IN THE LORD WE TRUST
The Jews exiled in Babilon were losing hope and many of them felt that the Lord had forgotten them in their affliction. The Lord, through the Profhet Isaiah, sent them the following brief, moving message "Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb?Even should she forget, I will never forget you" (Isaiah, 49, 14-15).
The close and wonderful relationship between the mother and the child of her womb, is the basis of the image God uses in this message. Even if a mother or father could wipe out the memory of a child, even if a woman could forget the infant in her womb, God promises that we will never be forgotten. We are held in God's hands, the beloved ones, embraced and held safely forever.
God loves us not because of our goodness, instead, anything of good in us is here precisely because God loved us first. From the first instant of existence, God loves every individual in the only way God can love: perfectily, completely. This love is personal and even more intimate than between mother and child. This love is faithful, despite our sins and betrayals. We are the beloved children of a caring Father who created us out of love, and has in store for us an eternity of happiness.
The great tragedy of humanity is that it has deviated from God's plan. We have not put God at the center of our life. We keep on trying to serve two or more masters. Although we claim that our allegiance is to God, we keep on trying to serve two or more masters.
We should never forget Jesus' warning "No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon" (Mt. 6, 24-) The main purpose of our life on earth is not the satisfaction of our material or physical needs, but to work as God's partners in building his kingdom of justice and peace. God wants that we responsibly provide for our needs through honest work, but also fully trusting in Him, without anxiety and without losing sight of our eternal destiny. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all others things will be given you besides".(Mt. 6, 33)
Fr. Cipriano Bontacchio