He made us; we belong to Him

At Mass this morning, I was listening to the Eucharistic prayers just before the Consecration, and the priest said, "Father, we thank you making us worthy to stand in Your presence and serve You."  At that moment, something in my head clicked.  It was one of the moments where I realized that I wasn't worthy; we, by ourselves, are never worthy to come before the Lord.  Yet, read that line again: He made us worthy.  Jesus Christ made us worthy because He was the one who took our burdens upon Himself and became the ransom for our souls, and was nailed to and died on the Cross.

Sometimes we forget (and I do, especially) that we are created beings, and our origin is from God the Father.  If it weren't for Him, we wouldn't be here, and the thing is we don't have to be here.  Out of His love, though, He put us here to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him (see the Catechism).  Also, the things around us have been created.  I'm not only referring to nature in all its plants and animals, but I'm also referring to the modern day things we have that includes our technology and art and science.  God allowed for us to realize and bring forth the wonderful advances in society that we have put together by the use our own hands and intellect.  These things were not born from our own minds, but only through the inspiration of our Father did they come to be.

This same concept also applies to the things we own, and it wasn't until earlier in the year that I recognized this.  One day, it kind of hit me that I came into this world with nothing, and I will leave this world with nothing.  I glanced around at my possessions, thought about my family and my job, and all the friends I had, and I saw that all these things will not last forever.  To be quite honest, the idea didn't scare me, and at that moment, I was very at peace.  I felt that God's love was holding me up, and I felt very humble.  It was thoughts and words on a day like today that help to remind me that nothing I do or have is mine, and I take no credit for it.  In the words of Saint Paul, I do not boast in what I do, but I boast in the Lord and in my weakness.