October 2008         

Scripture often addresses the reality of a calling from God. Indeed it is true, we all have a place in God's providential plan. In the spirit of this Year of Saint Paul, his Letter to the Ephesians is a great read regarding this call from the Lord. The Biblical view or mind-set is that God is present and active in history. Verily, it is all His story (forgive the cheesy cliché)!

This Biblical idea of the Lord's active presence in history has come up in the Synod of Bishops on The Word God (happening in Rome right now). What does this mean for me (and you) personally? God is actively present and interested in every detail of my life, my history. It is in this context that we can really start to understand this concept of a calling from God. He is calling you to be a part of what He is doing in the world!

Each one of us has been given such a short span of time to live on this earth. Now is our window of opportunity to do good, serve the Lord and get to heaven. It is as if a relay race baton has been handed to us. Now it is our turn to run around the track of life, then we will hand the baton on to the next generation. "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace" (Acts 20:24).

Wisdom quote: "The history of salvation is not a small event, on a poor planet, in the immensity of the universe. It is not a minimal thing, which happens by chance on a lost planet. It is the motivation for everything, the motivation for creation. Everything is created so that this story can exist, the encounter between God and His creature" (Pope B16 10/07/08).