Message from your Priest
My Dear Church Family,
Have you ever wondered how we get to know God? What do we really need to do for that? You hear people saying all the time, “Have you got Jesus? I walk with Jesus. Is Jesus present in your life? What would Jesus do, etc.?” But the question is, where do all these things come from? How can one make Jesus present in his/her life? How did they discover Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
Let’s start from the beginning. In Genesis chapter 1, verse 27, we read: "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them.” Therefore, when God created them, God revealed to them as their Creator and established rules for them to live in the Garden of Eden in Paradise!
The next verse reads: “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28. After their fall, God did not abandon them, but sent many people to talk to them, Prophets, righteous people to bring them to the knowledge of the truth! God, then sent His beloved Son our Lord Jesus Christ, to bring to us, human beings, the Great gift of His salvation, according to the Gospel of Saint John chapter 3, verse 16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Jesus Christ chose His Apostles and Disciples; He established His Church and trained them to be “fishers of men!” “Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4;19). He converted Saul from Tarsus of Cilicia and made him Saint Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles.
In this Sunday’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus converted Zacchaeus, the tax collector, into one of His followers! He converted you and me and I’m sure that each one of us, has our own stories, about how God revealed Himself to us and made us to receive Him in our hearts and souls, to be willing to follow Him for the rest of our lives!
May our hearts and souls be always connected with God, the one God that we always worship, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, always now and forever and unto the ages of ages, AMEN!
With all my love in Jesus Christ, Our Lord, and Savior, I remain, prayerfully yours, His humble servant,
+Fr. Catalin