Growing conscious of God's faithfulness and love

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 4, 2020: Remembering St. John Marie Vianney, Cure of Ars
Jeremiah 30: 1-2, 12-15, 18-22; Matthew 15: 1-2, 10-14

"You shall be my people and I will be your God" - every time that we hear this statement... we need to be filled with an awe about the unfailing love of God. What does really matter what I do and what my merits are, in front of this boundless love of God? What do my so called great sacrifices and pious practices measure up to, in comparison to the immeasurable love of God? Hence a constant question that should be present in my mind always is this: how worthy is my faithfulness to God vis-a-vis the faithfulness of God towards me? 

The only concern that should fill my mind is how to translate that awe into attitudes, attitudes of absolute gratefulness, total obedience and boundless humility towards God. If these attitudes develop in us, how peaceful we can grow to be! They would reduce to the minimum our tendency to judge others or consider others unbearable. How irritable we get and how fast we lose our patience with people. Between husbands and wives, between friends, between colleagues, between collaborators in the same team...how forbearing are we? How patient and non judgmental can we prove to be! That would be a reflection of how conscious we are of the unending love and unfailing acceptance of God.

John Maria Vianney whom we remember today, stands out in this character. He was not a great intellectual or an aristocratic legend who commanded respect instantly! He was a simple man, humble person but profound in his consciousness of God's faithfulness and love. It is with that quality that he brought the entire faith community around him, back to a filial relationship with God. How much we become people and persons of God depends much on how conscious we grow of God's faithfulness and love!

Note: For a few pictures taken at Ars where the Saint laboured...go to link:
https://www.facebook.com/antonychristy/media_set?set=a.2126828617388398&type=3