How appropriate were the words consecrated, venera-ble, noble, and honorable in the time of Jesus. To be thought of as blessed and chosen by God, or the gods of the time, was a pinnacle of achievement and worthy of accolades. At the time of Jesus’ death, none of those words would have been applied to Him by those respon-sible for His death. But in light of the resurrection and in time, they all became descriptives of an early move-ment called “The Way,” that believed Jesus to be the chosen one, the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus became known as the savior, redeemer, and reconciler of a world that had lost its way.

The world of that time, and you may say the same for now, has seemingly lost its way. In that time, those de-scriptive words were the root meaning of the word “August,” one of the two months including July named after two Roman emperors, Augustus and Julius Caesar respectively. My suggestion, in small and large ways, is that we refocus our efforts on that which is most divine, most holy, most loving; namely the guidance of the holy spirit afforded us through the model of sacrificial love that Jesus offered to us all.

It seems at times like these that we are bombarded from all sides by public viewpoints, whether social, cultural or political, claiming that their argument is specially chosen and blessed to be the truth and nothing but the truth. The truth, we believe as Christians, starts first with Jesus, the consecrated one to be venerated with honor and nobility.

I wish to echo into today, a part of Jesus’ exchange with Pilate from the 18th chapter of gospel of John:

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

In closing, I wish we all take more time to listen (piety), to find “the way” (study), and bring alive more fully (action), the truth in Jesus that sets us free.

Dn Mick Humbert