Carissimi filii Dei | God's Children

So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God. —1 John 3:10

My dear brothers and sisters,

The Apostle John in this passage gives a sweet explanation to us that we are children of God.  Our relationship with our God is so close that we can call Him: Father. 

As our Father, God certainly knows us and knows our needs.  Based on this reading I would like to say that our most important need is the removal of our sins or cleansing ourselves from our sins so that we can truly live as children of God.  Because if we sin, we are breaking the law of God, who is our own Father.

Every time we commit sin, we should realize that God, our Father, always provides the best way for us to be able to see our true selves, namely that we are children who are so loved by Him.  We have been redeemed by the Son of God, so that through him, sin has no has power and we can live well with God, our Father.

Brothers and sisters, that is the love of God, our Father, so great for us, his children.  Because he knows us, he knows our most important need, which is the cleansing of ourselves or the removal of our sins, so that we can live well with him.

Then what must we do to repay God's great love for us?  The Apostle John in this passage shows us, what we must do to repay the love of God, our Father, who has showed his love for us.  So what we need to do is: First, We should be grateful.  We are grateful because even though the world does not know us, God, our Father knows who we are.  

We should also be grateful that he has redeemed us from the power of sin.  We have a free will to leave God because of our sin and so that, we are no longer attached to God.  But God redeemed us from the power of sin, so that we can return to him and live well with him. So don't forget to thank God, our Father, for his great love for us. 

Second, we promise not to sin anymore and try to fight to avoid sin.  This is our struggle. But God knows that we struggle with our sins, so he will not remain silent.  He will help us and restore us as children created for goodness.

Let us give thanks to God, our Father who loves us so much and promise to strive to overcome our sins with his help, so that we can enjoy a life full of happiness. Amen.

Reflection on 1 John 3:1-10 by Fr. Risco Batbual, SVD

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Sicut sol in regno (Mt. 13:43)

In our reality, we find a conflict in two poles between good and bad sides symbolized by black and white, day and night, light and dark. Jesus in the Gospel utilizes wheat and darnel to describe good and bad things. The good seed will grow together with darnel. When the harvest time comes, the Son of man will send His angels to pull out the wheat and the darnel and sort them out.

We believe in a powerful God. We can imagine that if God wills, He can negate evil and let the good seed grows. But, why are there bad things in our life? God has authority.  However, He gives humankind free will. By this gift, humankind can choose freely which side he or she goes through a good or a bad side. Nevertheless, God invites people to choose to become a good seed. Therefore, we can say, if the wheat and darnel grow together, we opt to walk with goodness even though badness overshadows.

It is too often that we make a bad choice in our life. We prefer to stay in the dark rather than to stay in the light. Nevertheless, our God is merciful. He accepts everyone who wants to come to Him like a Father who is glad to welcome His child. We are invited to come to God’s house, to choose and do good things in our life for the virtuous will and shine likes the sun in the Kingdom of God.

We have been baptized and we are the children of God. The light of God’s love shines upon us and He gives us free will. What is your option? Let us pray, may God pour out His Holy Spirit to guide our heart and mind to choose the best answer in our life. God bless us.

By Fr. Aris Mada, SVD.