Monday in the Third Week of Easter

The kind of person one becomes is strongly influenced by what a person takes in. It depends on what he uses for nourishment. It depends on what he comes to believe. That affects what comes out of a person, his character.  And a test of that nourishment, of one’s beliefs, is its endurance. What endures is more likely to be real.

Some of us entered religious life shortly after we finished our formal education. We were looking for what endures. We were willing to make effort, to work for what endures, for what is ultimately real.

And how did we know that following Jesus Christ was enduring? We’re told today that “on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” To “set a seal” is to prove, confirm, and attest that something is authentic. The seal of God is truth. It proves that Jesus is what he claims to be. So how did we know that following Jesus was authentic and enduring?

We just knew. That was the seal. We just knew He was the truth. It was planted in our hearts. It’s called faith. Nourished by sacraments and holy reading it affected what came out of us. It changed what matters most and thus who we understood ourselves to be. That is Christian character. It is knowing and living in truth. As C.S. Lewis said, “To follow a vocation does not mean happiness, but once it has been heard there can be no happiness for those who do not follow.”