John 17:24 “Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world..” This episode talks about how sometimes we think we have taken wrong turns in life but maybe those turns were necessary to get us to where we needed to be. Also, I explain why Catholics pray to the Saints. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Perfect Path or Wrong Turn?
John 17:24 “Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world..”
“You loved me before the foundation of the world.” That is unbelievable to think about, ”Before the foundation of the world.” There are billions of people in the world and yet, you loved each one of us before the foundation of the world. I went to a talk one evening on the angels. At this talk the priest that was presenting said that all the guardian angels were created at the same time. God knew how many people He was going to create at the very beginning. That just amazes me. Also the fact that He knew each one of us, He personally designed each one of us. Before my parents were even born He knew that they would be married to each other and that they would have 11 children. That just boggles my mind.
I can’t imagine what it would be like to have this type of forethought. God brings planning ahead to a whole new level. Imagine if we just had a fraction this ability. Imagine if we knew where we were headed at the beginning of our life. Sometimes I pray for that . I pray for God to just show me the way and I will go there. And He does, only He does it one step at a time and I want to know the ending before I even start. I don’t think I am alone in this. I think many of us wish we knew where we were headed. We wish we didn’t have to take so many wrong turns to get to the place that God knows we are going to end up.
However, these are not necessarily wrong turns. What if these were necessary to help you become the person that you need to be to arrive at the place you are supposed to be? Each time you felt you were taking a wrong turn you learned from that experience. You developed or strengthened qualities. You became stronger, more persistent, more resilient. Or maybe you became more sympathetic, smarter, more loving. Whatever it is that you gained from that experience, it was preparing you for your perfect future.
Do you know the story of Moses? He was supposed to be killed at birth as the pharaoh of Egypt demanded all Hebrew males be murdered upon birth. His mother couldn’t do it, so she put him in a basket in the river where he would be found by the Pharaoh’s daughter. It worked and he spent the first 40 years of his life as a prince. Then one night he saw an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew almost to death and so he made sure no one was around and he killed the Egyptian. However, it was discovered and he escaped to the wilderness for 40 years. He spent the next 40 years as a Shepard in Median. It was not until after this 40 years that he saw the burning bush.
If you are not familiar with the ending of this story, it can be found in Acts 7:30-36 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’ “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.”
I am guessing that when Moses found out he was Hebrew that he felt like his life had taken a wrong turn. I am guessing when he left Egypt to escape his crime, he felt like he had taken a wrong turn. What about during that 40 years as a Shepard in Median? He went from a prince to a Shepard. I wonder if he felt like he had taken several wrong turns. However, it turns out that he was exactly where he needed to be when he needed to be there. God was using this time to prepare Moses for his calling. Do you think Moses would have been open to seeing that burning bush when he was a prince in Egypt? Do you think that Moses was ready to see that burning bush right after he killed someone? God has the perfect timing. He approached Moses when He knew Moses was ready to listen. He is doing the same with you. If you haven’t reached you calling yet, its because God is still preparing you, God’s not done yet.
Jesus was talking to His Father, our Lord in this verse. He was asking the Lord, our God, to keep an eye on us and let us follow Jesus to where he is going. Jesus was wishing that all those around Him could go with Him and could see the Glory of God. How amazing is it that we have Jesus interceding on our behalf. Have you even had anyone ask you to pray for them? They did this because they knew how important intercessory prayer is. Now, imagine that the person asking God is His only Son. God hears all of us, but I can imagine that it doesn’t hurt to have Jesus also asking for us.
Many people that are not Catholic, wonder why Catholic’s pray to the Saints. I have been asked, “Why not just go straight to God.” If you have ever wondered this let me explain. We do pray to God. We take our requests straight to God. We do not feel that we need to go through the Saints because we can’t go to God. We pray to the saints to intercede for us in the same way that any of us would go to our friend or pastor to ask for prayers. The Saints spent their lives dedicated to God. Now, they get to be in His presence. They get the honor of being in Heaven and spending time with the Lord. I think of it kind of like the way one siblings figure out which child they think is the favorite and then get them to ask the parents for something. For instance, my children will send one sibling to ask me for something and another sibling to ask their dad for something. They are trying to set the odds in their favor. I guess we are doing the same. God has shown these people favor when they were alive so it makes sense that we would assume He would show them favor now also.
Each saint has a particular cause that they are known for. For instance St. Peregrine was a man who had a lesion on his leg that was cancerous. The doctor was coming the next day to amputate the leg. St. Peregrine prayed for several hours the night before and then feel asleep and had a dream that Jesus touched His leg. When he awoke the leg was healed. So, now when people need healing from cancer they ask St. Peregrine to intercede on their behalf as he understands what they are asking for. It is not that we are praying for the Saints to heal us, or solve our problems, we are praying that they will go to the Lord and intercede on our behalf. If you are struggling with a persistent issue or disease and you would like extra prayers, do a quick search on the internet for the patron saint of whatever it is and I bet you will be surprised at the results. The saints did not die and go to heaven and now just sit around praising the Lord. I am sure they spend a lot of time praising the Lord, but they also still want to help. We just need to ask them.
Dear Heavenly Father I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. We thank you Jesus for wanting us all to be right there with you where you are. We also thank you for being here with us each and every day until we can get there. Lord, we thank you for designing each one of us personally. We thank you for all of our trials and all the experiences we have that will prepare us for the future you want us to have. Lord, we are sorry that we try to rush to our future when your timing is perfect. We thank you for all the beautiful examples of how to live life that you have given us through the Saints. Lord, we ask that you help us all become saints. Lord you are almighty and forgiving and we love you. We ask all of this in accordance with your word and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.