13TH SUNDAY IN OT REFLECTION 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Challenges come to us in myriads of ways and often leave us incapacitated, with little possibility of success. Instinctively, under such circumstances, we seek the help of family members, relatives, friends, the community, or anyone we believe has the capacity and means to offer the support and the presence we need.

In the face of some challenges, we seek divine support through prayer, knowing God to be a sure source of strength and hope. Trusting in God comes from a deep feeling of confidence that the challenges of life cannot defeat or broken you, but rather that you will emerge from them victorious. The lives of Peter and Paul revealed that trusting in God, especially in times of adversity, brings victory and glory, even if not on the world’s terms.

Peter was deeply dedicated to fishing as an occupation. After toiling all night without success, he still obeys Jesus’ command to lower his net into the deep, revealing by his humility and openness to the new possibilities. After delivering an eloquent Pentecost sermon on the fulfillment of God’s plan in the world through Jesus Christ, defending his belief in Jesus Christ’s role in God’s plan before the religious and political leaders. For this reason, he became the target of persecution and imprisonment, as we read in Acts today.

After his miraculous escape from Herod’s murderous intention, St. Peter attests to the handiwork of God, saying: “now I know for certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod.” Similarly, Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus changed his life, filling him with conviction about God’s presence in the world through Jesus. Thereafter, he dedicated his life to preaching about the reconciling presence of God in the world through the death of Christ. He traversed the Roman empire drawing men and women, rich and poor, slave and free, Jew and Greek into the experience of God’s gratuitous gift of divine grace through Christ (Gal 3:28).

He recounts his experiences of persecution, imprisonment, and threats from both Greeks and Jews, speaking of his life as a sacrifice, in an apparent comparison with the sacrificial life of Christ. But unlike Christ, he speaks about competing well in the race to the finished lane, which buttresses his understanding of salvation as a reward. He also identifies his reward as a crown of glory because he has been justly judged by the Lord.

Like Peter, Paul experienced the presence and providential care of God in moments of persecution. He recounts his miraculous escape from the “lion’s mouth” (a veiled allusion to the Roman imperial leadership) and from every evil threat to his ministry. Confidently, amid adversity, Paul consoles himself with the hope of sharing in the kingdom of God. The lives of Peter and Paul reveal the truth that the reward of a crown is greater than the trials of the cross, because God is by our side. Hence the saying: if God is for us, nothing can be against us. These stories remind us that the children of God are victors, they are conquerors; they triumph over uncertainties because God’s grace reigns in their lives.

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