Someone recently shared with us in the parish office this brief reflection: “Finding God in a beautiful sunset or the warm smile of a loved one is fairly easy. To discover God in a pandemic or in festering wounds or in any disease is much harder. Saint Aloysius Gonzaga and countless other saints have taught us to search out God in those who need our help and care. They have taught us to look beyond the external and into the heart and spirit of our fellow humans, where we will find God’s love is alive in everyone.”
What does God require of us? That we long to be saints, by loving as God loves! God is love, and everything our Creator does flows from His love for us (1 John 4,7-21). The love of God comes first and the love of neighbor is firmly grounded in the love of God (Mark 12,30-31). Faith in God and hope in God’s promises strengthen us in the love of God and care for our neighbor.
What else does God require of us? That we remember that God does not abandon us; God goes with us, even now in this time of trial and testing. Especially in this moment, it is important for us to anchor our hearts in the hope that we have in God’s Son Christ Jesus. Now is the time to intensify our prayers and sacrifices for the love of God and the love of our neighbor.
Let us remember, too, that Jesus experienced the full measure of human suffering. He suffered and died for us and for our salvation and, no matter what befalls us, be it sickness or tribulations, our hope in Jesus’ love will never disappoint us. We will find the grace to join our sufferings to those of Jesus and, as we do so, we will come to realize something more of the depth and beauty of God’s love for us. Growth in holiness doesn’t happen only when times are relatively calm and peaceful; often, we grow in holiness and in God’s likeness when we are called to love in extraordinary ways, as surely we are being challenged to do in these present days
