WORD MADE FLESH

JOHN CONNELLY

Sunday – May 29, 2016
Genesis 14.18-20 | Psalm 110 | 1 Corinthians 11.23-26 | Luke 9.11-17

I have been thinking lately about what it means to be powerless. If a car is powerless, it cannot move. If the power goes out in my house, I cannot use my appliances.

We don't like the idea of not having any power. Money gives us personal power. Our media devices give us power.

But Jesus says something amazing in the Gospel of John: "Without me, you can do nothing" (15.5). We should let that soak into the core of our being.

Without Jesus, we have no real spiritual power. No power to love. No power to forgive. No power to be the people we were created to be.

'We have no more than five loaves and two fishes.' Luke 9.13

What do you and I do when we have a problem?

When events trigger our worst character traits or other negative feelings, most of us try harder. We try harder to be better.

But often we forget that without Jesus we can do nothing; we are powerless and cannot ever be the people we intend. Personally, it humbles me not to be powerful enough to change myself.

This week's Gospel says, "Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured" (Luke 9.11).

Everyone of us needs to understand that we can only live in the kingdom of God by relying on Jesus. We can only be cured of our spiritual sickness and pain by trusting in him.

It is Jesus living in you and me who cures us, renews us and empowers us to live the Gospel.

So we come to him in Holy Communion and admit our need - our need to trust him breath by breath, moment by moment for the rest of our lives. We can rest in Jesus when we admit with humility how often we live apart from him.

A saint is simply a person deeply in touch with their own powerlessness while relying on Jesus and the power of his limitless love.

Imagine a Church that relies totally on the power of Jesus and his Holy Spirit. Imagine a Church humble enough to admit its total need for mercy. This is our call.

Jesus spoke the following words to St. Faustina which she recorded in her diary: "I desire trust from my creatures. Encourage souls to place great trust in my fathomless mercy.

"Let the weak, sinful soul have no fear to approach me, for even if it had more sins than there are grains of sand in the world, all would be drowned in the uimmeasurable depths of my mercy."

Our powerlessness is not meant to discourage us. It is meant to drive us to a deeper sense of our ongoing need to trust in Jesus.

Recently, I told my three-year-old son to jump from the back of a large chair on which he was perched in a rather unsteady way. Without hesitation, he jumped with total abandonment and joy into my arms.

His unbridled enthusiasm was an inspiration. He had no doubt that I would catch him.

Jesus teach us to trust you without fear. We are powerless without you.

(john@oursacredmission.com)