Always hold God at the highest place

The God of the Bible is a God who sometimes nudges his people in order to refresh them into a new realisation that life is more than what is being presented by the world, especially the world we are living in today.

Bishop Bernard Paul from Melaka-Johor Diocese said, as God’s people, Catholics must realise that our God never leaves His children behind, no matter what the circumstances are.

“Just like the people of Israel, when God nudged them, they realised where God was in their lives.” He said the faithful must always hold God at the highest place in their lives because, without God, in one’s life, nothing is meaningful.

“God is in everything. Everything is from Him and for Him. He comforts us. He gives meaning to everything. We are able to shoulder everything because God is with us.

“Without the light of God, we feel helpless and that is why He should be everything to us. This essence must be the focus of the faith of Christians today, in order for us to grasp the meaning of life,” he said.

He continued, saying that God builds His temple throughout the world, but inspite of that, Christians also need to remember that their physical bodies are God’s temple too.

“In the reading, God urges us to rebuild his temple, meaning, to build a better temple. That is why, in the Mass, we go beyond where we were before. Where we rebuild ourselves, rebuild our faith.

“Before we attempt to rebuild God’s temple, we need to begin with rebuilding ourselves. For this, we need to listen, to love and to live the life God wants us to live, which we learn through these seminars,” he said.

“Build your Christian life on a solid foundation and not on sand. We strengthen our lives so we can strengthen others, regardless of their background. Through this, we rebuild our hopes of salvation for a better future in Christ,” he said.

Bishop Bernard Paul was speaking during the opening Mass of the Ruby Jubilee Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) in St Peter Claver Church Sep 28-30.

About 600 Catholics participated in the three-day event which, among others, included talks on related subjects, worship and healings.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online