We value what is ours and look after all that belongs to us. If we show such concern for material things, how much more should we understand God’s concern for the most valuable work of his creation...the human created in His image and likeness!  

Sometimes I think we don’t appreciate our worth.  We fail to realize what a marvel God has produced in us. We see our short-comings and failings and often reflect more on faults than on our successes and so we may not wonder at how marvelously we are created.

God does not want to lose anyone. He gives us life so that we can learn to know, love and serve him in this life and be happy in the life he has prepared for us in the world to come.

God sent Jesus to give us an understanding of who we are and how to live our lives, so that we would not get lost. God searches for us when we do wander off and through the cooperation of those who love us, God leads us back on track.

It is a cause for rejoicing not only in heaven when someone is restored to wholeness, but also on earth. What family is not overjoyed when a sick member recovers his health? Whether the sickness flows from bad choices, an illness or accident, or any other cause, it is always a wonderful moment when the situation turns around and when what we thought lost is restored to us.

The story of the Prodigal Son describes a Father who is not bent on rubbing his son’s nose in his mistakes, but who hopes for his son’s enlightenment about where is true happiness lies. That enlightenment leads his son home to a Father who has never stopped loving him, even when his son was indifferent to the Father. Such is a parent’s love. Such is the love of God, the Father of us all.