My Lord
May 15, 2024
Fr. John Riccardo
Brothers and sisters: No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.
As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13
In Paul’s 1st Letter to the little Christian Church in Thessalonica, he writes to encourage them that their reception of the gospel has become known in the wider communities around them. As he does so, he mentions one thing in particular that at first probably sounds irrelevant to our modern ears. After commending them for their faith, he says that word has gotten out about “how [they] turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thes 1:9). Idols? What in the world do idols have to do with us moderns? I’ve never seen a shrine to Zeus or Aphrodite in any of the homes that I’ve visited. And yet…
Alexis de Tocqueville described idolatry as taking some incomplete joy of this world and building your entire life on it. Hmmm. Suddenly, idols aren’t as ancient and irrelevant as might first appear. The late Timothy Keller, in his book Counterfeit Gods, gave a threefold definition of idols that shatters all illusions that such things are residues from an ancient time that do not apply to us. Idols are: 1) anything more important to us than God; 2) anything that absorbs our hearts and imaginations more than God; 3) anything so important to us that should we lose it our lives would hardly feel worth living. Is there anyone not convicted as we read this?
What are some of these incomplete joys that we attempt to build our lives on? What might some common idols that are more important to us than God, or absorb our hearts and imaginations more than God?
Money. Sex. Sports. Pleasure. Reputation. Self-reliance. Children. Health. Our bodies. Career. (Did I mention sports?) Politics. And many more besides. Note that these are all good things. They can, however, be misused or loved in such a way that they become more important to us than the One who created all of these things and gave us the grace to be able to enjoy them. And when that’s the case, we’re not truly free and we “bow down” to something that is not God.
What does this have to do with our 2nd Reading? Everything. Paul tells us, or rather God tells us through Paul, that none of us can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling among us. What does it mean to say “Jesus is Lord”? It means, “He is my Lord – not money, not pleasure, not my reputation, not my health, not even my children.” It means He reigns in my life. It means my allegiance is pledged to Him. It means He is more important to me than anything else. It means I put all I am and have at His disposal. This turning from idols to the living God happens when the Spirit convinces me of who Jesus is and what He has done for me, namely, He has defeated Death, Sin and Satan. Therefore, it is appropriate, right, just, rational, and reasonable to worship Him above all else.
Now, to be sure, we all struggle – and not just from time to time but daily, at least in my case. But struggle is good. It’s how we grow. As we progress in these “novena days” awaiting the celebration of Pentecost, let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was there in the upper room that real day when the Spirit descended in power upon those gathered, that the Spirit will fall afresh on us; reveal to us anew what her Son accomplished for us; expose those things that we put before Him; and enable us to say with ever more sincerity: Jesus is my Lord.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
May 2024
For three missions in Vancouver, BC:
Rescue LIVE Revival
Presbyterate Retreat
Equipping Day for ordained and lay.
For the presbyterate retreat in the Diocese of Lincoln, NE.
For all bishops and priests throughout our country.
For all of our benefactors and prayer partners.
For protection upon Fr. John, our team, and all our families.