Deacon Tom Anthony

We are constantly being called to holiness by our Lord Jesus Christ. We come to him in our brokenness and it is only through him that we can begin to repair ourselves. We are engaged in a spiritual battle that puts us at odds with society. We are confronted with temptation and the attraction of complaisance in the face of this call. We can easily do nothing and continue living our lives without the influence of our faith and what it can do or we can make a commitment to renew ourselves every day. The choice is ultimately up to us. Through our baptism the floodgates of love and grace were opened to us. God has so much love for us that he wants to forgive our sins and envelop us in his loving embrace. We naturally struggle against this in a very strange way. We find ourselves in a state of rebellion. Sometimes we don't even know why. This is part of our fallen nature. We know who Jesus is. We feel his presence and we know that he has influenced our entire life yet we fight to maintain our independence at the detriment of our salvation. But Jesus is patient and waits for us to tire from fighting. When we are exhausted and desperate, he knows that we will return to him.

Jesus' mercy and love is endless. We tend to see things in a different way. We measure everything by limits and boundaries. It is hard to comprehend that God has no limits.
There is nothing beyond God because he is all encompassing. No one is beyond hope and salvation. Satan will try to convince us that we do not need God and that we are a hopeless cause. Through the power of suggestion and self-depreciation Satan will try to destroy us. We risk becoming prisoners of self-doubt which can lead to destruction. The challenge is not to doubt ourselves and not to doubt God. The foundation of our faith is that God so loved the world that he gave us his only son to be crucified so that we could attain eternal life. This message should not be reduced in its importance but should be magnified through our thoughts, actions, and deeds. The more we react to this fact in a positive manner the more gifts we will receive in return. God promises that these gifts will be poured out over us but we must be prepared to accept them. Our relationship with God needs to be two-fold: a relationship of giving and receiving.

Salvation and living a life with God is a great responsibility. We must treat it as such. We cannot put it in the background of our lives but must put it in the forefront. We gain strength through a constant acknowledgment of our acceptance of salvation and the relationship with God. We can then construct our lives around this in the proper manner. To help in this exercise we must utilize Sacred Scripture, a rich prayer life, and guidance of the Church. All these are tools made available to us by God. All must be used together. If we choose not to use any of them then our relationship with God will be incomplete. We will then be missing out.

Never underestimate the power of Satan and our own stupidity. We naturally choose the easier and most pleasing road over the difficult one. Living a life of sinfulness and ignoring our creator is the much easier path. It can also be very pleasing at times in the short-run. But in the long-term, it will lead to destruction; not only of ourselves but for our families and those we surround ourselves with. We must strive to overcome these temptations and make a difference in our own lives and those of our community. We can then learn what God's love and mercy truly are.

Deacon Tom