Saturday, September 10, 2022

Gospel Acclamation: Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

The world needed, and still needs, reconciliation with God. Through the first fall and the subsequent original sin, human beings lost their initial intimacy with God. Think of how Adam and Eve would walk with Him in the coolness of the evening in Eden. This was perfect intimacy. Yet our first parents chose to sin. They misused their free will, thinking that they could become like God and decide for themselves what was right and wrong. They fell, and they passed their fallen nature down to all of us. The intimacy was shattered.

But God did not allow this brokenness to remain. He longed for reconciliation, for a reestablishment of intimacy. So in His own perfect time, He sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to reconcile the world to Himself by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. We are still weak and sinful people. Our human nature is still fallen. But now we have the opportunity to receive and embrace God's saving grace and find forgiveness for our sins. We have a chance for intimacy with God now and then completely in Heaven.

Notice the second part of this acclamation. God entrusts to us the message of reconciliation. We are supposed to spread the good news about what Jesus has done for us. We must tell everyone of God's mercy and love and about the final destiny He desires for each of us, namely, eternal life with Him in Heaven.

Why are we not proclaiming this from the housetops? What is holding us back? Why do we not share the great gift that God has given us?

No comments:

Post a Comment