In view of the understanding of our part in God's scheme, to know that we were created in God's image makes even more sense. Like him, God made us know what love means. Since God is love, we should be able to understand him. Hopefully, we will all fall in love with him as is his will.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Why God Created Us
Last night I was thinking about God's love, then the Holy Spirit made me see something new (and big for me).
If God had not created us, then nothing else he had created ~ animals, plants, rocks, stars... ~ would ever know about his love. Therefore, God created us so that he could be made known to be love. This means that we are so very special, being indispensable partners to him in his intention. With this overwhelming realization, we should never see ourselves quite the same again. The Church is absolutely right in teaching that God created us to know and love him.
Rejoice If God Calls You
In today's Gospel from Matthew 4, Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow him to become fishers of men and they immediately obeyed. If you know that God has called you too, then you have a great cause for rejoicing. What a special gift it is that he has picked you out among the multitude and called you by your name to follow him personally!!!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
God Knows Our Heart
I got called away this morning, so I wasn't able to go to Mass and there didn't seem to be any thoughts to share. Then I caught part of the EWTN program Reasons for Our Hope, hosted by Rosalind Moss. If you haven't read about Rosalind, you must find her conversion story and read it, as she is so full of love for Christ and inspiring. She was a Jew, found Christ, became a evangelical first, and then finally a Catholic. It must be extra sweet for her to realize that Christ, one of her own, was actually the Messiah her people had been waiting for. So she became a fulfilled Jew, not a convert like the Gentiles.
On this show I caught her saying "God knows our heart" (when she's talking about how the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah to tell him that his wife Elizabeth would bear him a son and Zechariah disbelieved). That is an extra sweet statement to me. We all like to be understood. Here the Lord, almighty and loving, knows everything that's going on in our heart, mind, and soul ~ how good and comforting it is! One more thing to rejoice about.
Friday, January 21, 2011
On Living Secretly
The last post dealt with two opposites, one bad and one good. Here are two more:
(1) You live secretly in yourself, not letting God or anyone else know about it.
(2) You live secretly in God, not letting yourself or anyone else know about it.
On Escaping from God
This morning the word "escape" came into my mind after I got up. I saw that so many of us in this world try to escape from God by ignoring his presence or pretending that he's not there. At Mass today, the Memorial of St. Agnes, the Entrance we read was "Here is a wise and faithful virgin who went with lighted lamp to meet her Lord." This is just the opposite of escaping from God. The antonym of "wise" is, of course, "foolish." Those who live as if God does not exist are indeed fools.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
On Martyrdom
Today St. Fabian and St. Sebastian share the same Memorial (optional) day; both suffered martyrdom. We may not suffer physical death because of our faith, but we can be martyrs too in many other ways. St. Therese of Lisieux is a perfect example. Her "little way" calls for doing everything faithfully for the glory of God. To put your own will to death is then a form of martyrdom, not less valued by God. Anyway, the important thing is to do God's will and not be concerned about what form martyrdom takes.
"Touch and Be Healed"
In today's Gospel reading from Mark 3, those from the crowd who had diseases pressed upon Jesus to touch him, since he had cured many. "Touch (with faith) and be healed" is what I hear. Receiving the Blessed Sacrament is more than just touching him, so don't pass up this golden opportunity to ask the Lord to heal whatever needs to be healed in you.
Avoid Being Self-Centered
The other day I had a chance to share some of my spiritual thoughts with a group of people and it went over fine. Then I thought of more thoughts and shared them too. You see, that was the moment I took my eyes off the Lord and became self-centered. The result was that overall it looked like I was wandering from one topic to another. To be blunt about it, I messed up.
The lesson is that as long as we stay with the Lord, we should do fine; but if we decide to do our own thing, self-centeredness takes over. It's that simple. I might add that the difference is between glorifying God and serving ourselves. Learn to distinguish the two from each other.
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