It’s been awhile since I’ve written an actual post. Finals week can just be too busy. But as day 1 of Christmas comes to an end, I’d thought I’d share a little something that God showed me (and I think has been trying to make me see for awhile) at midnight mass. But I think a little background is needed first.
I’ve noticed a lot lately how many people I have encountered and am around regularly have a very negative outlook on the capability of human beings to be good and rational. They see humanity, as a whole, as a group of hopeless people who have no chance at doing the right thing, as a group who does not think rationally about their choices. These people wish they could say that human beings make decisions based on rationality, but they just can’t. Their experiences in life have been less than kind and they cannot, or won’t let themselves, hope that things can better. They have lost all faith that good defeats evil so to speak. They’ve experienced betrayal and hurt, sometimes from others, sometimes committed by them upon others. And this has completely distorted their view on the human race, which to them has become nothing but biological beings who are only capable of acting on their impulses. I had started to question whether or not good exists or can prevail over evil, struggles, and pain. And then I went to Midnight mass.
I was sitting in the pew before mass and began pondering life and reflecting on what it meant when Christ was born some two thousand years ago. I typically just think about how 30ish years later he would die on the cross and save me from my sins, and how I get to join him in heaven one day if I continue to follow him. But last night, God showed me a more broad picture. He expanded my view beyond myself. I finally saw that Christ’s life did not just provide me with salvation, but the whole world. I knew this already, but I never took much time think beyond my own salvation. Christ conquered evil when he defeated death but it’s hard when we live in a fallen world to remember that evil has been conquered. It’s hard to remember that we have been promised and can know that good will prevail in the end. I think God reminded me of this to give me hope, to help me see that having a negative view on the potential that humanity has will get me, or anyone for that matter, nowhere. I already know how the story ends and I need to live my life fighting against the views of good and evil that society has. I need to live my life showing that evil has already been conquered, that human beings are, in fact, capable of thinking rationally and doing good. By living my life by the example Christ set throughout his lifetime, maybe I can restore some of the hope that he intended to give to those around me who need it most. This is my prayer this Christmas season, that the world will see that there is hope for humanity and that it will encourage them to live out that hope. I want the world to see that we are more than just accidental beings who act solely on impulse, that there is a plan. And that plan is to prosper us and not to harm us.
So all I want to say is that good will win. Keep that in your heart when you are feeling like there is nothing good left in the world. It won’t always be like this. There is hope!
The Heart of St. Gianna 