One of the elderly parishioners asks me often, “Do you think we are at the end times?” When she sees how our times seem to lead to discouragement and despair about the future of the nation, peace in the world and the health of our planet it is easy to think that a reckoning is coming. However, the Bible offers hope. Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more. The plan of God is not thwarted by human infidelity. God created the world to be receptive of divine love. Jesus came to show us that a human life is the foundation of a divine life. While noticing the increase of sin seems obvious we have to do some work to become aware of the overflowing grace. The many acts of human kindness of one person to another does not receive any notice but it is a sign of grace. The young people who have spurned a life of getting stuff in the interest of serving those in need is a sign of grace. The married couples who remain faithful and raise their children in love and compassion are a sign of grace. The elderly who are constantly lifting up the needs of those around them in prayer are a sign of grace. Where sin abounds, grace abounds still more.
