Power and Glory

“The glory of God is man fully alive" This quote from St. Irenaeus is beautiful, profound and very often misunderstood. It is not permission to do what you like, whatever feels right. Rather it is a challenge, one seen more clearly if you look at the not as often quoted second half of the statement, "moreover man’s life is the vision of God." We are only fully alive when we are fulfilling the plan God has set forth for us.

This plan, this imperative to live, becomes even more crucial when one considers that our lives, that the world is a gift. As the most recent papal encyclical says;

Charity in truth places man before the astonishing experience of gift. Gratuitousness is present in our lives in many different forms, which often go unrecognized because of a purely consumerist and utilitarian view of life. The human being is made for gift, which expresses and makes present his transcendent dimension. Sometimes modern man is wrongly convinced that he is the sole author of himself, his life and society. . . Gift by its nature goes beyond merit, its rule is that of superabundance (Paragraph 34).

By living God's plan for us we are participating in and giving thanks for the the gift of our life and the universe. But more important being alive, truly living and fulfilling God's plan for us is an act of love and an act of worship.