Devotion for today: love makes the world go ‘round

Scripture for meditation: Psalm 104:1, 5, 13, 14, 19, 24
Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord, my God, you are great indeed! You fixed the earth upon its foundation, not to be moved forever; you water the mountains from your palace; the earth is replete with the fruit of your works. You raise grass for the cattle, and vegetation for men’s use, you made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows the hour of its setting. How manifold are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have wrought them all - the earth is full of your creatures.

Christ tells us: Matthew 6:9

“Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name….”

Father Oscar Lukefahr, C.M. tells us: Every breath we take contains trillions of atoms. We live on a planet surrounded by trillions of stars. We could spend an eternity trying to grasp the smallness of the atomic building blocks of the universe or the vastness of the whole picture. And we would still be left in awe. If there were no God, all of this would have to come from nothing! All of its organization must be an accident! If we sometimes find it hard to believe in God, then we should try to believe in nothing. Believers in God are sometimes mocked with the notion that they are putting faith in a fairy tale. On the contrary, there is no fairy tale more incredible than that the universe – infinite in its smallness and in its vastness, astonishing in its structure and organization – could come from nothing! The more we know of the magnificence of the universe, the more we are drawn to believe that it must have a Master Architect to design it and a Creator to build it. As we take a good look at ourselves, small creatures on a small planet in a small solar system in a small galaxy in our vast universe, we discover that we have within us a desire to know the One who made us. Doctors and psychologists have learned that our bodies react in a positive or negative way to certain emotions. Fear, self-pity and despair release chemicals into our systems that can poison us. Faith, hope, love and peace can make us healthier. Two people are standing at the grave of a loved one. The first says, “There is no God. I will never see my friend again. Soon I will die and that will be the end of everything.” The second says, “God has brought my friend to eternal life in heaven. When I die, we will be together again. God loves us, and death brings us to eternal life.” The first individual is experiencing feelings likely to cause the release of chemicals harmful to the human body; the second is experiencing feelings that promote health. It is almost as if even our bodies are telling us that we are made for belief in God!(“We Believe…” A Survey of the Catholic Faith, Liguori Press, 1995)

Prayer: 1 John 4:16:  God is love, and he who abides in love, abides in God, and God abides in him.

Psalm 8:2, 4-5, 10: O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth! You have exalted your majesty above the heavens. When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you set in place- what is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him? O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth!

My thoughts: We end our week on love by considering the overwhelming concept of God, the creator of the universe, having love for us. When we realize that God is love, then we realize that the entire universe was made out of love. And then, when we consider the reality of how tiny we are in the cosmic realm of things, it is phenomenal to conceive that God loves us so much: He watches over us, listens to our prayers, hears our cries, accepts our praise, and guides our lives so that we can be with Him when we die. How amazing! Jesus taught us to pray to Our Father in heaven, the same Father who sent Him into the world to redeem us. Our world is in God’s hands; our lives are in His hands as well. What more can we do to thank God than to be His love in our everyday lives. After all, it is love that makes the world go ‘round!

Our prayer to God:  How about singing this little song many times today!

 “He’s got the whole world, in His hands; He’s got the whole wide world, in His hands; He’s got the whole world, in His hands; He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got you and me, brother, in His hands, He’s got you and me, sister, in His hands, he’s got  you and me, brother, in His hands, He’s got the whole world in His hands!” Now don’t you feel safe and happy?