Deacon Tom Writes,
“But Wait! There’s More!”
Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B
If you watch any television at all, you are probably familiar with those nagging commercials that bark the mantra… “Wait, there’s more!” The announcer then chimes in, “If you call now, we will double your order…That’s right, there’s more!” I’m sure they must sell a lot of their gadgets; otherwise, they wouldn’t be spending all that money on advertising. One technique that makes them so successful, I suspect, is that they are savvy marketer appealing to the consumer’s appetite for getting something for nothing… that is, “for free”. It seems that St. John had a touch of that Madison Avenue mindset too by the approach he takes in today’s Second Reading. John is promoting “God’s love for us”. He tells us that God’s love enables us to think of ourselves, “as children of God. But wait, he seems to say, not only are we children of God now, but wait, there’s even more…. “What we shall be has not yet been revealed”…..but when it is, “we shall be like him”.
Over and over again in John’s writings we discover this theme of God’s love for us and that God’s love transforms our very being, our very essence, our very identity. As John says today, we are God’s children now! And what we shall become later on, although not known now, is even greater in that “we shall be like him”. God continues to mold us into His likeness.
As I read this passage, I recalled being in Amsterdam at the Rembrandt Museum. On exhibit were many of his paintings along with some self-portraits. This passage from John is beautiful imagery that expresses God, the master artisan, doing a self-portrait on the canvas that is our lives. We are made in God’s image and likeness and God, who John tell us “is” love, is always bringing out the best in us so that we reflect the Divine Love that is His gift to us.
If we could just begin to understand the gift of love we have been given, we would realize that it is something that we cannot keep to ourselves. We are God’s self-portrait. We are images, reflections of the artist. We cannot hoard or squander the outpouring of the divine essence we have been given; we can only reflect that love to those in need... the lonely, the brokenhearted, the fearful, the forgotten. God’s very presence is with us, forming and shaping our world and filling it today with His love. And that is sufficient reason for us to be grateful today and to give thanks to God… But wait…. there’s more to come……!!!
May the Risen Lord continue to bless us with His peace and Joy so that we may enjoy the many blessings that He freely bestows upon us.
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
Please Visit www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer.
OTHER RESOURCE
Recommended Reading: Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton addresses the pleasure of a solitary life, as well as the necessity for quiet reflection in an age when so little is private.
Recommended YouTube Video: Sit back and enjoy Thomas Merton feed your soul on YouTube - Thoughts in Solitude.
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