PROCLAIM THE LORD'S FAVOR
God is our
heavenly Father, and we are His children. Wow, we are very lucky. This is a
gift!
In
today's responsorial psalm we acclaim: "Forever I will sing the goodness
of the Lord. You are my Father, my God, the Rock, my Savior"' (Ps 89:27).
The loving power of our heavenly Father is our guarantee. His strength is our
boast. We have become a joyful people. God's glory and love retell the story of
His wonderful deeds. God's history is also our history, and His Holy Spirit is
our life. What a destiny we have on earth as people who are the expression of
God's divine will. God is our heavenly Father, and we are His children. Wow, we
are very lucky. This is a gift!
To
be ministers of the Gospel, to proclaim His favor on earth, is our
responsibility. By virtue of our own baptism, we are called in some way to
represent Christ Jesus, and through Him we represent God to those around us
every day. All this points to the responsibility we all have of doing this
fittingly and without reflecting poorly on the One whom we represent. Our time,
like every period in the history of the Church, has seen its share of scandals
and misery caused by those who should be serving and representing God our
Father. It is not meant for just a few people, but the Church at large, all
people, whether they are bishops, priests, deacons, religious, or part of the
laity, we are all called. In fact, we are called from our mother's womb! Jesus
stresses that the initiative in choosing representative is His, but He also
implicitly recognizes that those chosen must also agree to the task, and then
take it seriously. We are not meant to be puppets and slaves, but to be members
of God's family by doing His will.
Our
union with the whole Christ Jesus at every altar in our Churches is the source
of strength and help for us in the task of bringing Jesus Christ to the whole
world!
Percy
Ross wrote this line, "He who gives while he lives gets to know where it
goes." Proclaim the Lord's favor. Amen.