Daily Reflection _ wednesday of 29th week OT


THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S LOVE
I find it hard to imagine what life would be like without faith in God. I have heard of people who maintain the belief 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 own family. Children, especially, should respond in great love to their parents from whom they have received the gift of life. Well, maybe not during the teenage years!
God is our Father. We are His children. He has given us everything - our lives, our faith, our hope, and our love with 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 was reflecting on the Gospel words about much being given and much being required, and more will be asked to whom more has been entrusted. Whatever we do in our lives, whether it is done for our family, work, ministry or play, we need to give it our all and strive toward it diligently and daily. We truly need to listen to God and what He wants us to do and then go with it all the way. Everything we do for our family, our neighbor and ourselves, we should do in loving service as Jesus taught us.
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, My good and faithful servant...Come, share your Master's joy" (Mt 25:21). And won't we be glad that we were faithful in playing the hand God dealt to us!