“The Word of God is effective and shaper than any two-edged sword.”
I truly came to believe that when I let the spirit of God move my imagination into the stories in the gospel, it worked. Fr. Eric guided me to reflect on my call, suggesting to read the first disciples in John 1. I have found my older brother was Andrew who led Peter to Jesus as he introduced the faith to me. It was graceful and beautiful moments to see God’s grace had worked with my desire to find a good way to help others from the beginning.
One day, I sat before the icon of Jesus and reflected how he suffered for us. I read the Prophet Isaiah 53 “…by his stripes we were healed…” It was so clear that Jesus took the cross for the sake of us which seemed a theological statement to me for a long time. But suddenly it struck me to understand the way God saved us is much different than we thought. Jesus didn’t take down the sinners on the cross, rather, he put himself on the cross to be with them. It is the way of God’s love in the name of Emmanuel, literally, “God with Us.” So I was encouraged to find God who has been always in my life in time of good and bad and that realization comforted me.
“The cross would mean nothing if it stands by itself. It brings about salvation only if it stands with others. That is why Jesus wanted to be crucified between the crosses.” Fr. Eric said.