God Exists

 Do you have doubts about the existence of God? Doubt occurs when you're not sure about something, when you're debating whether it is a yes or a no.   In that doubt, there's room for yes, yes, yes.   If you were certain, you wouldn't have any doubts; you'd be certain that God doesn't exist, so you can give yourself the opportunity to explore the possibility that there is a God.   Those who don't believe say that man invented God.  But wait, explore the possibility of God.   Everything, absolutely everything, has a beginning, and science is increasingly getting closer to that beginning, the beginning of the universe we live in.   Just as plants grow from a seed, so the universe was born; we had a beginning. Have you heard of the Big Bang theory?   It basically states that at the beginning of the universe there was a big explosion, and from that explosion, stars, planets, and galaxies were born.   And there are laboratories where the conditions of this beginning are recreated, and we're getting closer to confirming it.   And what role does God play in science?   If there is a beginning, there must have been something that initiated that beginning.   Yes, you're thinking the same thing as me: That something was God! God, the perfection of good, God, uncreated.   Yes, God, in his infinite love, had a thought and created us.   And is this God the God the Bible speaks of? Of course, you won't believe that the universe had several beginnings. There is only one beginning, and so the beginning of all good, including the universe, is God, one God.   But if there is only one beginning and one God,   within which the three persons of the Holy Trinity fit, it is here that faith begins. It is an unfathomable mystery. But if you believe in this God of creation, then you can turn to the Bible.    And it is here, in this Bible,  where you can begin to know God. It says in Genesis 1:5:

  “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth had no form at that time; it was a deep, dark sea, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. 4 When God saw that the light was good, he separated the light from the darkness 5 and called the light day; and the darkness he called night. Thus the first day was completed.”

You see? In the beginning, the Spirit of God was already there.  And so was Jesus, for he says in John 1:1-5:

 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 Through him, God made all things; without him, nothing was made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity. 5 This light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not been able to extinguish it.”

You see? That Word, who was God, was Jesus.

On the first day, God, with the infinite love of a Father, created light.   On the second, the sky, the sea, and the earth.   On the third, He created plants. On the fourth, the sun, the moon, and the stars.   On the fifth, sea animals and birds.   On the sixth, land animals.   And us too! In His likeness! For love of Jesus, and for love of us, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  And a love as great as God's had to have someone to love, and believe me, that's why He created us, to love us, to be happy, so that we would believe in Him and have eternal life. And where is complete happiness? It's in responding to that love that created us, that love that is God. You see? We didn't create God, He created us. And on the seventh day, God saw that all was good, rested, and blessed this day. And how can you reconcile millennia with days? The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:8 “ 8 Moreover, dear brothers, do not forget that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. ” 

A reading from the Book of Wisdom (11:22:26 and 12:1:2)

22

⁴ Indeed, before you the whole universe is as a grain from a balance, or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.

23

But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of men that they may repent.

24

For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.

25

And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?

26

But you spare all things, because they are yours, O LORD and lover of souls,

Chapter 12

1

for your imperishable spirit is in all things!

2

Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them, and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD!

 

My comment:

Today (11/3/2013) I heard this Bible reading at Mass, and I must confess that shortly before Mass began, I read it. And I was amazed. In such beautiful, poetic words, a God is revealed to us who loves us so much that he says here, "He did not hesitate to create us; He loved us from the beginning despite our transgressions, our sins." The reading says that we are but a drop of dew, or a grain of dust in God's eyes. He sees in us what we can be, for He created us in His image, and that is why He only rebukes us as a father does his children, so that we may be converted, repentant, and return to Him, as that image in which He created us, which is perfected in Christ Jesus, true God and true man. Jesus shows us this compassionate God, for He came to "heal" sinners, to give us a new life, a new way of living, of seeing the world, and our fellow human beings. He is the image of God, of a love that takes pity on all and desires the salvation of all, who allows us to fall to help us rise and show us a safer path that will prevent us from stumbling. A path that runs hand in hand with Jesus.

 

Fear Nothing

 “And fear nothing, dear soul, whoever you are; the greater the sinner, the greater his right to Your mercy, O Lord.” 

Prayer: Give me Your Light

 Jesus give me your light, so that I find meaning in my life. Jesus give me your light, so that I can live with joy Jesus give me your light, so that I can share my life. Jesus give me your light, so that you can put aside my sorrows. Jesus give me your light, so that I leave all my doubts. Jesus give me your light, to grow and mature. Jesus give me your light, to know what you want from me. Jesus give me your light, to get rid of so much consumerism. Jesus give me your light, to help those who need it. Jesus give me your light, so  I am not afraid of what you ask. Jesus give me your light, to break my comforts. Amen.

