When I realize that I am the Beloved, I want to tell the world about this good news and to proclaim the goodness and greatness of the Lord. Being the beloved, I also come to truly appreciate what it means to have been created in the image and likeness of God. This is the the source of the worth and value of every person.
If every person is beloved, he has intrinsic value and is endowed with fundamental goodness. It has taken man a long time to learn this fact. Man’s value and his goodness is determined not by what he has or what he has done but by the fact that he comes from God. And yet, even to this day, people are discriminated against because of what they have or do not have, because of what they do or do not do. But slowly men are learning that we are all equal in our beloved-ness and there cannot be any discrimination nor prejudices based on color, shape, size or any such physical characteristics.
Our beloved-ness includes the earth and the environment – our Eden – that sustains and makes possible our unique life-form. We used to hunt and kill other living creatures with wanton abandon. We are now realizing that these are also essential and part of who we are. Animals are today better cared for and people work to the preservation of all living animals specially those threatened by extinction. This awareness for the environment now extends also to everything alive like trees and plants. People now realize that the richness of our lives is dependent in our ability to preserve and maintain the rich biodiversity in nature. We now worry and work to correct what we have been doing to cause climate change and the massive pollution in nature.
Indeed, when we listen to the voice deep inside us that says “You are my beloved.” everything around us takes a different look altogether.
After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
Mark 1:14-15