I have a new motto. From today, it will
be, We are made by God for good
things!!! I want everybody to claim it and say it aloud. We are made by God for good things!!!
My mother told a story about a doctor’s
visit with two of my aunts. It was similar to this:
A man came in, sat down,
and began to read his bible. My aunt says “I see that you are a good Christian
man reading your Bible."
He asks, "Do you read
your Bible?"
My aunt replies "I
read my Bible every day.”
My mom then confides in me,
“Sometimes, I think she takes it to the extreme. She locks herself in her
prayer room to pray three to four times a day.”
Mom, I’m a Deacon. I lock myself
in a room and pray, a lot. That’s a good thing.
Mom is not concerned about the praying;
but, she is afraid her little sister worries too much. Worrying about the
things mothers worry about. Worrying the world is falling apart because it has forgotten
God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
I have told her and I tell you, even
though it appears the world has forgotten God, God has not forgotten us.
Who remembers this from Catechism? “Where
is God?” The answer is “God is everywhere.” This, the world has forgotten.
In the desert, the People of Israel forgot
and everything began to fall apart. The whole
community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. We just want to go back to our
fleshpots in Egypt and have our fill.
The crowd Jesus fed with a miracle had
already forgotten and grumbled as they said, “Our
ancestors ate manna in the desert. What can you do for us to believe?”
All of us are a desert of forgotten; having
forgotten God or forgotten He is everywhere. That is where everything falls
apart.
Crowds grumble against the Church and religion.
What can you do so we believe? We’d rather gather
around the fleshpots of the world and have our fill of a self-indulgent,
pleasure seeking lifestyle.
The world doesn’t want God. The crowd doesn’t
want God in their relationships or marriages or sexuality. They grumble when
they are told what is moral and right or wrong.
God’s truth is absent from worldly
life, from things enjoyed, from family, from jobs, and from entertainment.
Still others have forgotten God because
of tragedy and crisis.
Even, when what we desire is not God
and everything has fallen apart, the LORD says, "I
will rain down bread from heaven for you.” God is everywhere. Our lives are covered by His grace, the bread that
rains down from heaven.
Most of the world just throws it away. Instead
of wanting bread from heaven, the world wants the fleshpots.
We throw away God’s manna for addictions,
unfaithfulness, pornography, jealously, envy, deceit, and lies. Then, everything
falls apart.
There is only one way to put it back
together. It is through the one who said, I am the
bread of life.
Jesus was all about God is everywhere.
He saw God in sinners, enemies, failures, outsiders, and those who have
forgotten. He is everywhere and forgets no
one. Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and
whoever believes in me will never thirst.
It
is us that forget God.
Many come to mass and fail to recognize
His presence in their life. They walk out the door calling themselves
Christians; yet, leave God with the priest or in the pew or behind the doors of
the tabernacle.
It becomes easy for those in the world to
throw away Christ’s presence by the freedom God gives us. We don’t want the bread from heaven in our life.
That bread will keep us from wanting what is ungodly.
So, we walk out the door and leave God behind
to the fleshpots of worldliness’ call. Made in the image of God, we make
ourselves over in the image of the world.
Paul describes it as living in futility of the mind.
God has forgotten us. Remember the
promise from Jesus the bread of God, which comes
down from heaven, gives life to the world.
Don’t worry; it is by the bread from
heaven we are renewed in the spirit.
God is either in all things or God is
in nothing. He is in us; because, we are made by God for God.
He has not forgotten us. Go to find you
a quiet place to pray three or four times a day. Because, the work of God is to believe in the one he sent.
Friends, we are made by God for good things, go do them!! Amen.
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