Sadly, in this day and age, God is largely forgotten. God is, was, and always will be. He is unchanging. Yet we, His creatures, have changed. In the not-too-distant past, the common person frequently talked about Him (in a respectful manner). Sadly, these days God's name is most often used when being taken in vain. This is a tragedy.

We must remember that God made each and every one of us. He loves all of us and at the end of our pilgrimmage here on earth, He wants us to spend eternity with Him. However, He has given us freedom of choice. Through our thoughts and actions, we choose to embrace Heaven or hell. Every thought and action has an eternal consequence. The consequence could be reward or punishment. But when God is generally ignored and often shut out of society, how many people even realize this?

Everyone has the opportunity to turn toward God. With every thought, with every action, consider the fact that we are creations of God. We owe Him our every existence. It is by God's grace that the earth continues to spin. It is by God's grace that we have food to eat. Every positive aspect of our lives is by His grace. At a minimum, we need to keep His Commandments.

God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows every thought, every idea. He knows everything we do. This life is a preparation for the next. We are here to be tested. "Not my will but Thy will." We should show our love for Him by being open to His will for us. Years go by in a flash. We have limited time to demonstrate this to God.

God the Son died for us on the cross. Before Jesus' death on the cross, the gates of Heaven were closed to all human souls no matter how saintly the individual lived. Jesus, God the Son, totally innocent, suffered and died in a brutal, painful manner for us. This act provided us the opportunity, if we die in a State of Grace (having confessed and been absolved of all mortal sins committed), to enter Heaven.

Jesus is true God and true man. He was subject to the same temptations as us. He never sinned. His and our Blessed Mother Mary never sinned. Humans have willpower. They have the ability to avoid sin. We have two examples.

God went the extra mile for us. He loves us THAT much. He did what was necessary to bridge the gulf created by the fall of our first parents. He gave us the greatest gift possible. In our limitations as human beings, we cannot possibly reciprocate for what He has done. But we need to do what we can.