Open my eyes

How much more will the Father in heaven give . . . 

If you have any doubts about “love at first sight,” just ask parents about the first time they laid eyes on their children. Holding your newborn for the first time is an overwhelming experience.   The long wait is over, and a new love blossoms.

If this is how new parents feel about their children, imagine how your heavenly Father feels about you!   He loved you before you were born.   From the moment he called you into being, he rejoiced, both in your gifts and talents and in the prospect of having you by his side forever.   Even when you were caught in sin, his love stayed firm—to the point of offering up his Son to redeem you.   Age after age, year after year, your Father has held nothing back from you!

Now, it’s one thing to hear these truths in church or to read them in a devotional magazine.   But we still have to deal with everyday life, when the lies of the devil and the lures of the world can still sow doubts in our minds.   They whisper that God is some kind of heavenly score keeper or that he is indifferent and un-involved in our lives.   They accuse us of being too sinful or too weak for God to love us, or they try to distract us with self-centered ideas.

So how do we bridge the gap between what we hear at Mass and what we hear in the world?   By taking the truths of Scripture with us into our daily lives.   Every time you catch yourself thinking that you are all alone.   Every time you catch yourself thinking that God doesn’t care, remember the following.

•  How much more will my heavenly Father give me the Holy Spirit!
•  If I ask, I will receive.
• If I seek, I will find.
• If I knock, the door will be opened!

The devil wants to convince you that God is not good.   The world wants to tell you that God doesn’t care.   Stand up to these lies.   Let God’s word silence them.   You have a loving Father, and he wants to give you every good gift.  So as you enjoy Thanksgiving, remember God’s Love.

word among us