By Emily Chudy | The Michigan Catholic

Life is a gift because God freely chose to create me. He did not have to create me; after all, if He had not chosen to create me, who would know the difference? God, in His goodness, chose to give me the gifts of existence and life. The fact that He has given me these gifts means that He has given me a special place and purpose in His plan for the universe. He chose to create the unique individual that is me to fulfill a unique role in His plan.

God created each and everyone one of us out of love, so that we might have an intimate, personal relationship of love and friendship with Him – one so strong that it is a sharing in His very life. The end for which He created each person, without exception, is so that they might be with Him in heaven for all eternity. Thus, the purpose for which God gave us the gift of natural life is so that we could enter into eternal life. Original sin frustrated God’s plan, but God in His mercy did not abandon us, but rather gave us a new hope by sending His beloved Son to us to redeem us by His death on the Cross. At the Easter Vigil, when the Church rejoices at the glorious triumph of Christ over sin and death, she asks in the Exultet, “What good would life have been to us, had Christ not come as our Redeemer?” Natural life is a gift, but it is Christ our Redeemer who, by His death on the Cross, won for us the supernatural life of grace, a sharing in God’s life. If the Redemption had not happened, then our natural life would be pointless, because we all would be going to Hell. It is Christ’s death on the Cross that gives, or rather, restores, meaning and purpose to our lives.

Everyone has a place in God’s plan. God has a special mission for each soul He has so lovingly brought into existence. This includes the unborn, the disabled, the elderly, for “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). The world might consider these people useless, a burden on society, but God does not see them this way. These individuals too have a purpose in God’s plan, even if perhaps we do not understand it. The unborn, who have just started out on their journey of life, have so much potential before them, and yet so many of their lives are tragically cut short. How much good the world has been deprived of because so many have refused to accept God’s gift of life – God’s invitation to be part of His plan! As for the disabled and elderly, the sufferings they undergo, when united to those of Christ, are so powerful! No matter who we are, God loves each of us, not for what we can or cannot do, but for who we are: His beloved sons and daughters.

Life is often hectic, busy, and stressful. It can be difficult to remember that, truly, life is a great gift. Yet, it is crucial to remember the precious privilege we have been given. God is, as it were, the most skillful of conductors; under His guidance, the whole of the created universe is meant to form a marvelous symphony. We should be in awe of this inestimable gift we have been given, and strive to play our part well in God’s plan, no matter our circumstances, so that one day we may be united with Him in the eternal life that has no end!