Rejoice! Again I say Rejoice

The words from St. Paul to those in Philippi to avoid the anxiety of the world’s attacks on them. “Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4: 7).

As the world around us revolves in an uncanny manner with so much turmoil and evil connotations knocking at the hearts of good people who trust in Christ and experience nothing but an evil mist that supposedly has come out of nowhere and is ready to envelop the faith we try to hold onto. Unfortunately, it is the political game that seems to put one person against his neighbor and if the crisis in Washington D.C. and other world capitals were following the dictates of God’s will we would not have to walk with the fear of a holocaust in our own time of history.

Of course, these incidents were predicted years ago through God’s prophets; but most of us shrugged off the thought of our becoming victims in the 20th and 21st centuries. It isn’t the bombs or fuel-loaded jetliners crashing into our structures September 11, 2001 that is the evil that confronts us daily. It is the sin of evil-minded men who seek the souls of believers in God and who adhere to the passion of Christ that he came to save our souls from eternal death.

Our disappointments in what the Constitution of the United States seems to promote for patriots and an assurance of peace as we like to call it that is essential. It is the faith that the Church teaches and Christ reiterated its probability if we would only believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul mentioned that we must rejoice in the Lord always. Let your moderation be known unto all men. It is these words that hold our attention so diligently that no outer dominion of evil intent should take away this hope of Christ’s promise of; “I shall be with you until the end of the age.” (Mt 28: 20).

One certain attribute of weakness is when any of us fall from even the most insignificant sin and the devil’s angel will almost guarantee our failure and insist that we turn away from God because we have offended him. Be certain that this is the one way we are likely to listen to this lie and go back to avoiding his mercy and constant forgiveness. This is the reason for rejoicing because his mercy is never-ending and he is always waiting for our asking to be forgiven.

It is these periods of seeking the understanding of why Christ chose to suffer and die; so we could be assured that it is for each little sin as well as every large sin we fall into and the grace of his passion is there to wipe away our mistakes. That is his love that says, “Rejoice, again I say rejoice.”

Ralph B. Hathaway