God’s Children or God’s Slaves?

 New Year’s Homily

The Lord said to Moses, after indicating the way of blessing the people of Israel: “So they shall put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them” (cf. Numbers 6:22-27) They were not yet redeemed from slavery, but God still loved them and blessed them. How much more will He bless us now, that we are no more slaves, but truly children of God!

St. Paul says: “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law,” that is, to deliver them from slavery, “so that we might receive adoption to sonship… So you are no longer slave but son, and if son then also heir, through God” (cf. Galatians 4:4-7). The slave does not own the inheritance and will never own it, because it belongs to his master. The slave does receive a roof over his head and food on his table, he might be even loved by his master, but not as a son. The master does not share his own things, his own life with the slave.

When God made us His children, when He adopted us, He gave us everything: He gave us Himself, that is, He came to dwell into our hearts. This is why St. Paul says, “because you are sons and daughters, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” We are children of a God who redeemed us from slavery, adopted us as children, shared His own Self with us and made us heirs of His kingdom.

What is our response to God as children? How does a child behave?

1. “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (cf. Luke 2:16-21). A slave does not necessarily have feelings for his master. You are a good slave when you do what you are told. Once you did it, you can go on with your life, with what you want, with what you love, which probably has nothing to do with your master. Mary treasured God’s words and pondered them in her heart. Mary’s treasure was God’s word. This tells us what kind of relationship she had with her heavenly Father.

How about me? Am I bored at hearing God’s word? Is prayer a burden, like a job that needs to get done? Admittedly, prayer is not always easy. Now, is my prayer difficult because I would rather not do it? “Just a couple of words to you, Lord, so I can keep going with my life,” type of a thing? Do I pray fast? Do I pray because I am afraid of what would happen if I don’t pray? If so, I should talk to God about that first. I should say to God, “Lord, I pray every day because I am afraid of what would happen to me if I don’t. What do you think about that?”

God is our Father. God has a lot of things that He would love to say to our ears, but many times He finds us too busy with our own things… God has many gifts and graces for His children, but are we ready to receive them? How many children of God think that God gives only burdens, like a master! We need to give God a chance to be our Father, to show His love for us. Instead of running away from Him towards our own things, we should try to make God’s things our own treasure. We will never be disappointed.

2. The child of a good father feels safe and is trusting, because he knows his father is trustworthy. Look at the shepherds: “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” They followed God’s lead and were not disappointed. They left their own things at God’s commands, and they found a treasure, new life and joy, new meaning and purpose. There is something beautifully childlike about the shepherd: they were simple, humble, excited, careless. Luke tells us: “When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger.” They hurried off because they knew that whatever was coming from God was way better than anything else they had planned. They trusted in God, like children, and were not disappointed.

3. The child of a good father is obedient. “After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the Angel before he was conceived in the womb.” Being God’s child is also being obedient. Sometimes, we may not understand why we need to keep God’s commands. Other times, obeying may be difficult, even when we understand that it is the best for us. Jesus knows what it means to obey. By His obedience to the point of death, He made us children. He gave us an example that we may follow His footsteps… but He walks by our side. Being our Master, He became our Slave, so that we may become children in Him.

New Year’s resolution: how about, “reinventing my relationship with God.” “Giving God a chance to be my Father.” “Trying to pray more slowly.” “Every time I say ‘Our Father,’ I will try to reflect upon what it means.” “I will try to expect graces rather than burdens from God.” “I will try to treasure what I hear from God in the Scriptures or in prayer.” “I will try to make God my treasure.” “I will try to give God a place in my heart and in my real life.” Maybe we need to set out and follow God’s lead with a trusting, childlike heart, like the shepherds. In this new year, may the Blessed Virgin Mary help us to be good children, and not slaves, of our loving Father.