God's Will or My Will?

T here are atheists and those who say that they believe in God. Amongst the believers are many who do not go to church -- any church. They don't want anyone telling them about what to believe or what to do. The pope, bishops and priests are an annoyance to them. Does this attitude show any faith? Do these persons really believe in God? Or do they believe that somewhere there is a God without caring what He says? Let's look at this. 

If you don't want to hear someone telling you about God and his will, from whom do you learn about Him? The only authority you have is yourself. You determine who God is and what He teaches us. You may as well worship yourself because you are the god.

God exists. He created us. He did not just leave us on our own to live and then just to die, to cease to exist. God revealed Himself. Where do we learn what He told us about Himself? The answer is: faith and reason. They are complementary to each other. We can reason to his existence through nature and what we observe in life. We can understand what He has shown us through his direct communication with man. We find this in his written word, Sacred Scripture. But, there were many other things that He said which were not written down. St. John says: "There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written." (21:25) This is called Sacred Tradition. It's not like ordinary tradition, like custom. It is the revealed word of God as entrusted to the Church to be passed on to all in every generation.

Out of humility we always have to ask is it my will or God's will that I am doing. Is it my way of seeing things or am I docile to God's word? Even in the Bible we see people who stubbornly understood things apart from God. Pope Francis in his General Audience address on April 23 reminded us that Thomas the Apostle doubted Him, Mary Magdalene did not recognize Him, and the disciples of Emmaus who felt sad and defeated because they thought that He died once and for all. These holy persons were trapped in their own limited perceptions. The reality was different, even if miraculous. Jesus was risen -- alive!

May we always be humble enough not to depend only on ourselves, but to have the courage and faith to depend on God.

Father Stanley

Barbara Bonney "Laudate Dominum" Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart