Accepting God's Love

Michelangelo's "Creation" shows the hand of God reaching out to the hand of man; a picture that reminds me of a very personal touch between God and man. Picture in your mind, if you will, a 2-year old sitting on your knee, perhaps, and with an innocent smile reach for your chin, or your nose with a fingertip. You see this gesture all the time in baby pictures. Now that you've got the picture, continue meditating that Jesus Christ is sitting next to you, and He's reaching out to you, offering to you His hand... so that you may shake His hand.

We not only shake His hand, but He hugs us in a tight embrace each and every time we receive Him in Holy Communion! When we receive Him we are accepting God's Love. God loves us no matter what we do, right or wrong. When we accept Him by receiving Him in our heart and soul, we show Him a little of our love. But in order for our love to be real we have to make an honest effort, every day, to get better at welcoming Him in our midst. ..."Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Mt. 4:17).

There are, unfortunately, millions of people for whom it seems too late. They are entrenched in evil and darkness. They make no effort to even acknowledge there is a God, let alone obey the Ten Commandments. While man uses every effort to hide the Ten Commandments away from the public view, the wayward are not reminded, periodically, that they have an obligation to live in obedience to laws of the country, and ultimately, to the laws of God. I listened to the radio the other day, to a report of the far-reaching perversion of man's mind into such areas as narcotics and pornography and it is difficult to even find the end of the tunnel... these vices are too widespread already. So people live in sin, completely oblivious to the rest of society, and their numbers are increasing rapidly. Yet, even for those, God's hand is reaching out. Do they still know how to accept God's love?

As Catholics, we have a very special command to reach out to everyone, regardless of age, sex, quality of live, skin color, or whatever. We love everyone because they are the creation and product of God's love. We hope that all are treated as we wish to be treated ourselves, and that they feel the presence of the Lord rather than that of the evil existence they may be leading.

Having said this, are we really reaching out? When was it that you have comforted a poor sinner or a homeless man or woman? You can't do that by sitting at home. While you sit in your nice house, remember that there are those who have no place to stay. So go out and reach out and touch someone. I reach out by participating in prison ministry. There are 4 men and 4 women in our little group, and we go to the county jail to touch base with people whose names and locations we find on a list given us by the prison chaplain. Most of the time we have never met them before. They are eager to speak, to be listened to. That's because they are often forgotten, by family, by friends (except the kind they do not need) but they have not forgotten God. They struggle with each day to become His friend again. They have a long road ahead of them. Most of the time, they have no one to rely on. Their family life, has come to an end when they enter prison. Once convicted, they lose what little they had. They become nameless, faceless and often friend-less. Then they begin to realize that the only friend they have is God, and for some, who follow Him, Jesus Christ.

When have you last reached out to anyone? As an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion (what we used to call "Eucharistic Minister" before the Vatican changed the name), many of us go out to bring Jesus to the homebound, the hospitals, and to nursing homes. When visiting the sick, you don't just run in and out. You are visiting people who are very lonely and who, often, find no one to talk to. People who are sick don't always reach out to other sick people, and that seems especially true with men who somehow do not make an effort to draw out of their shell. To them, you are a trusted friend, who, rain or shine, comes with Jesus, to make the Sacred Species available to them. So you spend extra time, talking about whatever they want to discuss, and in this way you are, as they are, accepting God's love.

Peace and all Good!

 Fred Schaeffer, OFS 2019

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