Day 27. Heirs to the Kingdom

Part 2: A Table

Sep 14

***Eames:*** *What you have to do is start at the absolute basic.*
***Cobb:*** *Which is what?*
***Eames:*** *The relationship with the father.*
Inception

The ground on which our Sense of Self rests must shift now to the diamond Cornerstone of our identity as daughters and sons of God. Since modern thinking is so confused on the point, we had to backtrack yesterday and recall what it means to be human, in God’s own image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). Today we look at what it means to be God’s children.

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus’ identity as God’s son emerges early in the narrative. In a dramatic scene that we’ve already noted, a voice from heaven says of Jesus as he emerges from the waters of baptism, “You are my beloved son with whom I am well pleased” (Mk. 1:11). Baptism is our starting point for this reflection as well. Our own baptism was a living imitation of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus from the dead. “...Or are you unaware,” asks St. Paul, “that we who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death... so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3,4). And again, “You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:12).

Though few of us remember our own baptism, this sacrament was the birthday of our Christian lives. “Through baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission” (CCC 1213). As with Jesus when we emerged from the water the heavens were opened up for us, the Holy Spirit came down to us, and God sealed us with this sign of total acceptance: “you are my child now.” Being claimed by God in this way imparts extraordinary privileges. We become heirs, recipients of an inheritance.

What is this inheritance? To be an heir is to be told by God that “you are here with me always; everything I have is yours” (Lk 15:31). “For real?” we ask incredulously. “Everything?” “Yes, everything,” God says. To be God’s child is to have full access to the riches of God. Jesus frequently urged us to make use of this new access. He often counseled his followers to be bold in asking God the Father to meet their needs. “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For every one who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Jesus continues, “What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Lk 11:913)

Sometimes I hear people say that they don’t ask God for anything because they fear that it would be selfish. Yet Jesus himself often asked his Father for favors, like feeding the 5000 with a few loaves of bread and fewer fish, or raising his friend Lazarus from the dead! In fact, the Bible often urges us to ask for what we need – not only physical needs but spiritual needs as well. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.” Be careful, however, not to ask things from God without being confident (as confident as you are able) that he will hear your request. The passage above continues, “But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (Jm. 1:5, 6). So ask. Ask confidently. Ask in trust.

As heirs we also receive God’s gift of freedom: “the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom 8:21). Freedom is much misunderstood these days. Freedom is often defined as the ability to do whatever I want whenever I want with no consequences and no responsibility. That’s not freedom. That’s license, and if I live by this definition, I’ll soon find myself with very little freedom at all. It is true that freedom has to do with the ability to choose any option, but more importantly freedom is the result of choosing the good. Your free choices will either open you up to ever increasing possibilities, or they will gradually confine and encumber you by their undesirable consequences. A college student is free to attend class or not. But if he freely chooses not to attend, he will soon fail out of school. Ignorance is far restricting than the discipline of studies. The same is true of sin when compared with the demands of obedience.

God’s freedom is different from the world’s. God’s is a freedom from sin and a freedom for goodness. It’s a freedom from confusion and a freedom for knowledge of the truth. It’s a freedom from fear and a freedom for confidence and courage. It’s a freedom from anxiety, worry, and doubt; a freedom for peace, trust and faith. It’s a freedom from selfishness and conceit; a freedom for generosity and unselfish love. Sin’s “freedom” is like the freedom of an empty barrel as it bounces along on the currents of the river over the brink of the waterfall before it is smashed against the rocks below. God’s freedom is like the freedom of a gymnast who through strength and patient discipline can execute the most graceful and beautiful movements with an air of effortlessness. “So do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh” (Gal 5:13).

In the Bible study that follows, you’ll be able to explore more benefits of being children of God. As you read the passages and reflect on their meaning, I urge you to activate your faith. There is nothing passive about “hearing” the word of God. The music of salvation invites us to join our voices, our agreement, to the song. If you find that you lack this agreement, if you find that you are without faith, what should you do? That’s right. Ask for it, and you will receive. “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!” (Mk. 9:24)

**Novena Prayer**

**Jesus says:** “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
**Pier Giorgio responds:** Our life, in order to be Christian, has to be a continual renunciation, a continual sacrifice. But this is not difficult, if one thinks what these few years passed in suffering are, compared with eternal happiness where joy will have no measure or end, and where we shall have unimaginable peace.
**Let us pray:** Blessed Pier Giorgio, teach me that I must be able to mourn if I will be able to rejoice. Show me how to face my sorrow, and not avoid it or pretend that it does not exist. Help me to enter into any present sorrow, so that my soul can empty itself and be filled with God’s peace.
Blessed Pier Giorgio, I ask for your intercession in obtaining from God, Who is our Consoler, all the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare. I confidently turn to you for help in my present need: (in your own words, ask the Father to enable you to see yourself in his eyes, with his loving gaze).
*A Book of Prayers in Honor of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, by Rev. Timothy E. Deeter*

Make it My Own

Daily Discernment Workbook

BREAK OPEN YOUR BIBLE

1. As a baptized Catholic, I am…

Drawing a line (or pairing numbers with letters), I connect the qualities of a baptized Catholic with the passages that promise me a rich inheritance.

A. Eph. 2:19

B. 1 Pet. 5:8

C. Rom. 8:14-15

D. Rom. 8:17

E. 1 John 5:18

F. I Pet. 2:9,10

G. 1 Pet. 2:11

H. Eph. 1:1

I. Eph. 2:10

J. Gal. 3:26, 28

K. 2 Cor. 5:17

L. John 15:16

M. 1 Cor. 3:16

N. 1 Cor. 12:27

O. Eph. 2:6

P. John 15:15

1. …a joint heir with Christ

2. …an alien and stranger to this world

3. …a temple of God where his Spirit indwells

4. …chosen by Christ to bear fruit

5. …a member of Christ's Body

6. …a new creation

7. …the devil’s enemy

8. …a son/daughter of God and one in Christ

9. …a saint, literally a ‘holy one.’

10. …a son/daughter of God

11. …God's workmanship-reborn in Christ to do His work

12. …a citizen of heaven.

13. …a friend of Jesus

14. …of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation

15. …a fellow citizen with God's family

16. …born of God, so that the devil can’t harm me

Like, wow.

Looking back over the list, three that are most amazing to me (and why) are…

EXAMINE YOUR HEART

2. Diagnosing My Self-Reliance

If we are heirs then we are under God’s care. Do I really believe this? Why do I live like I have to take care of things myself? The teaching of Jesus is clear: as long as we rely on ourselves, we will struggle with doubt, worry and fear. As children of God we have a loving Father in heaven and Jesus teaches us that HE WANTS TO TAKE CARE OF OUR NEEDS. So what’s the problem? I am. I don’t trust God because I trust myself instead. Jesus invites me to change today. He calls me to undergo a Reliance Revolution. To go from Self-Reliance to God-the-Father-Reliance. Right now. As I’m reading this. To decide to rely on God my Father for everything every day. “But that’s absurd” I say. So let’s see where I’m at.

Reading my “I-got-this”-ometer.

I rate my Self-Reliance by responding to the following statements (circle one for each).

A. I feel most comfortable and happy when I’m doing something I feel totally capable of doing and I can say, “I got this.”

(examples: playing a musical instrument or a video game I’m good at, giving good relationship advice to a friend, fixing a device that I know inside and out, planning a party – because I love parties!),