God Is With Us

Day's Saints
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Blessed Adam Bargielski, Martyr

Gospel Matthew 1:18-23
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means "God is with us."

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How quickly you forget what I showed you,
and you fall down. Stand up and walk
with me.

Why do we so often act as if God was far from us? He is close to us, very near to us, physically as well as spiritually, in His affections and feelings, and we do well to guard against hurting Him who has been hurt for us already too much.

We have committed sins, offending and repulsing Him, whom we should be intent on worshipping. What else should the children of God do in the presence of Almighty God? Do we take advantage of the grace to be close to Him in our affections and feelings? Granted, the work of God sometimes calls for sacrifices, and some of them, severe sacrifices, but given our proclivity toward sin, it is the least painful path to being freed of sins, particularly repetitive sins, habitual sins. Do not act as if we have been left no defense, because that is not true. If He seems to stand off, it is to see if we can walk yet, and whether we will. If a sinner is repentant and shows signs of resistance, the Lord will watch to see our first steps as a free child.

And who wishes to forever be a toddler? A child strives with all its might to speak when spoken to, even though the brain lacks the substance to enable speech; still the child will mimic every nuance of speech directed toward him. Evil wishes to convince us that sinful acts bear fruit immediately and strives to blind us to the truth, that the fruit of sin is death and is bitter to the taste.

No sin produces true happiness. It lacks the dimension of divine satisfaction and contentment, though the excitement of living as part of Jesus  overwhelms the soul with delight. Equally compelling is the realization that life with God is eternal and unfading and lacks the weakness of earthly satisfactions which quickly fade and are forgotten, until something stirs desire in  us again, imperiling our soul.

How to get an entire planet to desire God's goodness? He will love the human race forever, and work to give us or place with Him in Heaven. He does not forsake or abandon us, and those who will practice abandonment to the Will of God will find themselves promoted to a higher place, from which vantage point, we may see more and the more we see, the more we will love Him, and the more He will love us. He will love us without reserve, as He has always. If we saw the splendor of the Lord, there would be no question in our mind that He is superior in every respect to any earthly thing, or any earthly friend. He is not like the fickle hearts that flare up flames of love for a time, until some other fascination captures our imagination and he flies off leaving us to grieve.

The Lord grieves if we abandon Him, and He will point out what we abandoned and that we will only know happiness if we return to Him.

Do not wait until the universe is dissolving around us, to make up your mind how much you love Him. If your love is weak, ask Him to strengthen it, then do not grow discouraged of the strengthening makes you work as you have not worked before. You will learn to walk, and then to run until you can fly and be anywhere you want. You should want to fly with all your heart. The view from high is breathtaking in the Heaven of God, which is your homeland.