Recently these words from Scripture spoke to me. “I have come so that they may have life and have it more abundantly.”  Jesus always wants his creation to have the best of everything as we live our lives. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “Only do this action if you can give it your best shot, and I’ll make your life the fullest possible.”

Jesus assists us living life to the fullest in three different ways. First, Jesus takes away the burden of sin. Secondly, Jesus shows us how God the Father genuinely loves us and lastly, Jesus invites us to follow him all the way home to his Father’s house. When we understand what these three things mean for our salvation, we are living life to the fullest.

We can start believing this right now. As Karl Rahner, the well-known theologian once wrote, “Knowing God is more important than knowing about God!”

One way Jesus asked his creation is by preparing right this minute the life we will be living in heaven. Jesus insisted that there is only one gateway to heaven and everyone from every corner of the earth comes through that door. Once inside, the heavenly table is set for everyone. There is no prime seating. And this is something we can start realizing and living immediately.

If we stay unmoving on our journey, we will have no abundance, only inaction. For instance, if we always see our fellow travelers as strangers, and make no attempt to know, understand, or love them, we become immobile. We may be taking external steps, but no movement exists in our hearts.

If we are living life to the fullest, we see God in others, even those we may think are undeserving of that love. We need to remember that our fellow pilgrims are made in God’s image and likeness and not ours. This is a difficult lesson to learn. Jesus wants everyone open to loving everyone the same. John the Evangelist makes an even stronger point, “If we say we love God and hate our neighbor. We are liars.” That’s strong wording from a usually compassionate disciple.

Jesus came that all creation may have life to the fullest. It is a gift, freely given. We simply must choose that direction. Remember if we do it one day at a time, at the end of the journey, we will have done it for a lifetime.

Today is a wonderful day to begin. All God asks is for our cooperation, and even if tentative and halfhearted, our “yes” becomes a sacrifice of praise that gives glory to God. How blessed we will be to participate in this work!

In honor of our celebration of Independence Day, July 4, we did not post last week. I hope you enjoyed the celebration of freedom with the ones you love. Fr. DeLillio