Daily reflection _ never limit God's ways

NEVER LIMIT GOD'S WAYS
We are called during this Easter time to be Christ's presence in a world that hungers and thirsts for compassion and love, forgiveness and peace, and the spiritual joy that leads others to life.
Deacon John Ruscheinsky
God can deal with us in any way He chooses. God is all-powerful, and so, in our thinking, we must never limit His way of acting. God most often interacts with us through other human beings. This is especially true since the time of the Incarnation.
Jesus is the Son of the Father from all eternity, and equal to His Father in all things. Yet, at the moment of the Incarnation, in accord with the will of His Father, Jesus became human like us in all things but sin. Jesus was sent to us in the flesh by His Father. That is what Jesus had in mind when He said, "Whoever puts faith in Me believes not so much in Me as in Him who sent Me." As Jesus was sent by the Father, so other human beings are sent by the Holy Spirit to continue the mission of Jesus on earth. We see an example of this commissioning in the first reading. The Holy Spirit declares: "Set apart Barnabas and Paul for Me to do the work for which I have called them."
The liturgical readings of Easter tell the story of the journey of discipleship. We see and hear the active presence of the Trinity, God the Creator, the Redeemer and Sanctifier, at work in the disciples' journey of faith. We, like Barnabas and Paul, have companions on our journey of faith. We are challenged as companions to reach out toward others in need with various types of gifts that we can offer: giving encouragement to the disheartened, being a voice for those who have no voice, providing food and clothing for the homeless. We are called during this Easter time to be Christ's presence in a world that hungers and thirsts for compassion and love, forgiveness and peace, and the spiritual joy that leads others to life.
The readings today reminded me about a story I once read in a magazine. A nursing sister in a mission hospital who was showing a visitor around some of the wards, and the visitor was appalled at the sort of things the sister would have to do in caring for the patients, who were victims of all sorts of diseases. As they were leaving, the visitor said, "You know Sister, I wouldn't do this for a million dollars." And the nun's reply was simply, "Neither would I." She truly had Jesus' love and compassion in her heart for those people.
In Jesus Christ, God wanted to be close to us in a way which we could understand and appreciate. God continues to be close to us through the bishops and priests, deacons and other ministers of the Church. We ought to rejoice that God has chosen to deal with us in a human way. This is still another sign of His love and concern for us. Although human ministers are weak and make mistakes, God in His wisdom sees that His way is best for us.
Lord, let all the nations praise You!