Devotion for today: the desire for God lies deep within the human heart

Today we will take time to read the encouraging words of Pope Benedict XVI on the value of faith.

Scripture for meditation: Matthew 5:13-16

You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

 The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us: 1816: The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it. “All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks.” (Lumen Gentium). Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation: “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33)

BENEDICT XVI

GENERAL AUDIENCE
Paul VI Audience Hall
Wednesday, 14 November 2012

In our catechesis for the Year of Faith, we have seen that a mysterious desire for God lies deep with the human heart. By his grace, God inspires and accompanies our efforts to know him and to find our happiness in him. Yet today, in our secularized world, faith often seems difficult to justify; we are faced with a “practical” atheism, a tendency to think and live “as if God did not exist”. Yet once God is removed from our lives, we become diminished, for our greatest human dignity consists in being created by God and called to live in communion with him. As believers, we need to offer convincing reasons for our faith and hope. We can find such reasons in the order and beauty of creation itself, which speaks of its Creator; in the longing for the infinite present in the human heart, which finds satisfaction in God alone; and in faith, which illumines and transforms our lives through our daily union with the Lord. By the witness of our living faith, may we lead others to know and love the God who reveals himself in Christ.

My thoughts: How sad it is that the love the Catholic Church has for mankind is so misconstrued today! In charity and truth, wishing nothing more than the salvation of souls, the Catholic Church presents the words of Christ and his teachings in a clear and unflappable fashion. The goal of the Church, as is the goal of Jesus Christ, is to bring everyone into the kingdom of heaven. We must, and really, must, be beacons of light in the darkness of the world today. We must not let popular sentiments sway us from bringing the truth of God’s message to everyone, not watered down, not diluted with popular sentiment, but the actual truth. Jesus does not say it is ok to accept part of him, not all, just part, and only that part which makes everyone comfortable in their attitudes toward life. He does not say that we can live for him when it is comfortable and not acknowledge him when it will make others upset about the life they have chosen to lead. He says quite clearly that if we deny him, he will deny us. Jesus doesn’t lie. Unlike so many people today, he doesn’t say one thing and mean another. He said he will deny us and he will. So be brave and be for Christ. Help to fill the longing in people’s lives with the love of God. Do not morally judge – that is God’s business – but do know that the truth will set our brothers free. Correct with love, and always with dignity and respect. God loves all his children equally. He wants them all with him in heaven. And he uses us to accomplish this. Making people right in their wrongfulness is not love or respect. It is just plain mean. It says that “I have found the way and the truth and the light, and I hope you do as well some day, but I don’t see it as my place to help you, so good luck.” God forbid if our parents had raised us with that attitude. God forbid if Christ came to deliver that message. Heaven would be an awfully lonely place. Get bold, get brave, and get going. The world needs you –NOW.

Prayer:  Psalm 42

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, "Where is your God?" 4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help 6 and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts; all your waves and your billows have gone over me. 8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God, my rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?" 10 As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, "Where is your God?" 11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.