Choose Wisely

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, June 30th, 2024:
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Wisdom
1.13-15; 2.23-24 

​God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. For he created all things so that they might exist; the generative forces of the world are wholesome, and there is no destructive poison in them, and the dominion of Hades is not on earth. For righteousness is immortal.

For God created man for incorruption, and made him in the image of his own eternity, but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

I work with young adults in university through Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO), and the questions they ask me most often are
 
“If God is a good God, why is there war?” 
“Why is there illness?” 
“Why did He take away the person I loved the most?” 

I honestly ask these same questions myself at times, especially when I’m going through something difficult. 

But the harsh truth is that we, in our humanity, did this to ourselves. It started with our first parents, Adam and Eve. We’ve been running through this cycle of “free will” for ages – moving toward God, then separating from Him. It was our separation from God that brought sin and death into this world. Why did God allow that to happen? Because God is a good Father and He wanted His children to make their own choices; He wanted them to freely choose Him. 

We messed up – and we still manage to mess up daily. We still have this exact same freedom God gave to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, which is why bad things still happen here on Earth. God, though, does not want these things to happen to us, which is why He sent His only Son into this world to die for each and every one of us. Jesus freely chose to save us from sin and death so that we can have eternal life and be reunited with our Father. 

God knows that we are going to fail over and over again, and that we are not perfect. He wants us to freely come to His Son: to be baptized, to believe, and to repent. Let us make the choice to live for eternity every day, as He invites us to. No matter how far away you feel from Him, He is waiting for you. The gap between humanity and God has been bridged by Jesus –  we are made new. That is the good news! 

Now, here is my challenge for you (if you feel called). When was the last time you received the sacrament of reconciliation? If it’s been over three months (like me), I challenge you to go sometime this week. Make that choice to repent, and to be made new again. God created us in His own image. He who is perfect made us worthy of His love again. Let us remember the cross and be thankful for Him daily.




​Originally posted on June 26, 2018, by Erica Gould​

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