The Faith of Our Fathers

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Years ago I bought The Faith of the Early Fathers by William A. Jurgens.  As we have been redecorating and moving books around, I rediscovered it this week.

It is a big collection of writings of the early Fathers (I only have the first of three volumes) and I suspect many of us have never read them, nor likely even knew they existed.

As I started to read them, it was hard to miss the fact that they are loaded with scripture references.  So much so, in fact, that the voice of Christ begins to emerge.

For instance, as Clement was writing to the people of Corinth, maybe only 70 years after the death of Jesus, he talks about Peter and Paul and what they went through as if it were very fresh in his mind.

He talks about the resurrection and how Jesus was the first raised from the dead, and likewise, how God has given us daily reminders of the resurrection in nature--night/day, dying seeds springing to life, etc.

It is no wonder that the Good News of Jesus spread.  Not far removed from Christ, the apostles and disciples were talking about it/him to everyone.  If a community needed help solving a problem, they looked to Christ for answers.  You can learn a lot about the ministry of Jesus and the expected behaviors of his followers, as you listen to the tons of examples those early Fathers used from the life of Jesus and his teachings.

Now, let's turn to us today.  

We could argue that it is because we are so far removed from the time of Christ, that his words are not always on our lips--but that would just be wrong.

We are as close to Christ as ever!  In Mass, we hear God's Word spoken to us; we consume the very body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ in the Eucharist.  We live in a world desperately in need of our faithful witness to him through our knowledge of the Kerygma (look up Kerygma online to learn more about it!)

You see, unlike the Fathers I am reading, it is clear that many of us do not know Jesus on a personal level; we are not so familiar with him that he is our first and primary reference point.  We are not steeped in his actions and teachings.  We do not recognize him as our guide, and more importantly, turn to him as our savior.

It's true.  Perhaps in our time, the gospel would be more widely spread, if we were more in tune to Christ.  Perhaps it would be a worthy goal to set aside time in our day to learn scripture so that it rolls easily off our lips.

Take some time today to devote to this endeavor.  Let go of something you normally do and replace it by praying with the bible.  And if you don't know how to do that, take some time to learn!

Have a blessed day in God's Word.

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com







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