Abundance flows in all our steps. Thank God in all circumstances,* since God's blessings endlessly proliferate.
On Thanksgiving Day, in his homily Father Cyprian noted that we can be thankful in various ways. We can be grateful that worse circumstances have not befallen us. Right now, thanks be to God that the coronavirus is before us and not anything more devastating, nor an additional, much more threatening challenge; this spiritual dynamic is easy to perceive here at the hermitage, given how, thanks be to God, no one here was injured during the recent wildfire, nor how any structures were damaged in that fire which erupted in the midst of the coronavirus.
In his homily, Father Cyprian also noted that in a much more profound sense we can thank God for the spiritual blessings He bestows on us. Thanks be to God that He gives us faith in Him. Through this faith, God strengthens us in the hope we have in His promise of what is to come. God motivates us through this faith to love Him** and to love one another.*** Having faith, we are empowered by God to open our hearts to receive His love He pours into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.****
As we open our hearts to God, we are grateful to God that our hearts are open. Although current circumstances may feel challenging, thank God for what is happening right now. Often we are not able to see the good that God is working through all that is happening right now, the good that He works for all who love Him.***** Trust is an indispensable bulwark to going forward in faith in God.
What do we think is happening right now? There is what is happening that we cannot see. There is what we do, in which we can make seen the unseen. In our choices, we can be the pathways through which God makes manifest that which could not be seen, yet which can be seen if we consent to cooperate. If we embrace the faith God has given us, God makes His love manifest through us, and thus we give constant thanks to God.
* 1 Thessalonians 5:18
** Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27
*** Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
**** Romans 5:5
***** Romans 8:28
No comments:
Post a Comment