Let Us Worship God
Jesus said to him: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
We are taught from childhood that God’s love is infinite, that His mercy and ability to forgive us are magnanimous, and that we simply need to, with a contrite heart, acknowledge our sins in order to receive God’s saving power. This act of reconciliation leads us to open our hearts so that God can do His life-giving work within us, filling us with His love.
We are taught to seek forgiveness from God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, receiving His help, but no one provides us with an instruction manual for how to correspond to God’s love with our own love. We forget that in every person who suffers, who is in need of our compassion, we may encounter Jesus Himself.
Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”(Matthew 25:40)
We are also taught that God, being Love itself, does not need us to love Him, because His love for us is unconditional. Yet, what father does not feel immense satisfaction and joy when he hears, “I love you” from his children? Our human condition is both to receive and to give, to be loved and to love; and loving our neighbor is corresponding to God.
As Christian pilgrims, we go through life overcoming obstacles, enduring tests, resisting pain and suffering “in this valley of tears,” but also savoring with joy the fruit of God’s love in the landscapes, in the wonderful beauty of nature, in the birth of a child, in the eyes of a loved one looking at us with admiration and wonder. This is why no one wants to die. We know that the price of each human life is priceless. No one wants to miss out on the constant wonder of feeling alive, of breathing, of feeling a cool breeze or raindrops on our face, of tasting food, walking, running, singing, or dancing. That is why we fear death so much.
For deeply faithful Christians, however, this death is just one more step of transition in our pilgrimage; it is the moment when an incomplete and imperfect being becomes a holy, full, and eternal being. Death means that we will be closer to experiencing true life in abundance, returning to our true heavenly home, coming back like the prodigal son to his father. We have been promised a Heaven full of angels and holy people, who worship God in constant ecstasy, intoxicated by the life-giving light and power of God Himself, as absolutely complete and fulfilled beings.
…whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:14)
To adore involves intense admiration, a sense of reverence and awe before someone. Adoration is an elevated form of love. If we believe this, then why don’t we start worshiping God right now? Why not venture to taste that piece of Heaven God gifts us with through the coming of the Holy Spirit when we open the eyes of our soul? Is it enough to say to Jesus, “I love you”? Let us dare to aspire to the full, abundant life right now, constantly saying to God from the heart: “I adore You.”
Fernando Dangond, MD, was born in Colombia, South America. He and his wife, Monica, live in Weston, MA, and have been blessed with two sons Daniel and David and a beautiful daughter, Christina (the inspiration behind Build the Faith) who left to be with the Lord 7 years ago.
Dr. Dangond, is a neurologist and scientist who works for a pharmaceutical company developing medicines to treat devastating neurological diseases.
