The Scrutinizing Power of the Word
October 9, 2024
Fr. John Riccardo
Brothers and sisters: Indeed the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
(Hebrews 4:12-13)
We in ACTS XXIX were recently out in Los Angeles on mission for the better part of a week. It was an amazingly graced time to be with various leaders in the Archdiocese and to witness God’s Spirit mightily at work. We left once again encouraged by the great things the Lord is doing in the Church, things that rarely if ever make the news.
One of the many highlights of our time there was a visit to the Cathedral. The inside of the Cathedral is covered with large tapestries of various saints from every era of the Church, young and old, men and women. Apparently, the models for the faces and hands of the saints were people living in the area. Some of the tapestries had unidentified men and women, of all ages, on them as well, reminding us that we are all called to be saints, that is, men and women who radically sell out for God and give Him permission to do in and through us whatever He desires to do.
Our experience in the Cathedral was unexpectedly overwhelming. The “veil” between us and the saints seemed paper thin, and we felt as though the various heroes on the tapestries were “there”, cheering us on, encouraging us in our day to do as they did in theirs, reminding us that they were once as we are now and that we can become like they are now.
The saints allowed themselves, in keeping with the words of Hebrews this coming Sunday, to be scrutinized by the Word of God — both Jesus, the Word made flesh, and the Scriptures. That point is worth stressing. In other words, they didn’t scrutinize the word of God, thinking themselves superior to Him; they let Him scrutinize them. Like Mary, the greatest of all the saints, they trusted God, they knew He was good, and that He had created and then rescued this world and all of us out of His unfathomable love.
The saints knew that God had entrusted to them a mission in this life, a mission to both evangelize and go about the work of recreation and transformation of this world that He loves until Jesus returns and makes all things new. And while all the saints wrestled with sin (save our Lady), they eventually surrendered to His grace and became the true heroes of our race.
One of the primary ways that surrender happened was by being intentional each day in wasting time with the Lord in prayer, pondering His Word and being reminded of His saving action in history. This also served as a means for the Lord to expose any and all attitudes, thoughts, and actions in their hearts that did not belong.
We are in dire need of saints today in our world, our country, our parishes, our schools, our neighborhoods, our families, and our marriages.
As we go about our week, let us be ever more intentional about spending time in prayer each day. Let us be especially eager to soak in Scripture, asking the Lord to do in us what He did in the saints of old, exposing anything and everything that is hindering us from becoming truly great, in order that we might do in our day and age what God is inviting us to do, even as they did in their day and age.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
October 2024
For the clergy and lay leaders coming from Ireland, Archdiocese of Chicago, Oklahoma City, Detroit, Los Angeles, Saskatoon, Canada, Sankt Polen, Austria, that they would catch a vision for renewal and be mobilized for mission.
For our benefactors and prayer partners, that the Lord would richly bless them for the manner in which they make the mission of ACTS XXIX possible.