“God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all”. For me, this one sentence sums up my reason for living. God’s light is all good, all truth, and all love. God offers mankind an invitation to live with him in his divine light – pretty amazing isn’t it? Each and every human being was created by God in his image and we are all invited to flourish in his light. We are all invited to be “Children of the Light”. Why would we ever choose anything else?
God’s Goodness
Our soul certainly desires to unite with God’s infinite goodness and looking at the human person we see an intrinsic desire to avoid pain and darkness. When we suffer pain we desire healing and respite – we seek what God offers. As human beings we are created to naturally orientate ourselves towards God and his goodness. Looking at the joyous face of a cooing baby we witness the human desire for goodness. Yet, still, we find ourselves living outside of the light during various periods of our lives.
Alas, we live in a fallen and sinful world where temptations abound. On top of that, we have interior personal inclinations that tempt us away from the light. Like Herod, we are free to choose anger and cruelty. Whatever we choose a ripple effect extends into the world. Herod’s choice to follow through on his anger and fury resulted in untold pain and heartache. I cannot imagine the deep despair that covered Bethlehem after the massacre.
Free Will
God has given us free will to choose him. With this gift comes an opportunity to live a life in God’s light where our body, heart, and soul are at peace. We are constantly given opportunities to choose God, the key is identifying the opportunities. I believe that becoming aware of our thoughts and emotions is the key to making choices congruent with God’s light and love. Every person has thoughts opposing God’s love from time to time, and likewise, every person has thoughts reflective of God’s love.
Today’s Gospel reveals that Herod ordered the horrendous massacre after he “became furious”. He had a horrible thought that arose from fury and he then acted upon it. Herold made a choice. Undoubtedly, under Herod’s fury lived the ugly sin of pride.
Ripples of Light and Love
Like the angels glorifying God in heaven, we are invited to glorify God while we walk the earth. When we glorify God his light spreads over us, through us, and into the world. That’s a ripple effect worthy of our life. When thoughts arise within my interior tempting me to take an action outside of God’s love and light I try to ask myself a question. “Carolyn, is this worthy of your life? Is following through on that thought worth the piece of your life you will give it?” After all, we only have one human life. Every action we make is a part of the total sum of our human existence.
What type of ripples do we want to put out in the world? I’m trying to release ripples of love and light into the world – something that I can only do with the help and direction of our Triune God. Left to my own devices I’ll stumble around in the darkness. Fortunately for you and I, and unlike Herod, we have the risen Christ dwelling within our interior. He will show us the way into the light.
Global Light for Christ (GLFC)
If you are trying to love more I invite you to share your petition below. I for one am trying to extend ripples of greater love into the world. I know I need the help of my fellow sojourners and, most importantly, I need the help of our Triune God. With our prayers we can lift each other up in love and together we can allow a beautiful ripple to extend across the globe.
My Book – Understanding The Jesus Code
I can see that a lot of you (hundreds!) ordered the FREE Kindle version of my book on Amazon last weekend! I hope you are enjoying what I have written. I certainly put my heart and soul into my book in an attempt to ripple forth greater love and light into the world. If for some reason you were not able to take advantage my offer and you would like a copy I am offering a FREE PDF version to our Catholic Moment community as a Christmas present through December 31st, 2018. Click here to download your FREE PDF copy.
God bless all of you. See you next week Friday – Carolyn
If you would like to learn more about my work and my ministry I invite you to visit my website: CarolynBerghuis.com.
The Holy Innocents – pray for us.
God the Father – hold us in your Fatherly love.
Sacred Heart of Jesus – heal us with your divine love.
God the Holy Spirit – immerse us in divine love.
Today’s Readings 1 John 1:5-2:2; Psalm 124:2-3, 4-5, 7CD-8; Gospel Matthew 2:13-18
