Ourselves: The Best We Can Give
The very best I can give to the Lord is my whole self. This is not easy, but it is what will bring me abundant life. When you strip away power, fame, wealth, material possessions, or any other fleeting good… what is left? You are! And the Good News is that you are worth immeasurably more in the eyes of God than you know.
It can be so easy to get bogged down in the sufferings of life. Maybe things are going pretty well, but there is still that one thing bothering you. Maybe it’s a personality defect. Maybe it’s a persistent sin that you can’t shake. Maybe it’s feelings of inadequacy. Whatever it is, all of these things have one thing in common: they are holding us back.
In our daily life, especially at Mass, God asks us for one thing: our heart. Now, our heart is not simply our feelings. It’s not how we are feeling at any given moment. Our heart is the very core of our being. In fact, the Latin word for heart is cor. The very center of ourselves, everything we are… this is what God desires. And if we let Him, He can and will transform us.
You do not have to know long, intricate, and ancient prayers; though they are beautiful. You do not have to learn the finer points of Thomistic theology; though it is good and true. The one thing you have to give is the only thing that you really have at all: you. God beckons us ever deeper into His mystery. He constantly pursues our heart and woos us. He wants us to trust Him and live for Him.
The saints all understood this deeply. They did not live for themselves. They lived for God and for others. They gave of themselves, right from the very core of their being. This act of self-gift is an act of trust. It is saying, “God, I know and trust that you will give me only what is best for me.”
The whole spiritual life can be encapsulated, though not exhausted, in this: God calls and we respond. God acts and we cooperate. This is the Divine dance. God took on Flesh in the Person of the Son, Jesus Christ, in order to share in our humanity. And He did this so that we could be in true relationship with Him and then become like Him. How amazing is that?
God acts constantly in our lives. Without His sustained love, we would cease to exist. We are here and so we can be sure that He is here. Even at the darkest moments, God is there. He is with you and wants to share in your life. He wants to give you abundant life. He wants to love you completely and utterly. God always acts. How will you respond?