"If you feel burdened today, I ask you to think about these words of Pope John Paul the Great: 'We are not the sum of our failures. We are the sum of the Father's love for us - and our real capacity is to become the image of his Son Jesus.' What a difference it would make if we defined ourselves by God's love - not by our failures!
"No matter where you are right now, God has a plan for you. Someone who embodied that sense of purpose was the great German pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was one of hundreds of ministers and priests that the Nazis imprisoned. While in that horrible prison, Bonhoeffer wrote, 'As I see it, I am here for some purpose and I only hope I may fulfill it. In light of the great purpose, all our privations and disappointments are trivial.' He was only 39 years old - and he could have imagined many more years of ministry, but he knew that God had a deeper purpose for him. Facing a horrible death at the hands of the Nazis, he embraced the cross. As he had consistently taught, only through the cross do we come to the resurrection.
"Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. By prayer and the sacraments, he wants us to have his life now. Do not let your failings define who you are. God has a plan, a purpose for you. It may involve some privations and disappointments, but whatever the cost, it will be worth it. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Where he is, he wants you to be. Eternal life begins now. 'I am the Resurrection and the Life.' No one comes to the Father except through Jesus."
— Father Phil Bloom, "Homily for Easter Sunday 2009"
Source of photo here.
