Now and No Matter What

​There is a verse in this coming Sunday’s second reading that is, for me, one of the most
moving in the whole Bible:
Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been
revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him,
for we will see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)
Saint John speaks to us as a friend, “writing these things so that our joy may be
complete” (I John 1:4). He reminds us of the deepest reality of who we are. “We are
God's children—to which he adds now”. Right now. At this moment. And, he declares
this unconditionally, to remind us that this is true no matter what: no matter what we
may feeling or not feeling, no matter what difficulty or incredible joy has befallen us.
Indeed, this is by God’s gracious doing. Such “divine filiation” (“the deepest mystery of
the Christian vocation”, as Pope John Paul II says) is sheer gift. And “the gifts of
God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). In other words, we will never cease to God’s
children. We never need worry. We, of course, must choose to live into this vocation…
Saint John also reaffirms the promise of our future final—albeit
mysterious—transformation: “When he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will
see him as he is”. “We will see him as he is”—upon our deathbed or at the Second
Coming of Christ. And, when we do, we will be fully transformed. We traditionally speak
of such transformative vision as “beatific” (from the Latin beatificus, meaning “making
happy”). Our God is a supremely happy God, and His only intention is to make us
happy in Him. The happiness begins now and no matter what—increasingly to the
degree that we let go and let God. One day, one eternity, the happiness will be
complete. Our hope is set on this.
Sharing in God’s happiness with you,
Dominique+
Brother-in-Christ