The Goodness of God

Many things will inspire you to see the goodness of God.  It can be in a beautiful sunrise, a sunset, a rainbow, the smell of freshly cut grass, a snowflake, a kindness or a smile. Sometimes, the goodness of God comes as a big surprise like the story Fr. David Bluejacket of the Spirit of Christ Catholic Community told us during the homily. Following is his story:

     "In 1993, the year that Pope John Paul II came to Denver, I was assistant pastor
     at Sacred Heart Parish in Boulder.  Our parish hosted about 80 young people
     and buses would pick them up in the morning and bring them back to the parish
     in the evening.  One night they returned very late, after eleven p.m., and we were
     told they had not eaten anything since noon.

    We checked the yellow pages and realized that restaurants were closed or
    closing except for a Burger King.  Inquiring if the restaurant could
    stay open I was told that they would call the owner for his okay.  The owner 
    told them he would keep the restaurant open and that he would pay for all
    their dinners.

    The bus drivers, even though they were off duty, volunteered to stay and drive
    everyone to Burger King, and then return them to Sacred Heart.
    The Burger King workers stayed late to prepare the food and the
    cleaning staff stayed to clean up afterward.  A few of the young people
    began to entertain everyone by singing.  Another group of young people
    began helping the clean up crew by picking up trash inside and outside
    of the restaurant.

    I saw the goodness of God in everyone involved that evening.  The Kingdom of God
    is at hand when we show the goodness of God within ourselves.  Who would have
    thought the goodness of God would show itself in a Burger King in Boulder?

Once, on television, I saw the goodness of God at an NBA playoff game.  A young girl began to sing our National Anthem and forgot the words.  A coach, Maurice (Mo) Cheeks, came to her aid and standing beside her helped her with the words. Soon, the whole stadium was singing along in solidarity. That coach had the goodness of God because when he saw the girl's dilemma he helped her without expecting anything in return.

If we open our eyes and our hearts I am sure we will see the goodness of God all around us.  As I left the church the goodness of God sent a message to me on a purple t-shirt in front of me.

What we are is God's gift to us.

What we become is our gift to God.