An Unknown God?

Do you sometimes find doing things without really knowing why makes it less interesting? When you do something out of routine does it get boring or even sometimes meaningless? For some of us our faith can unfortunately turn out to be the same thing. If we do not know why we pray or what we are really doing when we pray, we may come to find it boring and quickly find something else more interesting to do. When he saw that the Athenians were praying at an altar to "an Unknown God," St. Paul quickly turned it into a teaching moment. It is for us today too. When we pray we really are not only reciting words and sentences that our ancestors said centuries ago. We are also talking with someone. We are engaging in a relationship - just like our relationships with our family and friends. Prayer is our relationship with God, and our God is a living God, the One, True God, not an unknown or unfamiliar god. Our God is also not a god who lived two thousand years ago or so, but He is a LIVING God! He is present with us right now. So, let us rise to the occasion and come to know the God who calls us beloved right here and now.

Affirmation Overcomes Despair

Sometimes when people feel there is no way out, they turn inward in despair and hopelessness. Like the guard who felt that the world was crumbling before him when the prisoners were released because of the earthquake, people may turn to self-harm out of despair. The guard may have felt that no one in this world would fight for him and that he was already a dead man, but St. Paul acknowledged him and affirmed him. Everything will be okay. Put the sword down. Talk with me. By this affirmation, the guard encountered the Lord and was moved to conversion. The guard traveled out of despair and into hope, from darkness into light, and from death to life. Let us be an affirming voice for one another.

You are Loved

We have been loved from all eternity. The Lord delights in YOU! It does not matter what you've done or where you've been. His love and delight in you is not dependent on any of those things. Receive His love and delight, and allow Him to transform your life. When you finally experience and feel this infinite and unconditional love of God for you, you can not but be filled with gratitude, moving you to conversion. God's delight and love for you is a transformative gift.