- Priest D. Juan Carlos Medina Medina

Homily of Pope Leo XIV in his inaugural. Mass

 Dear Brother Cardinals,

Brother Bishops and Priests,
Distinguished Authorities and Members of the Diplomatic Corps.
Greetings to the pilgrims who have come for the Jubilee of Confraternities!

I greet all of you with a heart full of gratitude at the beginning of the ministry that has been entrusted to me. Saint Augustine wrote: Lord, “you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Confessions, I: 1,1).

In these days, we have experienced intense emotions. The death of Pope Francis filled our hearts with sadness. In those difficult hours, we felt like the crowds that the Gospel says were “like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36). Then, on Easter Sunday, we received his final blessing and, in the light of the resurrection, we experienced the days that followed in the certainty that the Lord never abandons his people, but gathers them when they are scattered and guards them “as a shepherd guards his flock” (Jer 31:10).

them, for all of us are “living stones” (1 Pet 2:5), called through our baptism to build God’s house in fraternal communion, in the harmony of the Spirit, in the coexistence of diversity.  In the words of Saint Augustine: “The Church consists of all those who are in harmony with their brothers and sisters and who love their neighbour” (Serm. 359,9).

Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.

In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalises the poorest. For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion and fraternity within the world. We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: Look to Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome his word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his offer of love and become his one family: in the one Christ, we are one. This is the path to follow together, among ourselves but also with our sister Christian churches, with those who follow other religious paths, with those who are searching for God, with all women and men of good will, in order to build a new world where peace reigns!

This is the missionary spirit that must animate us; not closing ourselves off in our small groups, nor feeling superior to the world.  We are called to offer God’s love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people.

Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love! The heart of the Gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters. With my predecessor Leo XIII, we can ask ourselves today: If this criterion “were to prevail in the world, would not every conflict cease and peace return?” (Rerum Novarum, 20).

With the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word, allows itself to be made “restless” by history, and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.

Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk towards God and love one another.

Love

 Today the Gospel speaks to us about a new commandment that Jesus leaves us: Love one another as I have loved you. The deacon tells us that with this new commandment, Jesus speaks to us about the first commandment, which asks us to love God. As Saint Augustine tells us, the first Christians loved one another because they saw God in each other. That is, they loved God in their neighbors. This reminds me of a time I witnessed an Easter Vigil from inside the church. On that occasion, I watched as everyone entered with a small candle, all lit from the Paschal Candle that represents Christ. I remember understanding that we must love others because Jesus himself is within them. And He already told us: whatever you do to my least brothers is as if you were doing it to me. As a Sister of Charity of the Order of Saint Teresa of Calcutta says, sometimes the saint had to remind them that they were serving Jesus, so that they would remember that it was Jesus whose wounds they were washing and caring for. It's not for nothing that love in Latin is caritas, that is, charity. Deus caritas est, God is love. And Jesus already told us, "Be perfect as my Father is perfect." In other words, let us love as Jesus loved us, who loved sinners, who loved his enemies so much that he asked God to "forgive them for they know not what they do," who died for all on the cross, who became the servant of all so much that he washed the feet of his disciples. And perhaps we cannot perform miracles, but we can love, help our neighbors, and reach out to them if possible. Sometimes money is not needed; sometimes simply listening is a great help to those who need to be heard.

To you and to God

Maybe I have no words

To explain Your Existence

But when the wind

Moves the grass

Who can deny its presence?

This is what I think:

It seems I don't see you

I don't hear you

But you are Love

You are hope...You are my peace

And when I see Your creation

And I stop to contemplate it

Your Presence is with me

And I think of you.

Maybe someone can say this:

That beauty is just beauty

In itself,

But I ask:

Who can think that all this

It was created so that

Another will never live it?

And if you stop to use your eyes

Look beyond,

That what is visible is nothing else

That the thought of a Supreme Being

Who created it  so that you might be

Amazed.

God exists and loves you ,

If my words are not enough for you

Maybe you should look inside

Where your thoughts come from,

That nobody sees

Until the action,

This creation:

The universe...

It is the action

Of thought

of our God.

 

My Friend

I have a thought that seeks me

Since I was a child,

For a long time, I have an invisible friend,

who answers me

With the dawn, with the wind, with the flowers,

with the glitter of stars,

and sometimes remains silent,

While He cares for me,

and I always, always believe to hear Him,

even when He doesn’t say anything

I don’t know what to call Him

but sometimes I call Him...

Dear God.