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.