Ordinary Time, 3rd Sunday (B) Instead of another homily on being called by God, I want to talk about a relationship with God. First I want to explain that relationship with God is at the very heart fo Catholicism. All the key people in the Bible are called into a relationship with God. And not just any relationship, but the unbreakable family bond called a covenant. It is like God became family with Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, and Moses.
Jesus to establish the new and eternal covenant. "Come, follow me," he tells his disciples. He goes on to say, "I have called you friends." And finally, "As the Father has loved me, so I love you." The new covenant is such a deep, personal, and intimate relationship that the closest analogy is the love between a husband and a wife.
All the saints experienced God in this personal way. Every Christian needs to discover that God is real and to fall in love with Him. Without love, all church teaching looks like a bunch of restrictive rules. When you fall in love, all the rules start to finally make sense. We love him because he first loved us.
(23 Jan 2020)
Going Deeper: 1) Why do you come to Mass on Sunday?
2) When did God become real for you?
3) When did you fall in love with Jesus?