Today's Gospel

How to Do the Will of God

Hi, I'm Matthew Kelly, and welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where each day, you and I take a few minutes to explore the genius of the Gospel, to allow it to penetrate our hearts a little bit more, penetrate our lives each and every single day. Today's reading is from the Gospel of John 6: 35-40. Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me. And him who comes to Me, I will not cast off. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life. And I will raise him up at the last day." This is an epic reading, I am the Bread of Life from the Bread of Life discourse in chapter six of John's Gospel. Epic reading. And of course, it's natural for us to be attracted to those words. But the words that jump out of me today, and Jesus says, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who has sent Me."

And the same is true for you and me. We've not been placed here on earth to do our own will, but to do the will of God. And there is a direct relationship between the alignment of our lives with the will of God and the happiness that we experience, and more than happiness, joy. And what is the difference between happiness and joy? Well, I think that happiness is often dependent on the situation, the circumstances that we're in. Joy transcends that. Joy can be experienced even in the midst of suffering. And that is a unique offering of Christianity is that we believe that suffering has value, and as a result of that, we can experience joy even in the midst of suffering. And so the question I ask myself today is, "Okay, am I doing the will of God?" And that's a big question. I'm trying to do the will of God, but there are little things each day where I'm like, "Eh, no, I'm probably not doing the will of God there. Probably a bit selfish there. Probably a bit lazy there. Probably a bit addicted to comfort there." And so in all of these micro situations, the Gospel challenges me to realign my words, my thoughts, my actions with the Gospel, which is the will of God. Sometimes we think to ourselves, "Man, I don't know what really God wants of me in this situation." Okay, yes, that may sometimes be true. But as a baseline, He wants us to live the Gospel and to live it fully and to live it radically. And so when we feel like we're confused about what God is calling us to in any situation or circumstance, let's at least start with the baseline. He wants us to live in the Gospel values. He wants us to allow the Gospel to continue to refine our character and to elevate our lives so that we can elevate the people that we encounter each and every single day.

It's great to be with you. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.

If you have children or grandchildren, I want to recommend this incredible book to you today, Child in Bloom, by Renee Mattson. Megan and I have been reading it. It is astounding. It's a page, page and a half each day. There are 81 reflections. I think that so much of parenting today is like these micro moments. It's not sitting the kids down and having this big conversation, necessarily, but it's these micro-coachings every day, these moments that present themselves, and knowing how to handle them and how to elevate our kids through them. This is an incredible book, Child in Bloom: Practical Advice for Parenting Through the Growing Years, by Renee Matson. If you're a parent, if you're a grandparent, really want to encourage you to pick up a copy of this. It is a phenomenal book.