In surrendering to God’s will we can be holy.
There are so many people that I am praying for at the moment. Most particularly today, I offer prayers for John who is gravely ill and the father of a student who is dying of COVID overseas. I also pray for the holy death of a friend’s elderly relative who is preparing for eternal life during these very moments.
While praying for these few, a million more come to mind. Illness and death – the product of Original Sin – seems to envelop the world. These days we often hear of people suffering and dying. And yet, there is something hopeful in this if we only know how to look at it in the right way.
Sin caused death and illness. That is why we fear it so. We were not made to DIE – we were made to LIVE eternally with God in Heaven. When God created man and woman, He wanted them to live peacefully in the Garden of Eden with Him and then turn to Heaven at the termination of their Earthly life – without death or illness or disease. No wonder we fear these most unnatural things so much – coming as they do from the Evil One, and not our Loving Father!
And yet, God, who is GOOD, works His purpose through even this.
The suffering and death of His Only and Beloved Son means that we can enter into His Kingdom when we die. Death is Life – because of God, because Good ALWAYS triumphs over evil.
Just think about that for a moment – the JUSTICE of God!
The angels did not receive a second chance to enter Heaven. Due to their more complete knowledge of God, they were provided with but one chance to accept or reject Him. But we humans, having a far less complete knowledge of God are given chances over and over again during our Earthly lives to make our choice about whether to embrace God and love Him above all else. Then, even after death, we are given the gift of Purgatory if we require additional time to prepare for Our Beloved.
How infinitely kind of God! What JUSTICE this is!
God does not apply a rule 100 percent to everyone. He looks into each soul and provides each soul with infinitely perfect JUSTICE, which is expressed as MERCY because of His LOVE.
What HOPE this give me!
I read a beautiful reflection today about holiness. In it, the priest wrote that Holiness consists not of praying the most or sacrificing the most but in OFFERING the most!
Those who are Holy offer to God every part of their lives. Each part of their lives is lived as a conscious offering to God. They do not need to seek out further suffering or sorrow or sacrifice. Instead, they USE the parts of their lives – their work, their chores, their studies, their social interactions – as an opportunity to give GLORY to God.
Each thing has its time and those who are HOLY commit to their surrender to God, accepting His Will and offering their compliance to His Glory in every single thing they do on Earth.
For God so loves us and wishes to protect us, that in the words of Saint Jerome, “every member of the human race has a guardian angel from the moment the person begins to be.” This is to help us to surrender and to help us to see and to protect us from the Evil One.
What a glorious manifestation of LOVE!
How lucky we are!
For with surrender we can stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.