Only you and God know what lies within…

It is difficult if not impossible to understand what God has in mind for us, to comprehend why He calls someone to perform a specific task, to see why he chooses one person over another. God chose David over his seven older brothers to lead the nation of Israel. On the face of it we have to question why; His brothers were older, stronger, and obviously more experienced. But God said to Samuel “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because he sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.”

It is our nature to see others as they appear and to judge them based on how they present themselves. We cannot see into their heart, to really know them as God can. God has given each of us an immortal soul which is what makes us uniquely human.Somewhere I was taught that our souls are sanctuaries where only two (no more, no less) can dwell—you and God. Only you and God know what lies within your soul; it is your private place, a place where you and God can hang out together and have wonderful conversations, where He calls you to be what He wants you to be.

Sin stains the soul, it changes its character, darkens the spirit; noise and clutter invade drowning out any meaningful communication with God. It only makes sense that we should wish to keep our hangout clean for God, making it spotless and worthy of His presence; sweeping out the clutter and wiping the stains of sin and neglect, and giving God a place of welcome where he can touch our hearts, heal our pain, and give us peace.

A perfect way to clean our soul is to receive the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. After all, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” so cleaning the sanctuary of your soul can only bring you closer to God.

Let us remember also that since we cannot see into the soul of another we should stop before we judge. Only God knows what is in our hearts and only He can judge us rightly.

About the author: Deacon Chuck

Deacon Chuck was ordained into the permanent diaconate on September 17, 2011, in the ministry of service to the Diocese of Reno and assigned to St. Albert the Great Catholic Community. He currently serves as the parish bulletin editor and website administrator. Deacon Chuck continues to serve the parish of Saint Albert the Great Catholic Community of the Diocese of Reno, Nevada. He is the Director of Adult Faith Formation and Homebound Ministries for the parish, conducts frequent adult faith formation workshops, and is a regular homilist. He currently serves as the bulletin editor for the parish bulletin. He writes a weekly column intended to encompass a broad landscape of thoughts and ideas on matters of theology, faith, morals, teachings of the magisterium and the Catholic Church; they are meant to illuminate, illustrate, and catechize the readers and now number more than 230 articles. His latest endeavor is "Colloqui: A journal for restless minds", a weekly journal of about 8 pages similar in content to bulletin reflections. All his reflections, homilies, commentaries, and Colloqui are posted and can be found on his website: http://deaconscorner.org. Comments are always welcome and appreciated. He is the author of two books: "The Voices of God: hearing God in the silence" which offers the reader insights into how to hear God’s voice through all of the noise that surrounds us; and "Echoes of Love: Effervescent Memories" which through a combination of prose and verse provides the reader with a wonderful journey on the way to discovering forever love. He regularly speaks to groups of all ages and size and would welcome the opportunity to speak to your group.

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