The Most Important Invitation

(Hi everyone.  Went to Cleveland yesterday for my class reunion committee and messed up!  Forgot to upload the posting I'd prepared in advance.  So sorry.  Here it is.)


Our priest, Father Kevin, talked about a painting he saw many years ago.  He said it pictured Jesus and a door.  He stared at it for quite some time and couldn't figure out the significance of it.  Someone asked him, "What's missing in the picture?"

As he stared at the door, he realized that there was no door knob on Jesus' side of the door.  In other words, the invitation that God gives to us won't go anywhere until we open that door -- Father Kevin said even a crack.

God won't force Himself on us.  He "invites" us to a relationship with Him.  He wants us desperately to answer that knock at the door, that invitation.  It's opening that door even just a tiny little bit that starts a wonderful transformation.

I was re-reading "Heaven is For Real," the other day and the book just speaks volumes about God's creation.  There was a scene where the father and the son were talking and the father asked the son about what happens in heaven at night.  The little boy said something like, "Dad, where did you hear that?  There is no night in heaven.  God's light keeps away the darkness."

The movie has gotten good reviews and I really want to see it.  It is probably out in DVD format and perhaps on Pay Per View by now, I would imagine.  Different individuals can argue this or that about the book, but this one small book has given a lot of people joy and hope.  It is written simply, without footnotes and dissertations.  It is a call to the heart. 

Another movie I want to see is the one about the student who is given a hard time by his college professor for his belief in God.  He has to debate in order to get the grade he wants.  The movie is called, "God's Not Dead."

I remember the first time I heard that the philosopher, Nietzsche, proclaimed the words, "God Is Dead."  As though the world had been left behind in a heap of darkness and decay by a mortal God.  The sad thing is that many college students took that message to heart.  I would imagine that they saw proof of it in the wars and insurrections, the moral depravity of some individuals, the Hitlers and Stalins.  But our God is not dead!!

So again, we return to that statement -- God doesn't force Himself on us.  He invites us.

The invitation might get some reinforcement from people God puts in our path whose example or kindness or generosity speaks to God's goodness and His presence.  He never gives up on us, ever.

Father Kevin told us to ask Jesus for a word after Communion, in other words for Jesus to bring to our minds a verse from the Word of God -- the Bible.  Well, here is the interesting thing.

Weeks and weeks ago, we selected the songs for July 13, 2014.  The song we chose for right after Communion? -- "Speak Lord."  Yep.  And there are NO coincidences in this life.  I see that more and more as I get older.

Check out the movies I mentioned, and you won't regret the decision to see them.