Think As God Does, Not As Man

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Jesus came to turn evil into good, to overcome death and to give life, to forgive us from our sins, and all of this is possible through the resurrection.  Even from a terrorist attack in Brussels Jesus can bring good from such destruction and violence.  Jesus came so that you and I can change the direction of our life.  Peter was able to last week when he boldly faced the Sanhedrin saying, ‘We must obey God, rather than men.’  Our focus in life ought to be on God, not on men and women.  And to do this we need to change our thinking, to do a 180 degree turn around, and to live differently.

The way one thinks drives you and points us in a certain direction; it encompasses all that you do and drives your emotions.  I don’t think there is anything wrong with my thinking; neither did the terrorists.  However, you do not know what you do not know.  You never tried to think in a different way.

The problem is that you think like men and women.  Peter said to Jesus when he announced his passion and death that he would never let this happen.  Jesus responded to Peter, get behind me Satan, you are thinking not as God does, but as men do.  You think wrongly about God and so you get him wrong and you get life wrong because you think wrongly.  And this can happen even if you have been in Church a long time.

To help us think correctly let us look at the life of St. Paul.  He grew up in Tarsus and was trained as a rabbi and studied under one of the greatest rabbis of the time, Gamaliel.  He was a brilliant man and knew the Law inside and out.  He was also very intense man and didn’t do things half way.  He was single minded and when he got into something he did not let go, a type A personality.  We heard this week, at weekday masses, that at the stoning of Stephen Saul stood by in agreement.  He went house to house arresting Christians and throwing them into jail.

Suddenly, on his way to Damascus he was breathing murderous thoughts and was struck down by a bright light and a voice that said, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ‘Who are you?’ asked Saul.  ‘I am Jesus, who you are persecuting.’  If you persecute a Christian you persecute Christ.  Paul gets up and is blinded.  This new condition reflects his intellectual and spiritual blindness.  He does no eat or drink for three days.  Ananias comes to see him and lays his hands on him, and something like scales fell from his eyes and he was able to see again.  From this point on he gave his life for the gospel, he traveled throughout the world preaching and doing all he could to build up the Church.  He was beaten, put on trail, imprisoned; he risked his life daily for the gospel, and at the end was beheaded.

He changed his view about the Law and believed that salvation came only from Jesus Christ, who was the Son of God.  So what does this mean for me? You think like men and you are called to think as God does.  Put on the mind of God;seek the things above. So how do you transform your mind?

Two suggestions: look at the brain food that you take in every day, and remember garbage in, garbage out.  So listen one or two days a week to Relevant Radio in the car, a podcast, or be silent. Get a book on tape, pray a rosary, try classical music.  At home: could be one day a week no social media and TV, or limit your time. Silence is very beautiful, and so is going to bed early and rising when the world is quiet.

And second, make some time each day to pray, listen to what the Good Shepherd wants to tell you, journal about your life or the situation that troubles you.  Lord, help me to see the light, to see you, to notice the important things of life, and to change my way of thinking.

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