We all have goals; often several levels of achievement. Some may be to map our success for our career. Others can be more like a “bucket list” of places we want to go or activities we want to try. But do we have a goal for our faith?

“Although you have never seen him, you love him, and without seeing you now believe in him, and with glory because you are achieving faith’s goal, your salvation.” (1 Peter 1:8-9). This passage struck me when I read it prior to Mass last Sunday. I think because I always considered my faith a journey and the goal as heaven; I realize will not reach my goal until after my death. In my simple mind, I think of it as rather like a piggy bank, a good deed is like a quarter that goes into the bank. We don’t see the money, but we know it’s there. When the bank is filled (i.e. we die), we will be able to count out how much faith we had during our lifetime.

But Peter’s letter describes it as something active with an almost tangible quality. Rather than something far away, our salvation can be experienced in the here and now. Loving the Triune God and believing in Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection makes us think and act differently. In being compassionate towards our neighbors and family, we bring a little bit of heaven to earth. In those moments when we experience the true peace and  joy of self-giving, perhaps that’s when we are experiencing a taste of heaven. While we would like to savor those moments and make them last as long as possible, they are just a foretaste of what is to come.

So with hope and trust that God will grant us eternal heaven someday, let’s begin to anticipate that wonderful time by bringing a bit of heavenly love to all we encounter, by refining our thinking and by giving praise and thanksgiving to God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. After all, our earthly goals once achieved may be forgotten, but the salvation of our soul will  continue beyond our body’s journey on this planet.  

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!