Recently I met a young couple expecting their first child, and during the course of our

conversation they excitedly shared their hopes and dreams for their child and what

they were expecting the child to become in the future. Yet, the mother was just four

weeks pregnant. If such is the case for us humans, how much more must our

heavenly Father plan and dream about each one of us (Jeremiah 1:5; 29: 11). It is

Jesus who reveals that the Father’s plan for us is that we, “may have life, and have it

abundantly” (John 10:10). We were all initiated into this life of God, through the

sacrament of baptism and are expected to journey into its fullness, by becoming more

and more like Christ. St. Paul expresses this truth succinctly when he says, “My little

children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you”

(Galatians 4:19). He expresses the deep need for Christ to be formed in us and we

are told such formation requires a regular and challenging journey of obedience

(“teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” – Mathew 28:20).

How focused and keen are we on the formation of our thoughts, attitudes and value

systems, in accordance with God’s will and design?