That They Might Have Life, and Have It Abundantly

Dear Family in Christ, 

“The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.” The words of Jesus’ Good Shepherd Discourse sum up the spiritual battle that all of us find ourselves in.

God our Father, our Creator, and our Saviour, give us life- not merely existence, which the Greek distinguishes as Bios, incalculable as that gift may be. Rather it is the abundance of life that the Greeks called Zoe, meaning that vibrant, abundant, eternal life that is proper to God Himself. 

In direct opposition, however, stands our enemy, Satan. Satan is the thief, who having once and for all forfeited the Zoe he received from God as an angel of light, desires nothing other than to steal this life from us through temptation, to kill us through sin, and to destroy us by damnation.

As a result of original sin, the difficulty we face as fallen human beings is that those things that lead to abundant life are often difficult, and require discipline and sacrifice. Consider here everything from flossing your teeth to going to bed on time to being faithful to your vows. Just about everything that we really desire in the long term comes at the cost of some immediate comfort.

Conversely, those things that steal, kill, and destroy our abundant life typically seem attractive and easy. Consider here everything from eating junk food, to abusing alcohol, to consuming pornography. None of these things require discipline, or effort, or sacrifice, at least up front- but they always lead to chains, to the addiction that Jesus calls ‘slavery to sin’. 

It has been said that, to live as a Catholic, faithful to all of the teachings of Jesus Christ as given to us through the Church He instituted, is the hardest way to live… but the easiest way to die. This Sunday, the Good Shepherd offers us abundant life, while as always, the thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy us. The choice is ours, dear family. Why not choose life, and choose it abundantly?

God love you, 

Father Corso