Dear Friends,
Did you hear the amazing words in today’s first reading? It is the last line of a beautiful reading from the prophet Zephaniah:
“The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
he will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.”
Are you surprised? God rejoices over you! God sings joyfully because of you! Perhaps you are thinking this is a case of mistaken identity. God must be rejoicing over someone else, this is simply a wrong number call or God is thinking I am someone else. Nope. The reading is clear, God is singing a song today as if God was at a festival and the song is about YOU!
I know, you are still saying, “that cannot be right.” So, the reading also tells you why this can happen: God will renew you; and when he does, you will be so lovely that God himself will make songs about you and for you, and God himself will sing them to you. God does the work of transforming you into something that he desires to tell the whole world.
In the Gospel today, we hear that John the Baptist is announcing “GOOD NEWS.” The Baptist made it clear that the coming of God in the person of Jesus would mean good news to those whose lives were “fruitful” in ways that show repentance and bad news to those whose lives did not produce such fruit.
When questioned by the crowds as to what precisely “fruitful” living entailed, he replied concretely: don’t cheat, don’t extort, don’t falsely accuse, be content with your wages, and share food and clothing. And how is that good news? To paraphrase again: Under the reign of God, your life and what you do with it matter. Whatever your role—tax collector, soldier, business person—live it justly, and the world will be a better place and your destiny will be with God…as God sings a song about you.
Another piece of GOOD NEWS is that Jesus has offered us ongoing forgiveness. Not just once, but as often as we seek it. This week, Tuesday evening at 7:00, we will have a Service of Reconciliation with four priests present to offer you God’s love and forgiveness. Here is an easy opportunity to receive this great gift of God’s forgiving love. We will listen briefly to the Word of God and then have a chance to place before a priest the sins we want God to remove. And, most importantly, to hear the words – “through the ministry of the church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you of your sins…”
Please, come and join us and experience this life-giving gift from God. Come and enjoy God’s peace and love. It truly is GOOD NEWS. God is doing the work of transforming your life. God wants to sing a song about you.
Peace,
Fr. Damian