intense?
"They found Him too much for them." —Mark 6:3
Christ is much more intense than most Christians. Therefore, if we are to follow Christ, we must grow in intensity and change from lukewarm to hot (Rv 3:16). If we, like His hometown folk, find Jesus "too much" for us (Mk 6:3), we must repent of being "too little" for Him. Zeal for God's house consumed Jesus (Jn 2:17), so we should let it consume us (see Heb 12:29).
Jesus came to light a fire on the earth (Lk 12:49). We likewise must desire this fire to burn. When Jesus had the Last Supper, the first Mass, "He desired with great desire" (Lk 22:15, our transl.) to share this meal with the apostles. He wants us to also "desire with great desire" to receive Communion with Him and each other at Mass.
Instead of taking a minimalistic attitude toward the Christian life, we should abandon ourselves "into the hands of the living God" (Heb 10:31). Instead of not getting too concerned about sin, we must fight against it "to the point of shedding [our own] blood" (Heb 12:4). The Christian life is not a spectator sport but a race and a fight (see 2 Tm 4:7).
The world is full of intense athletes, CEOs, politicians, and pleasure-seekers. We should be intense like Jesus and for Jesus.
Prayer: Lord, increase the intensity of both my love for You and Your love in me.
Promise: "Do not disdain the discipline of the Lord." —Heb 12:5
Praise: Geoff sold his business and changed jobs specifically because he wanted to fulfill his desire to go to daily Mass.
Reference: (To become intense like Jesus, read the Bible daily. For encouragement, order any or all of these audio or video tapes: Ignorance of Scriptures is Ignorance of Christ, AV 82-1, V-82, How to Pray the Bible on audio AV 82-3 or on video V-82, How to Read the Bible on audio AV 46-3 or on video V-46, Principles of Bible Interpretation, audio AV 79-1, video V-79.)
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, August 11, 2008
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