Daily Retreat 10/29/07
2007 Oct 29 Mon
Rom 8: 12-17/ Ps 67(68): 2 and 4. 6-7ab. 20-21/ Lk 13: 10-17
From today’s readings: “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.... Our God is the God of salvation.... The whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by Him....”
Children of God
God created us, and for that, we humbly and rightly acknowledge Him as our creator, and recognize ourselves as His creatures. Yet already in the Old Testament, some came to fathom (although they were generally too much in awe to claim it explicitly) that we have been favored by God above the mere status of “creature”: because of God’s super-abundant love in creation and throughout our lives, He’s more than just our creator - He’s also our Father, and we are His children.
What was tentatively implicit in the Old was made emphatically explicit in the New Testament, first by Jesus Himself, and then by His apostles, such as Paul and John, who boastingly insisted: God is our Father, we are His children! Have we become too accustomed to this notion that our divine adoption fails to move us now to tears of intense joy and sentiments of deepest gratitude? If a kindly king or magnanimous millionaire or some noble Nobel laureate had adopted us, would not the rest of our life be defined by gratitude and awareness of our unworthiness?
We have indeed received this spirit of adoption, through which we dare to cry the word that also lays claim to our highest dignity, “Abba - Father!”
Rom 8: 12-17/ Ps 67(68): 2 and 4. 6-7ab. 20-21/ Lk 13: 10-17
From today’s readings: “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.... Our God is the God of salvation.... The whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by Him....”
Children of God
God created us, and for that, we humbly and rightly acknowledge Him as our creator, and recognize ourselves as His creatures. Yet already in the Old Testament, some came to fathom (although they were generally too much in awe to claim it explicitly) that we have been favored by God above the mere status of “creature”: because of God’s super-abundant love in creation and throughout our lives, He’s more than just our creator - He’s also our Father, and we are His children.
What was tentatively implicit in the Old was made emphatically explicit in the New Testament, first by Jesus Himself, and then by His apostles, such as Paul and John, who boastingly insisted: God is our Father, we are His children! Have we become too accustomed to this notion that our divine adoption fails to move us now to tears of intense joy and sentiments of deepest gratitude? If a kindly king or magnanimous millionaire or some noble Nobel laureate had adopted us, would not the rest of our life be defined by gratitude and awareness of our unworthiness?
We have indeed received this spirit of adoption, through which we dare to cry the word that also lays claim to our highest dignity, “Abba - Father!”
posted by FrPitstick | 10/28/2007
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