Called to eternal glory

In today’s first reading, 1 Peter 5: 5b-14, we read:  “The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen , and establish you after you have suffered a little.”  Wow! Just think of that promise!  First of all, it is made by “the God of all grace.”  How do we finite beings comprehend “all grace, ” infinite kindness, endless mercy , a God of incomprehensible blessing!    His clemency is awesome!  Secondly, this God has called you and me to eternal glory.  Wow!  We have been chosen to be on the team that will be admitted into a glorious kingdom with God in heaven forever and we did not even need to come out on top of the competition to win that gift. It is freely given by a loving God! “You did not choose me; I chose you,” we are told in John  15:16. Who would not want to be chosen to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  There cannot be anything equal to that kind of dwelling!  For that to happen for us, God Himself,  not anyone else, will restore us to the state we enjoyed in His mind before His creation of us. He will confirm us as His own, as heirs of the Kingdom, adopted as God’s children by the blood of the Lamb. And finally, He will strengthen us who have been weakened by sinful inclinations and our struggles with Satan here on this earth. Yes, He will establish us in His Kingdom forever!  That is the gift of redemption! To God be all praise and glory and thanksgiving!

God so loved the world that He sent us His only begotten Son

Today’s Gospel, John 3: 16-21,  opens with the statement: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son...”

My response: “Lord, you so loved the world that You sent Your only begotten Son to take on human nature, to become one with us in our humanity, that is, to experience what this world without grace  is like:  a world where jealousies, intense hatreds and prejudice  lead to death.  Your Son experienced the darkness of evil that, without grace,  leads to violence and condemnation unto death.  Your Son experienced clashes between good and evil  with evil seeming to have the upper hand.  Your Son, the Light of the world, entered this world’s darkness to dispel it,  this world’s jealousies to dissipate them, hatred to transform it and sin to redeem us from its snares, pitfalls and tombs.  And you send us, each day, into the world where we live to do what You did: show the Light in whatever darkness we meet today  and to  be a transforming presence in that which otherwise could lead to death, decay and lifeless tombs.”

May each of you reading this know the power of the Resurrected Christ operative in your lives through your faith, hope and love in whatever you do or say today, in whatever tasks you take on and in whatever ways you make a difference as a believer in Christ Jesus!