Genesis 1: 26 -28 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
These last several weeks, I have attended three funerals. Funerals make me think about my life — this life that is from God, and what have I done with it — am I still on the narrow road following Jesus or did I switch lanes into the wider and more open road following evil.
Life is short, and when our time is up we will leave everything behind. Honestly, when you hear this, does this make you look closely into your life and change your ways? Do you still use the Ten Commandments as your moral compass? Two of the three people whose funeral I attended, died suddenly — one started work at 3 a.m. and by a little after 7 a.m., his wife received a call that he died at work, he was only 62; the other was a good friend of our oldest son who, after spending time with friends that evening, went home and never woke up, he was only 34. The third was a coworker of my other son, his doctors told him his days were numbered due to cancer, he died at 42. As I am writing this, I heard about a young man who committed suicide yesterday.
John 3;16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
In the Poem of the Man-God, Jesus said “It is one’s will that matters in things. Both in good and in evil, when one falls without the will to follow, I forgive.” He also said “Meditate on the power of the free will, on which you are the absolute arbiters. Through it you can have Heaven or Hell. Meditate on what persisting in sin means.” Although He is our King, God did not make us robots. He gave us the gift of free will.
O mankind, what have you done with your free will? Is God, the Giver of life, still part of your life, or are you now drowning in pride, too busy enjoying the things of this world, too busy pursuing the things of this world so others may praise you? What is the state of your soul now? What if you only have 24 hours to live? Do you still believe that there is God, that God is alive, and that God loves you so much? Or are you now embarrass to admit that you believe in God and so you avoid talking about God in public because you fear that this world — this society — will judge and think you are crazy if you do? Do you still believe that you have a soul that will live forever — in Heaven or in Hell — after our physical bodies die? If you believe that you have a soul, are you feeding it or are you starving it to the point of death? With your free will, are you continuing to choose to have a relationship with your cell phone and the internet rather than with God?
After the sin of Adam and Eve, do you know how much it cost to become children of God again, to reopen the gates of Heaven, to give us a chance to return Home to Heaven? Jesus came down from Heaven, in all humility, to save us, in obedience to the will of the Father. Although King of the universe, He chose to be born in a manger, stripped of all the material comforts of this world, closest to the poorest of this world. His first guests were the poor shepherds and the animals. O, as God-Man, how much He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, from the scourges on his body while tied on a pillar, from the carrying of the heavy cross of our sins which caused the scourges to become one big deep wound on his shoulder, and His unfathomable pain from the crucifixion and death on the cross?
O people of this generation, how did we respond to the Giver of Life? When was the last time we prayed to God? Are we trying to join those who want to erase God from the face of this earth? With your free will, wake up and return to God while there is time! Open your eyes and your hearts to what is happening around you and in this world. Even nature is shouting – REPENT and RETURN TO GOD. Open your hearts so Jesus can come in and bring you His light and love! Be love for God is love….
And with your life witness to this world while there is time. With your free will, be bold in proclaiming to this world that the same God who gave us the Ten Commandments, who parted the Red Sea, who brought Lazarus from the dead, who gave us the Holy Spirit, is still with us, loving us, waiting for us to return to Him like the prodigal son who returned to his Father, waiting for us to acknowledge Him, waiting for us to surrender our whole life to Him so we might have true life. When we leave this earth, we can only bring with us all the good that we have done for others out of love and all our unconfessed sins!
As for me and my household, we will continue to serve the Lord. I am going to leave you with this favorite prayer, The Nicene Creed, which proclaims to this world what we believe:
I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
• Gina Del Rosario is a Roman Catholic who was born and raised in the Philippines, and is a parishioner at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church in Juneau. “Living & Growing” is a weekly column written by different authors and submitted by local clergy and spiritual leaders. It appears every Saturday on the Juneau Empire’s Faith page
