Posted by The WORD in other words (2009) by Fr. Jerry Perocho, SVD – Catholic Trade Manila
Tuesday 2nd Week of Easter
There was once in my hometown a man known to be a theft, drug dependent and drunkard, who underwent religious conversion. He joined a Catholic charismatic group and in one of their gatherings, told them his past life. He shared that he and his gang mates were planning a grand holy week “operation pockets” to pilgrims in procession like in the stations of the cross, and the bisita iglesia. They can pickpocket during these times without being noticed because of the thick crowds.
But this plan turned out instead to be God’s plan. In the midst of the crowd he was drawn to Christ and made an oath to be his follower for life. He said that it was not easy for him to turn his back from his old ways. Some of his friends ridiculed him. One of them even said sarcastically, “Surely you have not begun to believe all that stuff about changing water into wine?” to which the former theft, “I can’t tell you whether Jesus turned water into wine at Cana, but I can tell you, he turned wine and drugs into food in my house.”
This is what Jesus meant by saying that we cannot see where wind comes from and we cannot see where it goes, but we can hear the sound it makes. We may not know all the mysteries connected with the Spirit but we know about the effect of the Spirit in our own lives, and in the life of a converted and reformed criminal. Walter Bagehot once said: “Strong beliefs win strong men and women and make them stronger.” How has the Spirit affected our life? How do we handle doubts and questions about our faith when they arise in our lives?
“You do not believe me when I tell you about the things of this world,” says Jesus to Nicodemus, “how will you ever believe me, then, when I tell you about the things of heaven?” Indeed, the mysterious of God is made manifest in the lives of ordinary persons who give themselves totally in the service of God like the first Christians, the numerous martyrs, the mother Theresa and saint Francis of Assisi, and many others like them. They are the things of this world showing us the things of heaven.
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