God’s rainbow of love 

AS my friends and I went out swimming at a beach one summer day, a beautiful rainbow appeared before us.

“It’s been quite a while since I saw such a complete rainbow,” I told my friends, feeling awe-inspired at its sight.

Then I thought about its biblical symbol of God’s promise and covenant to his people as in the story of Noah’s Ark.

“Isn’t it amazing how a rainbow speaks of God’s faithfulness to us despite our failures and weaknesses,” I shared again with my friends.

“He never fails to send us this message,” I added.

Then in the midst of an awesome sight, I contemplated God’s action in our lives. I thought that while some people put limits on God’s love, God, on the other hand, continues to reveal his unconditional love to every person. He puts a deep longing in our hearts to believe in it and invites us to show its pureness to the people close to us and around us.

God would never cut his ties with us. We are the ones who would do it. In fact, His innermost desire is to nourish us with his love. He sows the seeds of love in our hearts so that we can respond to him with the same love.

This Sunday’s Scripture Readings tell us this truth. In the First Reading (Isaiah 55:10-11) God says: “Just as the rain and snow come to earth and return to the heavens when they have done their job of watering, making the lands fertile and fruitful, so too does God’s word. It comes to the world and does not return until it has nourished and moistened life in every single creature that will receive it.”

For us Christians, God’s final word is Jesus Christ, His beloved Son. In Jesus’ incarnation and redemption, God showed the depth of his love for humankind. The seeds of God’s love broke open in the universe to bring life to every creature.

Yet, God’s invitation to respond to His love through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, continues. Should we follow the path of sacrificial love of Jesus Christ? Should we keep listening to his words like the seeds that fall on the good ground in this Sunday’s Parable of The Sower?

May we too become God’s rainbow in the world, inspiring everyone to respond to God’s ever-enduring faithfulness and love! Amen.

 

* * *

 

From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1991-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.

The Filipino-American Community Newspaper. Your News. Your Community. Your Journal. Since 1991.

Copyright © 1991-2024 Asian Journal Media Group.
All Rights Reserved.