I love the snark coming from Jesus in the Gospel today. First off, we see Nathanael doubting that anything good could possibly come from Nazareth. You can almost feel the uppity attitude through the text. Jesus, knowing what Nathanael was already thinking, went and told him things that he couldn’t possibly know to prove his power. Then when Nathanael praises him as the Son of God, Jesus says in so many words, “Really? Because of that? That was nothing, wait until you see what I can actually do.”

This is pretty funny to me, but it also illustrates an important point. How often do we believe in the power of Christ? We may believe he had power years ago or that he had divine strength when he walked on the earth. We may even say he has power in the lives of those around us. But do we believe in his power when it comes to our life?

I think all too often we leave our own difficult circumstances up to ourselves because we don’t want to bug God or don’t believe he can handle it. We go through this life struggling because we rely solely on our humanity. We try with all our might and begin to realize that there are some things we just cannot do, some things that leave us feeling completely helpless. In walks Jesus. Do we believe he can help?

St. Teresa of Avila I think said it best when she said, “We pay God a compliment by asking great things of him.” Do we ask big things? Or do we do the classic Catholic thing where we believe God can do all things but we immediately add the caveat, “if it is in his will.” Of course, this is true that God will not do anything against his will, but when I hear people say that it is often to say God probably won’t do it.

How about we try walking through life and believing in the power of God? No caveats, no doubt, no fear, just trust. Let’s pray for this grace and be bold in our prayer. From all of us here at Rodzinka Ministry, God Bless!