3 levels of faith

21st Sunday in Ordinary time
Cycle B
John 6: 60-69
photo coutesy of timelytidbits

After 5 weeks of intensive orientation about Jesus as the Bread of Life, Jesus' living words fell on deaf ears.

How could people do this to the Lord? And how could we in today's generation still abandon Him? The Lord has the best intentions, but we are the ones' stifling his plans.

Let us cooperate with his grace. Then we shall see that the Lord is correct all along.

We need the gift of faith to realize the Lord's plan in our lives. The faith has three levels: first, faith enables us to do good and and avoid evil. Let's face the fact that life is a not a choice between good and evil. Rather, it is a choice between two goods - the good the comes from ourselves and the better one that comes from following God.

The second level of faith entails doing what pleases the Lord and not ourselves. Go to confession. Get married. Be active in church activities. Give to the poor.

The third level is the most matured way of manifesting the faith. It entails offering everything for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, denying ourselves of what we want, embracing the world of suffering and pain, being simple in life, teaching values to others, loving and not expecting to be loved, to give and not to receive, to suffer persecution and ridicule, and yes, to offer one's life totally for God.

All of us who are bound for heaven should enter into the third level of faith - to work only for the greater glory of God. This should be the fruit of Jesus' teachings. This is our response to the overwhelming mercy of God and to give life to others, most specially, the poor.

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