A priest was scheduled to give a retreat one day. But he forgot to set his alarm clock and he overslept. In his haste to make up for lost time, he cut himself while shaving.
He found his suit all wrinkled and when he tried to iron it, he scorched it, because his iron was too hot. To make matters worse, when he got to his car, he noticed that he had a flat tire. By the time he finished changing the tire, he was an hour behind schedule.
He figured that if he hurried, he might only be a few minutes late for the first session. So he stepped on the gas and sped through town, only to be stopped by a policeman for speeding. The agitated priest said sharply, “Officer, go ahead and give me a ticket. Everything else has gone wrong for me today.”
The policeman, seeing the priest’s collar, quietly responded: “I used to have stressful days like yours before I became a Christian and developed a close relationship with Jesus every day.”
The priest hung his head in shame. He had forgotten to start his day with Jesus and to build on their relationship throughout the day. He allowed stress to unravel who he was as a Christian and to forget about Jesus in his life.
In today’s Gospel (Matt 16: 21-27), Jesus asks his disciples and he asks you and me: “Who do you say I am?” How we answer Jesus’ question makes all the difference in the world. Is Jesus a Dead Rabbi to us or a Living Savior to us?
For some of us, we know a lot about Jesus – we go to Church, listen to the homily, offer our prayers, read the Bible and learn from the Bible and from our religious education classes. Over the years, we learn a lot about Jesus. But knowing a lot ABOUT Jesus is not the same as KNOWING JESUS. He can still be a Dead Rabbi to us.
When you really know Jesus, your life is transformed. You see things differently. I’m sure the priest in the story knew a lot ABOUT Jesus, but all he thought about was the retreat and all that was going wrong with his day. Did he really KNOW Jesus and have Jesus in his life?
The policeman had a relationship with Jesus. I’m sure he had a lot of stressful days, but they didn’t get the best of him. He was committed to Jesus and his relationship with Jesus.
That is the KEY – getting connected and staying connected to Jesus. Jesus is the Savior.
JESUS PROVIDES FOR THOSE HE GUIDES…..
Jesus wants to provide for us, but in order for him to do so…..WE HAVE TO LET JESUS GUIDE US.
We need to PLUG IN again and again throughout our stressful days to the POWER SOURCE – JESUS. Every appliance, TV, computer, radio and lamp in our house needs to be plugged into a power source to work. SO DO YOU AND I!!
Simon Peter realized this and said: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Peter plugged his life into the Power Source – Jesus! This is why Jesus gave the Keys of the Kingdom to Peter.
Imagine the marvelous and wonderful things Jesus can and does do with you and me when we make the connection with him – the Power Source.
A well-known surgeon in a large hospital had a habit of insisting for a few minutes to be alone before he performed an operation. He had an outstanding reputation as a surgeon. One of the young doctors who worked with him wondered if there was a connection between his usual time alone and his great success as a surgeon.
When he asked the surgeon, he replied: “Yes, there’s a relationship before each operation, I ask God, the Great Physician to be with me, to guide my hands in their work. There were times when I didn’t know what to do next in surgery. Then came the power to go on, a power I knew came from God. I would not think of performing an operation without first asking God for help.”
The surgeon’s words quickly spread through the hospital and across the country. One day a father brought his very sick daughter to the hospital. He insisted that the only doctor he would allow to touch his daughter was THE ONE WHO WORKED WITH GOD.
How have YOU allowed Jesus TO GUIDE YOU, so that Jesus and God the Father could PROVIDE FOR YOU?
Thanks to the National Cancer Institute for the photo.
I WISH I COULD GIVE GOD A HUG AND THANK GOD FOR ALL THAT HE’S DONE FOR ME!!
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