in Riverview, FL where she proudly serves as a member of the Parish Council, is a Lector, a Eucharistic Minister, and participates in the Sick and Homebound Ministry. Judi and her husband Landy Colón are graduates of the Lay Pastoral Ministry Institute program (www.dosp.org/lpmi). They have two married daughters who live out of state, and are caretakers of Judi’s mom, who lives close by. She is a small-business owner (www.adjudicake.com) where she proudly helps her customers celebrate, solve or settle all the little things in life .. with cake!”
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