Zeal for the Lord

“A man cannot be said to be in earnest in religion, till he magnifies his God and Savior; till he so far consecrates and exalts the thought of him in his heart, as an object of praise, and adoration, and rejoicing, as to be pained and grieved at dishonor shown to him, and eager to avenge him. A religious temper is one of loyalty towards God. To be loyal is not merely to obey; but to obey with promptitude, energy, dutifulness, disinterested devotion, disregard of consequences. And such is zeal, except that it is ever attended with that reverential feeling which is due from a creature and a sinner towards his Maker, and toward him alone.”  ~ Blessed John Henry Newman

I read these words in Magnificat yesterday which was the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude. These men had such zeal for Christ. They dedicated themselves completely to Christ and through their preaching others came to know Jesus, and the Church continued to spread. So much is required of us as disciples; it is not enough to have a one on one relationship with God. Jesus told us, “This is how they will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) We do need to spend time with our Lord every day, intimately, so that he can refresh our souls but then we have to take that love we receive to others. We need to glorify God through our actions of love so that others will be drawn to Him, not us.

We should be grieved when dishonor is shown to him or his beloved sons and daughters. Jesus tells his disciples, including us, “Many false prophets will arise and deceive many; and because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:11-13) There are so many things that are distractions in this world. So many assaults to the dignity of human beings under the guise of “equality” or “freedom” such as abortion, same sex marriages, premarital sex, and the list goes on and on. More than ever the world needs disciples with a zeal and love for our Lord that is undeniable to others. When the Lord calls us to do something we need to boldly say, Here I am Lord! And our response needs to be prompt and without fear. We need to trust that God will equip us to complete the task that he is asking of us.