Believing is seeing
Sponsored
Catholic365 is sponsored by
Road to Purity
Let us consider a major theme of the Bible: God loves and cares for his people. Consider Bible stories about God’s interaction with people both directly and indirectly. His walks in the Garden of Eden. The dreams of Joseph and Jacob. The fiery finger of God, chiseling his commandments for Moses. God’s messenger sent to Mary. And so on. Consider the crucible he has allowed many of us to endure. Think about the tests he allowed many to undergo. Think about God as parent – God the Father.
Unlike many parents, God created us deliberately. He created us, as the Bible’s major theme implies, because he loves and cares for us. I think, though, there may be more to that. God does love and care for his people, but I believe we can add that God desires his people to love and care for him as well. Even though God’s love is unconditional, it still can be a two way street. In Leviticus 26:12, it says, “I shall live among you; I shall be your God and you will be my people…” This shows us God’s desire for a relationship in which as God loves us, and we love him in return.
We can infer by the multiple examples of blessings and praising of God throughout the Old and New Testaments that God truly wants us to love him as much as he loves us in both words and deeds.
Even though God may already know we love him, it’s always nice to hear.
Dean P. Johnson is in the Diaconate Candidacy Program for the Diocese of Camden and is a member of Mary Mother of Mercy Parish, both in New Jersey. He holds a BA in English and an MA in Writing both from Rowan University. He has had essays published in newspapers across the country including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Examiner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Houston Chronicle, Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger, Courier Post (Southern NJ), and Philadelphia Inquirer among many others. He also has had creative nonfiction, short stories and poetry appear in several literary magazines including Chronogram, Foundling Review, JMWW Journal, ArtWord Quarterly, Wolf Head Quarterly, Sylvia, Circle Magazine and The Fourth River among several others.
His first novel, MOONDREAMS, and two collections of essays, CONFESSIONS OF A FRUITCAKE CONVERT and THEY DON’T CALL IT A NUMBER TWO FOR NOTHING, are available as ebooks on Kindle. His poetry chapbook, Pyramids in Nature, is currently out of print.
Dean also has pieces in several books including The Pressures of Teaching (Kaplan), Viewpoints (Wadsworth), and Writing the Critical Essay: Smoking (Greenhaven).
Dean P. Johnson is an administrator and teacher of English at Camden Academy Charter High School in Camden, NJ and is an adjunct professor of writing at Rowan University and Camden County College. Dean lives in New Jersey with his wife of 25 years and their five children along with a Basset hound and cat all of whom provide an endless parade of writing material.
Read more at
http://catholicstarherald.org/putting-the-saints-to-work-on-a-regular-basis
