Dear friends,

The Light of Hope

We hear twice in today’s readings of "land overshadowed by death." It is in that land that Jesus announces that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand". Darkness and death do not' thwart Jesus' ministry; rather, they are the reason for it.

Why did Peter and Andrew, James and John follow Jesus? These four fishermen had no prior knowledge of Jesus. While they were at work in Capernaum one day, Jesus came along and said, "Follow me," and they did. Answering Jesus' call meant leaving behind their families and businesses for very uncertain futures. Why did they do it?

Most probably, Jesus was a charismatic personality with a strong personal attractiveness and persuasiveness.

Today's reading suggests that the first dis­ciples followed Jesus out of hope.

"Repent, for the king­dom of heaven is at hand” Jesus preached and the first dis­ciples looked forward to experiencing and being part of that glorious future king­dom.

It impresses me the promptness of their answer and the enthusiasm typical of the beginners.

I don’ know is you have noticed how everything starts around a lake as from today’s reading, and it will end round a like as from the account of John in the last chapter of his Gospel.

All the three years of Jesus’ public ministry are encapsulated between events which happened on this lake. At the beginning there was freshness and enthusiasm, and the end there is sadness and disappointment until the last meeting with the Risen Christ.

“We hoped that he was going to save Israel, but three days have passed..” It was not easy for them, as it is not easy with us to accept Jesus, His claims, His ways of doing things. They had to learn that with God one has to wrestle.

To pray is to wrestle. Prayer isn't meant to be a simple acquiescence to God's will. It's meant to be an acquiescence, yes, but a mature ac­quiescence.

We honor neither ourselves nor the Scriptures when we make things too simple. Human will doesn't bend easily, nor should it, and the heart has complexities that need to be respected. God, who built us, understands this and He is up to the task of wrestling with us and our resistance.

The stronger the struggle, the richer is the final harmony. Taxi in Freetown with slogans, they condense the experiences of life. On one of them I read in Krio: “To be na man, not to easy, oh!” Which translates:” It is not easy to be a man!”. In our case of believers we could render it with: “To be a Christian as never been easy.”  Jesus never said it would be, as matter of facts he warned us: ”Pass through the narrow gate” and “The Kingdom of God suffers violence”

Like Jacob we have to fight with God in the darkness of the night. We shall receive a new name:” Israel” the one who fought against God and men and won. I pray that God will be “the winner” in the wrestling combat of my life, because “in His will is our peace to be found” as St. Francis of Assisi said