Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
I have the incredible blessing of being able to watch my 3 grandchildren on a regular basis. Although I am exhausted at the end of the day, one thing that I have noticed about children is how they live in the present moment. Today’s first reading and responsorial psalm encourage us to “Behave like God as his very dear children.” If God is love, then I think one of the best ways that we can act like children of God, is to live in love in every moment.
In the first reading from St. Paul, he instructs the people of Ephesus to “Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us. “ How can we imitate God as beloved children? St. Paul goes on to list things that we should not do as beloved children, since we no longer live in the darkness. As a child of the light, St. Paul says we should live in a place of thanksgiving- remembering all that God has given to us. We are also called to “be kind, compassionate and forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.” To live in such a way is difficult, but if we live from a place of full understanding of how much God loves us, then we will feel compelled to love Him in return by following Christ by the way that we live.
In the gospel reading, Jesus shows us how we are called to love in every situation. Jesus cures a woman on the Sabbath who had been crippled for many years. Jesus looks beyond the letter of the law, and responds in the present moment with love and healing. By His example, Jesus shows all people that love trumps all laws, and the best time to love is now.
So how do we “behave like God as his very dear children”? There are many times in the gospel that Jesus points to children and their ways as a path to the Kingdom of God. When children are loved deeply, they seek to please the person that loves them. They also strive to imitate in words and deeds the person that shares that love. If we are children of a God who loves us, then we are called to love like Him. Jesus shows us the way to live as people of love, mercy, and peace.
Like my grandchildren, I think we are called to live as God’s beloved children in every moment. Jean Pierre de Caussade has written a book about “The Sacrament of the Present Moment.” De Caussade writes the following: "The present moment holds infinite riches beyond your wildest dreams but you will only enjoy them to the extent of your faith and love. The more a soul loves, the more it longs, the more it hopes, the more it finds. The will of God is manifest in each moment, an immense ocean which the heart only fathoms in so far as it overflows with faith, trust, and love." If we seek to be like Christ in every moment, then as beloved children we will in fact be imitators of God.
As God’s dear children, we will continue to trust always in His love, since we know that His love is eternal even in the face of suffering, rejection and death. Behaving like God as His beloved children means that we will do all that we can to ensure that His Kingdom will come to be and all people will be invited to come. Love is the basis for all that we do and say because our Father (God) shows us that love is the essence of Who He is. If we live as God’s dear children in the light, God will be glorified when others will see our “splendid deeds” and rejoice.
Father, Jesus shows us Your way of love. You call us your beloved children and invite us to imitate Jesus in all that we say and do. With the grace of Your Spirit, may we live every moment in Your love, and may our lives bring you glory and praise. We ask this through Christ our LORD. Amen.
Marylynn Herchline