Easter 4 B
MDP of God
There is a story about a young boy who was born in the early years of the 20th century
He was born in a small town
And he was born out of wedlock
That last fact, of course, meant at the time that he had a lot of rejection to face in life
“Polite” company avoided him and his mother
Many of the parents in the town wouldn’t let their children play with the boy - he wasn’t allowed in their homes, the other children were forbidden to go to his.
At school he faced rejection - he was mocked, and laughed at
There would be whispers and pointing followed by snickering.
It was a hard life for the boy.
Then one day there was to be a revival in the town where the boy lived
A nationally known preacher had come, setting up a huge tent.
The first night of the revival the tent was packed - it seemed the whole town was there - including the boy and his mother [who were sitting near the front of the tent]
At one point the preacher stopped his sermon - pointed at this little boy (who was about eight at the time) and said, “You there, come up here”
The boy froze at first, but then the minister said again, “Little boy come up here”
The boy stiffly walked to the front of the tent.
The preacher said, “Tell me boy, whose son are you?”
The boy looked up at the face of the minister and couldn’t speak.
The preacher said again, “Boy, who is your father?”
The boy turned white and tears came to his eyes. The tent became completely silent - you could hear a pin drop - and every eye was on the boy.
The preacher walked up to the boy and gently lifted up his chin in order to look into his face.
The minister went on, “You don’t have to tell me, I know who your father is, I can see the family resemblance. You’re God’s son. He loves you! You are so special to your Father”
From that day on the boy’s life became a little easier
My dear friends, that is what our second reading today from St. John tells us about ourselves.
“See what love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called Children of God! Yet that is what we are...Dearly beloved, we are God’s children now.”
That’s so important to remember, because so often other people, and we ourselves tend to define ourselves by the circumstances of our lives - OR by the job we have - OR even by our past mistakes.
“He’s the one who got fired because he messed up the big account”
“She’s the one who made a fool of herself in front of the whole school”
“He’s the one who got arrested for shoplifting or who got the DUI”
“She’s the one who got pregnant in high school -OR- who got involved with drugs.”
He’s the priest who gives such long homilies
But God defines who we are, not by what we have done, but by what He has done.
He, through baptism, has made us His children
He has brought us into His family
He loves us, not because of what we have done, but because of who He is -= As St. John tells us, “God is love”
My friends, sometimes we have a hard time comprehending this incredible love of God.
We can have a hard time believing that He loves us despite our faults - our sins - our failures.
God is our Father - and His love for us is beyond our comprehension.
And this brings us to the heart of the gospel message - the heart of the “Good News”
Our Catholic Faith, is a love story.
About God who created us in His image and likeness to be His children.
When our first parents fell He didn’t give up on us - He eventually sent Jesus to be our Savior - to restore His likeness in us
And He showers His grace upon us in the sacraments
Baptism [made children]
Eucharist [Body, blood, soul, divinity]
Reconciliation [forgives our sins and failings]
And He, of course calls us to love Him in return - as children loving our Father.
Our faith is a love story - that includes sin and redemption
My friends, I think it’s so important for us to get the big picture of what our faith is about --otherwise we can fall into one of two opposite extremes
When we read through the bible - there can be no doubt that sin is a serious matter
It harms [and can even destroy] our relationship with God
When we look at Jesus on the cross –which was a necessary action to overcome sin - there can be no doubt that sin is no small matter
And recognizing that fact, there are some people who have a tendency to see the Christian life in terms of legalism, “I have to obey the commandments or God will punish me”
I have to follow the letter of the law, or God will get me.
And while it’s certainly true that we have accountability before the Lord - it has not been unusual for Christians to joylessly follow the commandments out of fear of punishment.
That has been all too common in the Catholic Church
There is also another extreme people can go too
They can hear about the Good Shepherd who goes after His sheep
They can hear about the prodigal son who the Father welcomes home with open arms
They can hear how we are children of God who loves us more than we can even imagine
And they conclude, “I can sin - I don’t need to obey the commandments - I don’t need to be faithful - because God loves me and He’s going to forgive me anyway”
50 years ago, the former example of joylessly following the commandments was very common in the Catholic Church
Today, the attitude of I don’t need to obey because God loves me, has become all too common.
My friends, in both those extremes, people are missing the point of what faith is all about.
Faith is about love
God loves us and sees us as His children - He knows our struggles
Our battle against sin -is similar to when a child is learning to walk [Father rejoices in our attempts—even when the child falls the father is delighted as long as the child keeps trying]
In the same way God rejoices when we are struggling to overcome our sins and when we want to be pleasing in His sight
He doesn’t want us to be living in dread fear of Him.
On the other hand - He wants His incredible love for us to be reciprocated.
He wants us to be striving to obey and serve - not out of fear - but because we love Him and want to please Him-- because we want to make Him proud of us
My friends, let’s recognize His love for us – and let’s love Him with all our hearts in return
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