Most of us don't live extraordinary lives. We just get on with doing the ordinary things day after day. And sometimes this ordinariness can get to us. We wonder about our lives, asking ourselves if we really make any difference. We wonder how people will remember us? Will the world be any different because we were here? These fears can sometimes work away at us, making us feel anxious and even driving us to take on projects and tasks which are way beyond our capabilities because we have a need to do something special.

We ask what difference our lives have made. And often we try to measure that difference by the standards of the world. Good job, nice family, pleasant place to live, and so forth -- these are only some of the things by which we measure our significance. But our real significance does not come from what we have done.

It comes from the love that God has for us -- a love that will not leave us out in the cold, like some lonely forgotten orphan. God, who gives us life, will also give us significance and permanence. Our real significance is not to be known in the streets, but to be known in the heart of God. The Scriptures tell us, "I will never forget you."

We are always more important to God than anything else on earth. Sometimes things we have are taken away from us; sometimes, even people are taken away from us. But God never forgets us and never will. We will always be daughters and sons of the One who has created us out of love and will always hold us close -- now and for eternity. We will never be orphaned.

              Peace,  Fr. John