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Sherry Antonetti ponders how our jadedness and despair can only be conquered by God's love, which we can mirror through our words and actions.


Life is sacred.

The world forgets this reality. It gets jaded by the knowledge of how much we historically have messed things up—and we go on doing so. It despairs that things will ever get better because the problems of sin in this world seem impossible to fight, to defeat, to end. We long for a reality we cannot fully know here. We do not recognize that that desire for a world without suffering, where joy never ceases, where we know no fear and no one feels abandoned, forgotten, alone, or lost, is a longing to be lodged deep in God's heart, to know God, to be in Heaven.

Longing is not enough. What Catholics should proclaim is what our faith reveals. Heaven begins here, when we love another person, when we wash feet, when we serve others, when we respond to harshness with unexpected generosity or kindness. When we go to Adoration, we are face to face with God, and when we consume the Eucharist, we've invited Christ to enter into our hearts and take possession of them, to help us love God and others more fully. We are asking to bring Heaven to others when we receive.

Thus we should know no despair is bigger than God's love, and no suffering beyond God's capacity to fully heal—not just physically, but completely. God offers us His friendship, and with it the promise that we can face even all the trials the world presents. It is a startling reality that we, as adults in this world that seems forever brimming on the edge of rage and despair, forget that God promises a peace the world cannot create or give, but only receive.

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God promises a peace the world cannot create or give, but only receive. #catholicmom

 

If you are scrolling through Facebook or dodging snarling drivers on your commute or facing angry coworkers, remember that God wants to give them that peace the world cannot, possibly through you and your words and your actions. Pray to bring Heaven to others, and together, all of us will help the world discover, there is something better than here and now, and it is the God we all long for.

 

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Copyright 2022 Sherry Antonetti
Images: Canva