GENESIS
Chapter 1: 27
"God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them."

So God created us in His image and likeness, what a beautiful gift that was to us from our Heavenly Father. Imagine yourself, sitting in front of a white canvas with brush in hand or at a potter's wheel with a fresh batch of soft clay. You are about to create an image, a very special image and when you have finished you have created an image of yourself and you see it as a masterpiece! How special you must have felt. Each and ever human being is unique in their own way, different from others yet we are all created in the one image and likeness of God our Father.

If we are all very different then how can we all be created in the image and likeness of God? To understand that we must realize that God is everything, God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He knows everything; therefore He is everything, every talent, every gift, every emotion, every thought, and every action, everything, that's what God is!

What makes us different from God is that God gave us the ability to make our own choices, good choices and yes, even bad choices. He created our heart like His heart and our mind like His mind. He also gave us a conscious to guide us in choosing between right and wrong.

We are all created as good, however we are all born with original sin. Baptism in Jesus Christ washes away the original sin, however we still have our own choices to make and we can choose good or bad. John Wayne Gacy and Usama Bin Laden are created in the same image and likeness of God, the same as Mother Threasa and Pope John Paul II. God loves each of us where we are at regardless of the degree of sin we are currently in.

God because of His great love for us shared with us His image and likeness, what a gift. God must really care for us; after all he gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ as a Sacrifice to pay for our sinfulness and to be our Salvation.

So here we are, we too know more about our Creator God. We desire to grow spiritually and we want to walk that closer walk with His son Jesus Christ! If this were not so you would not be taking the time to read this Catholic Tract.

Made in the image and likeness of God makes us very special. Sometimes we become so much aware of ourselves that we become self-centered and self-serving. At times we see ourselves as better than others, we look for imperfections in others so we can better justify just how good we are! We tend to talk about others, some call that gossip, gossip is just general news and some is malicious and hurtful. Sometimes someone has hurt us and we look for ways to get back at him or her. Anger builds up in us, thoughts of resentment dance through our minds. The more we allow these hurts and resentments to wear at us, the angrier we become. At becomes more and more difficult to let go of the anger and finally we find that we are harboring very hurtful thoughts and judgments against that person or persons. We find that we just cannot forgive that person or persons that we have come to dislike or even hate.

Do you believe that the anger, the hatred, the inability to forgive just stays within you? If you hold this belief, you are partially correct, the part that stays within you acts like a cancer. Like a cancer destroys the body, this cancer of anger will destroy your soul and your mental wellness. After a period of time you begin to lose feelings of Joy, Happiness, Love, Caring and Hope. While this cancer of hatred and anger eats at you inside, it also affects others outside of your body. At times those you are angry with feel the anger, sometimes you can hurt them with your anger and actions and usually more often than not they aren't even aware of what's going on inside of you.

There is another group of people who are greatly affected by our harboring feeling. That group is your children, grandchildren, family and friends! This group can sense your feelings not just in obvious ways but because so often times we use them to vent our frustrations and feelings. We affect this group of people in various ways, however the most destructive way we affect them is to build in them the same feelings of hatred and anger against those you hold anger against, thus making them accomplices to your sinfulness. This can become generational affecting our children, grand children and even your future generations of children. This is why so many families are in great need of generational healing of memories.

The one who is hurt the most by harboring hatred and anger is the one who cannot let go of it! By not letting go of these feelings, by rejecting Gods forgiving love, by not asking God our Father for the Grace to forgive we are destroying ourselves. Not only here on earth but we are destroying ourselves in our preparation for the promised Paradise that is awaiting each and every one of us as our gift from God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It is written in JOHN, Chapter 13: 34
"I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you."

If we observe and obey this new commandment then it will become impossible for us to harbor feelings of anger and hatred for others.

Do you really want to grow spiritually?
Do you want to walk with Jesus Christ in this world?
Do you want to go to Heaven?

If you answered yes to any or all of these three questions then you must now ask God to lift off from you any feeling of anger, hatred or judgment of others. If you really want to be set free and feel those feelings of Joy, Happiness, Hope, Love and Caring again then you must give all these pains, even if in your own mind they are justified, you must give them back to God. Ask God right now to forgive you for them, ask God for the Grace to let you release these feelings. If you are able, go to the ones you have held these feeling against and ask them for forgiveness for harboring these feelings and let them know you forgive them. Then most importantly go receive the Sacrament of Penance and confess these and all other sins. Upon doing all these things you will receive the greatest portion of Gods Grace and you will be set free here in this world so you can now better prepare to make yourself acceptable to Jesus Christ and for the Gift of Paradise.

May God Bless and Heal all of us...