He turned water into wine. He healed the sick, the lame and the possessed. He rose from the dead. But the God who made it possible, predates His time on earth.

He felled the walls of Jericho, He made water spring from a rock and, through Moses, he parted the sea. These seemingly impossible achievements are overshadowed by the wonders that God works through humanity, especially when we believe in the God of possibilities. Abram trusted God when He told him he would father a great nation. Sarai even laughed at the thought of producing a child. At the end of Abraham’s life, he was a father to only two children, one of which was from his wife’s slave. He may not have seen the fulfillment of the promise, but he still believed that God could, and would, keep his promise.

.Jesus’ life on earth began with the proclamation by the angel, “for nothing is impossible with God.” (Lk 1:37) He touched many lives while He was among us; some people we know by name like the apostles, others by how they were healed. He changed their lives and they let Him do it. They, in turn, spread the news of Jesus and His message; and those who received it, continued to spread it as well. In their trust of God’s abilities, they became part of the “possibilities becoming reality.”

Jesus said, “for God all things are possible.” (Matt 19:26). Why is that so easy to doubt? Could it be that our impatience comes from wanting the possibilities now instead of being part of God’s plan unfolding over the course of time? Even if we don’t see the possibilities in our lifetime, God will not be stingy with His blessings. Perhaps we may find even greater blessings by trusting in God that what we thought was impossible, will eventually become reality.

When I meet up with folks I haven’t seen in awhile, I often ask them “What’s new?” For me it is a way to avoid a one word answer to the “How are you?” question.

Recently I had the odd thought of asking God, “What’s new?” The logic part of my brain told me I was silly, as He is never-ending and outside of time and space. But my imagination took hold of that question and I started pondering what possible things God could tell me of what was new for that day. He could start by telling me all the new children He created, or how many babies were born that day. He could tell me how many souls He welcomed into heaven. He could tell me how many children were called to be His special children by baptism.

Perhaps He would excitedly share the number of new inventions that were discovered. Maybe it would be the number of medical breakthroughs that were identified, or maybe the number of lives that were saved through the the talent and skills of the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare staff as well as those by mechanical devices.

He could talk about what was created in nature: all the trees, shrubs, flowers, fruit, animals, birds, fish, reptiles, and insects. I would guess that the number of creatures would be much more than the number of humans. God keeps His hands in all of creation, yet humanity is still closest to His heart.

Or maybe what’s new is outside of our Earth: new stars, new planets, new galaxies. After all, God truly is the Master of the universe and is forever the Creator of all. Just because we don’t see it or may not be able to measure it doesn’t mean that there are not new formations outside of our reach.

Towards the end of the book of Revelation, “The One who sat on the throne said to me, ‘See, I make all things new!’” (Rev 21: 5) How awesome to have a God that never stops creating!

“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” (Mt. 5:6)

What are you hungry for? There are many kinds of hunger. The most obvious is the hunger for food.  Even with our nation’s surplus, many still go hungry for lack of food. But there is another kind of hunger, an urge for something more. Some look to success in the workplace; if we can just get one step higher on the ladder of success, we think that will satisfy us. For some it is the family; if we can just get our family perfect, the yearning will cease. Yet when we hear the Sermon on the Mount or the Beatitudes, do we ever put ourselves in the place of one of those who hungers?

What does it mean to be hungry? In regards to food, even if we have plenty to eat, we can still get hungry. We need to keep eating at intervals during the day to keep our bodies going and be strong enough to complete our daily tasks. So what does it mean  to be hungry for righteousness? Righteousness is defined as following a moral good or divine law. So how can we be hungry for following God’s law? Have you ever felt the urge to live the 10 Commandments?

Just like the daily desire for food to nourish our bodies, we have a daily desire to come closer to God and to do His will. It is that need that drives us to seek Him out: in prayer, at Mass, in receiving Holy Communion and in bringing Him to others. Jesus promises us we will be satisfied. But as the need for food is with us daily, so too is the need for Him.  And at the end of every good meal, we feel a sense of fullness, so too when we do the will of God we may also have some sense of satisfaction. Yet each day will be a new opportunity to hunger and thirst until we are at last in the Kingdom of God.

Keeping the comparison of hungering for food to that of striving to do God’s will, we can take comfort in the daily satisfaction it brings us.  Our daily struggle to respond to this hunger helps keep despair away as we face what often seems like a Godless world.