Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
How would it feel to be able to say this about your life-story and good works? What a blessing to know that one’s time here on Earth is well-spent, bringing people closer to their God and more at peace with themselves and their neighbors. Could there be something the Spirit is calling you to be or do that would inspire others to glorify God?
I think of the workers and founders of charities and schools, whose lives declare God’s love for the Church and the world. Blessed be God! I think of nurses and doctors and counselors who heal body and mind. Praise the Lord! I think of heroes leading movements for justice and peace, organizing and motivating people to act for the greater good. Blessed be God forever! And I think of ministers and pastors who lead their flocks to communion with God. Praise and exalt God above all forever!
And right about the time I start wondering what I’m doing for the Kingdom, I come to our Psalm, which quite the opposite, is about how God feels about us. The God of the universe takes a parent’s delight in watching you and I. Your body is a masterpiece temple, a pointer to the divine which God created as a bright example of love in this world. Your soul and mine is a secret treasure of goodness. These are the things we are called to remember. We were made for a clear, universal purpose: to love as Jesus loves. And we love because he loved us first. These consolations exist not to make us feel good about ourselves; they exist to inform our identity and ward off the evil one’s twisted lies and half-truths about how we’re not good enough, not doing enough. If Satan must suffer our good works, he’ll at least settle for having us do them out of guilt instead of with a cheerful heart.
Today I invite you, recall your story in the light of God’s love. Consider all the ways Jesus has walked with you, guarded you, healed you, and delivered you from the consequences of the sin (yours and other people’s). Blessed be God! We don’t have a faith-story like Saint Paul, because we’re not supposed to. Your story is yours, and it has power for you and for the people around you who need to hear it. The Spirit is calling us to serve in some way; may we be ever open to the divine call to service. Amen.
—Chris Nieport