In his presentation "The Three Paths to Holiness" Father Robert Barron reminds us the our "lives are not about us." This is truly something that one can expound upon and even consider as a slogan similar to "what would Jesus do." God in his infinite wisdom chose to create man as described in Genesis in his divine image and so began the salvation story, with man's failings and his restoration, throughout the centuries. Man in his fallen state has chose to follow the path of evil and over and over again God has rescued us. In Christ Jesus we have the highest degree of love possible. The paths that the secularized society has one on is always a path that is selfish and focused on the here and now. It ignores God and his plan for our salvation. Its message is quite contrary, for its message is that your life is about you. In that philosophical structure man is seeking smallness, man is seeking the height of the natural, man is aspiring for temporal and limited things. Man is holding in his hand sand which will pass through it when there is an ocean of beauty and love just beyond himself. The message is of course paradoxical. In seeking what is close, what can be touched and held - the here and now one misses the greater reality , participation in the Divine and Eternity. The message that your life is about you leads to disappointment, despair, emptiness, a need to continually be fed by things that could not possibly satisfy you. It is not a life of charity and giving, and it is not a life of hope. God desires greatness for each one of us and we can live a life of holiness by surrendering ourselves. The joy is that our life is not about us, it is about something much larger, much greater, much happier, and everlasting. Give up the message of the secular world - aspire for greatness - be like Christ!
Pope Francis
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Your Life is Not About You
In his presentation "The Three Paths to Holiness" Father Robert Barron reminds us the our "lives are not about us." This is truly something that one can expound upon and even consider as a slogan similar to "what would Jesus do." God in his infinite wisdom chose to create man as described in Genesis in his divine image and so began the salvation story, with man's failings and his restoration, throughout the centuries. Man in his fallen state has chose to follow the path of evil and over and over again God has rescued us. In Christ Jesus we have the highest degree of love possible. The paths that the secularized society has one on is always a path that is selfish and focused on the here and now. It ignores God and his plan for our salvation. Its message is quite contrary, for its message is that your life is about you. In that philosophical structure man is seeking smallness, man is seeking the height of the natural, man is aspiring for temporal and limited things. Man is holding in his hand sand which will pass through it when there is an ocean of beauty and love just beyond himself. The message is of course paradoxical. In seeking what is close, what can be touched and held - the here and now one misses the greater reality , participation in the Divine and Eternity. The message that your life is about you leads to disappointment, despair, emptiness, a need to continually be fed by things that could not possibly satisfy you. It is not a life of charity and giving, and it is not a life of hope. God desires greatness for each one of us and we can live a life of holiness by surrendering ourselves. The joy is that our life is not about us, it is about something much larger, much greater, much happier, and everlasting. Give up the message of the secular world - aspire for greatness - be like Christ!
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