by Deacon Michael Bickerstaff | July 17, 2022 12:05 am
Jesus stands at the door and knocks. Will you let him in?
God loves you. He brought you to life. He sustains you in life. He invites you to eternal life in communion with him, sharing in his beatitude and glory.
But he does not simply wait for you in heaven. He comes to you in this life.
The Father sent the Son into the world so that the world might be saved through him. The Father, through the Son, sends the Holy Spirit to set us apart and bring us to the fullness of life. All of us should desire to live a fulfilling and purposeful life.
The Lord loves us with an unconditional love that is life-giving and unending; he wants only the best for us.
He gives himself fully to us; he wants us to give ourselves fully to him. He desires our love and friendship. Do you desire his love and friendship?
Who hasn’t worried about being able to make friends. Will I fit in? Will anyone like me… Do I realize that there is no better friend I could have than the God of the Universe who created me and loves me unconditionally, who knows my every desire better than I do, who offers me the gift of faith?
Sometimes it might seem to you that the faith you believe has no relation to your daily life. The Second Vatican Council identified this disconnect between the faith we profess and the life we lead as a principal error of our times. That was true then; it is true now.
In other words, the faith that we profess must flow from a deep, personal encounter of love with the Lord that informs our every thought, word. Jesus wants a relationship with you.
Do you struggle to live what you believe? It is easy to become distracted by the busyness of living. All too often, our priorities get mixed up and our choices and behaviors fall short of what the Lord calls us to.
You might be overwhelmed by the demands of your work, a deadline, a new project. Students face pressures to excel in school that are real, and these can come to consume you. The need to belong, to fit in, to be accepted can lead any of us to make choices we know are not healthy. Even in the family, responsibilities can distract us from the joys and blessings of family relationships and can lead to sinful behaviors like envy, jealousy, and deceit.
How can we overcome these and other obstacles to the fulness of life Jesus offers? The answer is simple… stay close to Jesus!
Jesus invites us into a personal relationship with him. The Blessed Trinity comes to dwell in our very being. How should we respond?
Our first reading recalls the Lord coming to Abraham and Sarah in the three visitors. We see the fullness of the hospitality shown these guests by the service and attention given them. The blessings of this encounter with the Lord and the long faithfulness of Abraham and Sarah gave them the child they longed for.
In today’s gospel, Jesus visits Martha and Mary. Here is the divine person through whom all things were created entering their home. What would you do if God walked through your door? How would you respond? We have this choice to make at every moment. The Lord never tires of asking us to let him come into our life. Have you let him into your life?
He calls us to a life of love in which we remain present to him as he is to us. He calls us to a life of love through service to him and others he places in our path. Our response to his invitation entails both doing and being – both action and contemplation.
But in all moments, the essential thing is to remain close to Jesus, the fulness of life, who offers you life, that you might have it abundantly.
We read in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
Jesus stands at the door and knocks. Will you let him in?
Into the Deep…
Image credit: “Jesus at the Home of Martha and Mary” (detail) by Johannes Vermeer[1], Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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