THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S LOVE
God is our Father. We are His children. He has given us
everything - our lives, our faith, our hope and our love and all its mystery.
It is quite right that He expects us to respond in love to Him and to reach out
in love to our brothers and sisters.
I find it hard to
imagine what life would be like without faith in God. I have heard of people
who maintain that they are quite content with the idea that all there is to
life is what appears on the surface. Life to them means being born, growing up,
searching for some drop of happiness within an ocean of sorrow, and death is
nothing more than falling asleep, never to awaken. They insist that there is no
God and some even protest that there is no need for one. Jesus states,
"Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more
will be demanded of the person entrusted with more" (Lk 12:48). Christian
living is a response to God's goodness, not His wrath.
More devotion and
dedication to a family is expected from its members than from outsiders. Those
in the family share a common life, a common affection, and a common home. The
old saying is that "blood is thicker than water". Friends may indeed
be very loving, but it is quite right to expect even greater love among members
of one's family. And, children especially should respond in great love to their
parents from whom they have received the gift of life. God is our Father. We
are His children. He has given us everything - our lives, our faith, our hope
and our love and all its mystery. It is quite right that He expects us to
respond in love to Him and to reach out in love to our brothers and sisters.
Today, the Church
remembers Saint John Paul II, Pope. He rose to the challenge and was one of the
most popular and longest-serving popes in modern times and one of the most
travelled world leaders in history. As part of his emphasis on the universal
call to holiness, he beatified and canonized more people than all of the popes
in the previous five-hundred years combined. Those present in St. Peter's
square at the time of his death were already requesting that he be canonized
quickly! Thus, he himself was canonized a mere nine years after his death! St.
Pope John Paul II was an inspiration to Catholics, all of whom are charged to
be stewards of God's grace and to be quick to bestow it.
I was reflecting on
the words in today's Gospel, "Much will be required of the person
entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted
with more" (ibid). Whatever we do in our lives - for our family, work,
ministry and play - we need to give it our all and work towards it diligently
every day. We truly need to listen to God and what He wants us to do and then
go with it all the way.
In the Responsorial
Psalm we acclaim, "You will draw water joyfully in the springs of
salvation" (Is 12:3). God indeed is our Savior! He will call us to our
reward saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy
of your Master" (Mt 25:21), and won't we be glad that we were faithful in
playing the hand God dealt to us? St. John Paul II, pray for us!