January 31, 2025  // Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Hebrews 10:32-39

Reflect on the Word// 

It is a beautiful thing to grow older, to have experiences with the Lord stored up to remind you that He is faithful. With the gift of hindsight, I have seen that the moments of my deepest pain were highways to the Heart of God (when I let them be).

Still, when I am faced with a cross of any magnitude, I initially shrink from it. I’d rather life be easy. But suffering is a part of any life. I’m continuously learning that these challenges are better embraced because Jesus is there all along. My task is to keep going.

The author of Hebrews confirms this, inferring that we cannot be converted to Christ and then avoid difficulties or persecution. He gives us help through perseverance in a love for God that seeks union with Him in spite of and through all the suffering.  Unlike our self-reliant perseverance that runs on our own strength, it does not falter shortly after we have “been enlightened” (Hebrews 10:32). 

When the attacks assail, I am tempted to doubt, to draw back, to contemplate why I’m here rather than Who is with me. Yet we read, “Do not throw away your confidence” (Hebrews 10:35). Confidence is something, then, that I can take hold of, something I can possess. Thus, I can always rid myself of it—the choice is mine. But it is this confidence that propels me forward in perseverance because it is confidence in Jesus, not myself. I can awake each morning and renew my confidence in God, holding fast to my faith in love. 

“You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised” (Hebrews 10:36). Endurance, perseverance, is the necessary element in our pursuit of holiness, in our habits of prayer and receiving the Sacraments. It also encompasses our will to not give up. The Lord is encouraging us today through His Word to reflect upon where we see our endurance waning and where we are tempted to give up. When we ask, the Holy Spirit will show us where we have “thrown away” (see Hebrews 10:35) our confidence. Then, we get to joyfully hold fast to it once again. 

Relate to the Lord // In what area do you need to renew your confidence and trust in Him?