Still in the Beginning

Just wanted to say, first of all, that I'm not going to do daily reflections. I've come to realize that sometimes this is too much for me to take in even every day like this. I'm definitely going to post Sunday, and on other days it depends.

Here's the main thing that stuck out to me in JP2's 5th audience, or his 5th Theology of the Body speech (because that's how he gave them). We sinned. Adam and Eve ate that darn apple... we know the story. But right after that God promises salvation. Right away, we have hope

This weekend, I went on a prayer retreat. During Mass, I was looking around in the chapel (because I had WAY too much coffee that day) and I saw the paining. It was the Annunciation, or when the angel Gabriel visited Mary and told her that she was going to have a Son. But in the background of that painting, on the wall of Mary's house, was a picture of the eviction of the garden. I immediately thought about the contrast between Eve's "no" and Mary's "yes", but now I think about the promise. God promised Adam and Eve that, despite their betrayal and their chosen fallen nature, he would save them. Then, several thousand or so years later, Mary said yes and conceived the savior of the world.

I guess my main idea right now is hope. I'd say that today we live in a more skeptic world than a hopeful one. A college kid goes and gets a degree, and then what next? We don't think about our dream job and hope for the best, we're praying (hopefully) that we'll be able to find a job in today's economy. But I guess in a world influenced greatly by the militant atheists, that should be expected. Without God, there is no hope. Without His promise, there is nothing to look forward to.

God gave Adam and Eve a gift, even though they didn't deserve it, before He gave us Christ. He gave hope.

Dear Lord, sometimes I struggle believing that you will pull through. There's a lot going on right now, and it's hard. Please give me the grace to trust in your providence and true hope. Amen