First let me say Congratulations to all you Eagles fans on their victory last week.  I know that it has been a long time coming, and I am very happy for all of you.  Most of you know that I am not a  Eagles fan, rather a Steelers fan, but you can check with Deacon Dan, I told him last weekend at the noon Mass that I wanted the Eagles to beat the Patriots because I knew that most of you are Eagles fans, and selfishly, so that my Steelers could remain the only team with six Super Bowl victories.  

    I did not see the game -- I boycotted the NFL all year -- but something really impressed me about the Eagles in their victory.  Immediately after winning the Super Bowl, Nick Foles stunned many on TV by saying “All glory to God.”  Head coach Doug Pederson also immediately praised Jesus upon winning the Lombardi Trophy.  Since then I have heard other Eagles have also said that they give all praise to God first.  I have learned that Nick Foles, Zack Ertz, Trey Burton, Carson Wentz, and Chris Maragos have been doing a Bible study all season, and they released a Bible study on humility and surrender; I will have to find that so that we can offer it here at Resurrection.

    What a powerful, and appropriately timed witness these Eagles have been giving since in this weekend’s Second Reading St. Paul instructs the Corinthians to “do everything for the glory of God.”  In other words, God’s glory should be the main goal in everything we do, in every decision we have to make.  But what exactly is the glory of God, and how can we “do everything” for it?

    First, the glory of God is the motivation behind God’s creation and redemption.  As the Catechism states, “Scripture and Tradition never cease to teach and celebrate this fundamental truth:  ‘The world was made for the glory of God.’” (#293).  Since this was the reason behind God’s creation and redemption of the universe, then whenever we make it the reason behind our actions and decisions, we are uniting our deepest desires to God’s deepest desires, which is the secret to wisdom and happiness.

    The second thing we can say about the glory of God takes us one step further, it tells us not just that God was seeking this glory by creating and redeeming us, but it tells us what this glory consists in.  Again, as the Catechism teaches, “the glory of God consists in the … manifestation and communication of his goodness” (#294).  To glorify God means to experience God’s goodness in our lives, or to help someone else experience it.

    Think of it this way, imagine your mother makes the best apple pie in history.  When you taste Mom’s apple pie and experience its goodness, in a sense, you are glorifying your mother.  Then when you invite your friends to try some of the apple pie, you are giving your mother even more glory.  Mom is the source of the goodness, but until we taste it, we don’t know that.  So to give Mom glory is to partake of that goodness by eating some pie, and making it known by sharing the pie with others.

    Well, God’s goodness is much, much greater than that, because it is infinite and the ultimate source of every other non-infinite goodness -- even mom’s apple pie.  And God wants to share that goodness with us, which is why he created us -- for his glory, to allow us to experience his goodness.  So, when we say, “Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” we are saying, “may God’s goodness be known and experienced by us and everyone more and more forever and ever, Amen!”

    So, how do we make this prayer come true?  How do we experience God’s goodness?  The Catechism helps us here too, it reminds us that “the glory of God is man fully alive.”  By living our human life to the full, we experience God’s goodness, giving him glory.  That is why Jesus summed up his life mission by saying, “I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).  Sin and selfishness, in every form, are evil precisely because they hold us back from experiencing life to the full, life as God meant it to be experienced.

    This is why it is such an amazing gift to be a Catholic.  Through the Church, Christ teaches and guides us surely away from all sin and evil.  Through the sacraments, Jesus gives us the grace we need to grow in virtue and wisdom, so that we can become more fully alive every day.

    This is why faithful Catholic scientists, are not just great scientists, but they are also more balanced and joyful human beings.  This is why faithful Catholic politicians are not just better politicians, but they are more at peace with themselves.  This is why faithful Catholic couples and families are not just stronger, but healthier and happier too.  By discovering and developing our talents and those of our neighbors, we are glorifying God, because he is the origin of those talents, and of our ability to develop and discover them.

    Following Christ doesn’t stifle our human nature, it maximizes it!.  The only danger is to forget that God is the origin and goal of all these wonderful things.  When we do that, we turn one of them into an idol, and it becomes poison for our souls and for the world around us.

    So, how do we glorify God?  By living our lives to the full, exactly as God meant them to be lived.