We are just beginning a new year of grace, and the Church offers a great source of consolation in today’s reading from the 1st Letter of John. ”See what kind of love the Father has given us that we would be called the sons and (daughters) of God.”
This is a great mystery that the Son of God became incarnate, one of us, that we might share in his divinity. All of us are called to hear the Word of God and allow it to shape our lives. Taking on the mind of Jesus requires that we KNOW his mind. We know it from reading the words of Jesus that are recorded in the Gospels.
What did Jesus leave us as a message? He proclaimed God’s Kingdom. It is a Kingdom of peace and justice where the poor, widows, and foreigners have a unique place. Jesus made it clear in several of his sermons that he identifies himself with the hungry, the thirsty, the poor, the homeless. “Whatever you do to these least of my brothers (and sisters), that you do unto me.”
If we live up to this great calling with which we have been endowed, sons and daughters of God, then we must “walk the walk and not just talk.”
This is a significant task that none of us could do alone. But we are not alone. We are fed and nourished for this work by the very Body and Blood of him, who poured himself out for each of us. If properly understood, this nourishment urges us to continue Jesus’s work in helping foster God’s Kingdom on earth. Jesus remains with us, urging us as we do his work, which is undoubtedly our own.
Let Us Pray:
God of the universe, you have graciously adopted us as your sons and daughters. Give us abundant grace so we might be your sons and daughters by proclaiming your kingdom of peace, justice, unity, compassion, service, and love in our unique time and place. You call us to this. Help us to joyfully and fully respond. Amen.