God is always present, here and now

How many of us often feel God is distant from us and far away? Or that we are desiring God but feel so distant from God because of our sins and struggles? 

The paradox is that God is always close to us, present at every moment of our existence with arms outstretched offering us love. But often we don’t have eyes to see, or the understanding to recognise God present to us. 

Being Catholic is not just about having a rosary in our pocket, a crucifix in our house and going to Mass on Sunday. These are all beautiful things, but they are not enough. Being Catholic means being a Child of God, a Temple of the Holy Spirit and united to Christ. It means that God dwells in us and we in God! 

All of creation is a reflection of God, He has left traces or footprints of himself in creation as signpoints that point us back to Him, the Source of everything. Our lives are the fullest expression of this, our relationships with others and ourselves, all somehow also reflect God and lead us back to God. 

Even our weaknesses and sins somehow mysteriously reveal God to us. The desires of our heart, our sinful and selfish ways - when understood correctly, show us something deeper that is missing in our life that only God can fulfill. God is always present to us, speaking to us and revealing himself to us, but we need to turn to Him and listen, we need to run back to His arms again and again and find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:29). 

All things work together for good for those that God calls for his purposes (Romans 8:28). That means that God can and will always bring good out of evil, that our biggest disappointments will one day be the turning point of grace in our life, that our darkest moments of shame and despair will somehow be revealed that was when the light of Christ shone out to us at its brightest. 

Whatever your struggles, however you may be experiencing life right now. This is your reminder that God IS with you, He loves you and is speaking to you. It might not feel like he is speaking to you or is present, but he is. Have faith and trust in His goodness. He is revealing himself to you right now in your circumstances whatever they may be, and with every beat of your heart calling you back to the intimacy with him that he desires to face with each and everyone one of us. 

Your boring, ordinary, day to day life should not be seen as separate from your spiritual life. As Catholics we have grace and the power of the Holy Spirit working in us to transform the world.  All creation declares the glory of God (Psalm 19:1) - that means you too. But more than just declaring the glory of God, we as people and especially as Catholics have that glory mysteriously within us. 

The mystery of the Holy Trinity dwells within us (John 14:23, John 15:4) and we are invited to share in that relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are inserted into it through our baptism and union with Christ. We need to remember this wonderful truth of the faith everyday, at every moment so that we can shine the light of Christ to the world and to others. That includes our colleagues, our families, the people who annoy us or even persecute us. We need to love them and pray for them, because this love is how we show them that we are Children of God and that they too are invited to share in the Kingdom to come and the victory we have in Jesus (1 John 5:1-5).