Sunday, July 8, 2012

Why? To Reflect God's Love, that's Why!



Why?  That is a common question in our lives.  Why me?  Why us?  Why should I get married?  Why should I go to Church?  Why have a World Meeting of Families in the first place?  Why do you want to go?  Why go through the hassle of bringing 5 small children to a foreign country?  Why?  The answer was simple for us since the beginning:  To meet Jesus Christ.  Jesus is present in our lives in 3 significant ways:  


  • When two or more are gathered in His name
  • In His Word
  • In His Most Precious Body and Blood in the Eucharist. 
Jesus, as I have been blessed to find out, WAS not a biblical or historical figure that served as a model of good behavior and morality.  He is alive!  He IS a man that was innocently subjected to brutal punishment and suffering.  He IS a man that died on a cross AFTER forgiving those who persecuted Him.  He IS a man that broke the chains of death and rose again.  He IS a man who IS in Heaven, seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.  But, Did You Know that He IS also intimately concerned with every aspect of our lives and cares about each of us as individuals?  He wants us to know that he desires us to call on Him for help in our jobs, seek His guidance in our education, ask Him for forgiveness and mercy in our shortcomings, but also to call on Him to guide our relationships whether we are discerning a new relationship or we've been married for decades.  Jesus wants to be part of our lives as Men; Brothers, Coworkers, Friends, Teammates, but let us not forget our most important roles; Husbands, and Fathers.  For those of us who have been called to the daunting task of being a Husband, and/or Father, Jesus wants to give us the strength to introduce our families to His Divine Mercy and lead them to His kingdom for all eternity!


We wanted to meet this caring Jesus, the Jesus  that since the beginning, was the Word and knew he would one day be proclaimed to a million families in Milan, the Jesus present in the Eucharist during Mass with the Holy Father, and the Jesus very present when all the families from across the world gathered together in His name with the Successor of Peter, the Rock on whom he built His Church to share the trials and hardships of raising families, keeping marriages together, paying for healthcare, losing jobs and all the other crosses we may come to bear with Families in today's world. 



 
As a man, I like to have strength, I like to be part of a team, I like to know I can DO something.  Never did I feel more solidarity and strength, more empowered than when I was around other families, watching other men love their wives, nurture their children and love our God.  Then the Holy Father commissioned us: Go Out and Change the World!  How? With God's Love.  One family at a time.  If we raise our children to know the immense mercy and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ, then they may grow up, fully aware of their dignity as a creation in the image of God and simply be a mirror that reflects God's love to the world.  
In the words Blessed John Paul II frequently spoke, Do Not Be Afraid!  My fellow Husbands and Fathers, although the task is a daunting one, we need not fret for we do not have to be the source of light and love for our families as God has already provided that for us.  All we have to do is not be DE-flectors, but rather RE-flectors of God's love and point it to our families, who are in need of us more than we may ever know.

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