The God of Surprises and Simplicity

God is not only a God of surprises but also a God of simplicity. He surprised me with the gift of life. And then sent His only Son to show me how to live that life to the fullest. He gave Moses the Ten Commandments for His people to live good lives. And they immediately expanded these to more six hundred laws that they must follow, among them not to do any work at all on the Sabbath. Jesus came and simplified all the commandments and all the laws to two: love God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your soul and to love your neighbor as yourself. These two can further be simplified in one word: LOVE.

Pope Francis showed us God’s love through the surprises he pulled on us. He pushed on with his visit to Tacloban in spite of the typhoon. No typhoon can keep him away from seeing the people who need comfort and consolation.

He touched us with his simplicity. He did not try to explain away their pain and suffering. He simply said, “I am here with you.” And to the crying Glyzelle’s question why God allows bad things to happen to innocent children, he gave no answer but simply shared her tears and simply said that there are things that can only be seen with eyes that have been cleaned and cleared by tears.

Thank you once again, O Lord, for the gift of Pope Francis in our lives. May we live simple lives to enable us to see the surprises that you send us everyday.

The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
~ Psalm 111

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
Mark 2:23-28