Magnify

Have you ever used a magnifying glass and used the intensity of the sun to burn paper? I remember the first time I saw that I was blown away with the power of the sun through that glass. What’s more, it occurred to me the incredible power of magnification and I thought about its application to most any situation.

Take for example the power of a pep rally. You take some fired up cheer leaders who lead a large group like a school gymnasium full of students and charge them up. What’s starts out as chatter of students walking into the gym soon turns into the vibration of the walls and ceiling due to their fired up attitudes, or should I say magnified response of enthusiasm.

Consider our wholehearted, faith filled response to God’s love for us. I remember a time when we had a new pastor come to our parish. The very first Mass he celebrated with us was memorable in how he magnified the Lord and drew us into that magnification. As he and the servers processed up the main aisle we were singing until he reached the front of church. He stopped and halted all of the singing. He turned and looked at us and reminded us that we were here to celebrate the Lord and that he knew we could sing in a much more celebratory fashion than that. So, he went to the back of church and we started again, mindful of why we were there. The walls and the ceiling shook as we sang to the high heavens and gave glory to God.

How do we celebrate and give the glory with all our heart and soul every day magnifying God? Here are some tips on how to magnify our Lord which will also bring greater joy into our lives.

1. Start every day by giving thanks to God for the many blessings in our lives. Sincerely consider how He has blessed you. I heard someone say that before our feet hit the floor our first thoughts in the morning should be, “Good morning God” and not “Good god it’s morning.”  Greetings and Gratitude to God should be number one and amp it up!

2. Starting out our day with Mass is the ultimate but not always possible or available. Receiving the Sacraments strengthens our will to align our will more closely with God’s and helps us avoid temptation.

3. Reading Scripture and/or reading the Catechism helps us improve our understanding and our resolution. There are some wonderful podcasts on both that can feed us.

4. Trusting God with all events in the day ahead. That means bringing Him into everything we do. Sometimes we want to be in total control, which is usually when things could have worked out better if we included His involvement. Doubts about His caring or involving Himself into our lives is usually planted by an earthly power that has no power against God.

5. Living our day in truth, God’s truth. Be the Christian Man or Woman God calls us to be. Living our day loving every person we come in contact. That means that everything we do we do for the love of God and for the good of those we interact.

These are just a few ideas to help us magnify the glory of God and bring Him more deeply into our lives and those of others. Clean off that glass and let the Lord shine through us. Let us truly Shine Like the Son. God bless you.