Reflect today on how deep and sustaining your faith is

Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and cure every disease and every illness. Matthew 10: 1

Jesus gives his apostles sacred authority. They have been able to drive out demons and cure the sick. They also won many converts to Christ with their preaching.

It is interesting to observe this extraordinary charisma that the Apostles had to act miraculously. It's interesting because we don't see this happening often today. However, in the early days of the Church, miracles seemed to be quite common. One reason for this is that Jesus made a real statement in the beginning to get things going. The miracles He did and those of His apostles were powerful signs of God's power and presence. These miracles helped the Apostles' preaching to be more credible and produced many converts. It seems that as the Church grew, miracles in such large numbers were not necessary for the authentication of the Word of God. The personal lives and testimony of believers were eventually enough to spread the gospel without the help of numerous miracles.

This is helpful in understanding why we see something similar in our lives of faith and conversion. Often, at the beginning of our journey of faith, we have many powerful experiences of God's presence. There may be deep feelings of spiritual consolation and a clear sense that God is with us. But over time, these feelings can begin to disappear and we can ask ourselves where they went or wonder if we have done something wrong. There is an important spiritual lesson here.

As our faith deepens, the spiritual consolations we can receive at the beginning can often vanish because God wants us to love and serve Him for a more purified faith and love. We should believe it and follow it not because it makes us feel good, but because it is right and right to love and serve it. This may be a difficult but essential lesson.

Reflect today on how deep and sustaining your faith is. Do you know and love God even when things are difficult and when it seems far away? Those moments, more than any other, are the moments when your personal faith and your conversion can become stronger.

Lord, help my faith in you and my love for you to be deep, stable and strong. Help me to rely on that faith more than any "miracle" or external feeling. Help me love you first of all out of pure love for you. Jesus I believe in you.