Focus on God’s Goodness

We’ve had the privilege of knowing a number of wonderful priests who have helped us over our lifetime. One in particular always exudes the love of God when he offers Mass; with a great smile, he begins with “ God is so happy to see you here at mass this morning.”  I once thought that maybe he just has a cheerful personality and was naturally happy…. and maybe that’s true. But I believe it’s more than that. I believe he decides each morning to live in the truth of God’s love. I believe he first speaks the truth of God’s love to himself and then he’s able to speak this truth to the rest of us. 

This morning it seems that he may have had to work a bit harder to keep the truth of God’s love front and center. He first mentioned the desperate shape of the world, with wars and rumors of war seemingly everywhere…it seemed that this was weighing heavily on him. Yet he shifted our focus off of these many problems onto the greatness of God and how our trust in the Lord is the answer. As this happened, you could feel a lightness begin to touch our souls. 

There are clearly many ongoing difficulties in this world. I won’t recount them, but we all know what they are. It’s an ongoing battle to keep one’s eyes on the goodness of God and not on these trials of life. We need to carefully guard our heart and mind so we don’t get overwhelmed with the ”bad news”. It takes work. 

Focusing on the word of God is a priority in “keeping our head on straight”. The things of this world are passing away, but the word of God is true and will last forever. Paul’s letter to the Philippians is a big help.“ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil. 4:4-9)

So, let’s focus on “rejoicing in the Lord always…..having no anxiety…. with thanksgiving letting our requests be made known to God….thinking about what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious… anything of excellence, worthy of praise. And let’s stay away from being downcast and anxious, from complaining, from focusing on lies and things dishonorable and unjust and ugly and rude and shoddy, etc. 

In order to do this, we need to watch where we allow our mind to go. Some people I know are putting limits on their input from the media …. where often the content presented is not true, or only partially true, or perhaps true but presented with an anxious or angry spirit. It can leave us with a downcast spirit, with a certain hopelessness. This is not good. While we have a responsibility to stay informed, we can’t allow the news of the world to override the news of the kingdom. God’s truth is eternal and must keep top spot in our heart.  

Listening to music that lifts up our soul is another way we’re able to keep our head on straight. Listen to “The Greatness of God” sung by CeCe Wayans and see if your spirit doesn’t soar a bit. If it does, that is very good news.  https://youtu.be/7T5qi7QqOMc