I was listening to a podcast today from Bishop Robert Barron who I have always found to be very instructive and insightful – he usually focuses on the following Sunday’s Mass readings and it is always good to listen beforehand with this preparation as I find that I learn and retain more.
On his podcast entitled ‘What does God want from me?’ I began to question myself about whether I am really living the spiritual life that God wants for us. We should be living joyful lives. God is love above all else; he is love in his being which means that to reflect his true nature, we should be responding to this love and love equals joy. The more we participate in fellowship with God, the more joy it will bring us.
The Bishop cites the First Letter of St John and recommends that we read it. We are told that our hearts convict us if we are not leading our lives well and God cannot dwell in someone who doesn’t love. It is a difficult truth to take on board and in the busy, stressful lives we lead it is so easy to just forge ahead and disregard others when we focus on getting through certain phases of our life and fail to help others who are in need.
I think the question to ask ourselves is: do we feel we are living a life full of the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If not, it is time for reflecting on why this may be and how you can seek this fully spiritual life.
God bless you and help you in your spiritual journey,
Widows Mote 