INTERIOR "YES" TO GOD
Any true giving
to God must come from the heart and involve the gift of self.
In today's Letter
to the Hebrews, we are reminded that the offering of Jesus, our High Priest,
was above all interior, although He certainly gave up His body in sacrifice. In
actual fact of course, one's spirit and body form the one person of each of us.
Jesus "offered Himself unblemished to God" (Heb 9:14). Any true
giving to God must come from the heart and involve the gift of self. The Son of
God makes this gift again and again; new moments and new situations require the
extent of the gift to be confirmed. As the true human being Jesus was, He had
to agree to make this sacrifice and had to persevere in it.
Throughout the
year, we remember our saints and martyrs. In holding true to the Gospel of
Christ, they also had to make an interior "yes" to God. They suffered
persecution and died a brutal death. they are the saints we hold in our minds
as the Church calls us to a day of penance and asks us to hold in our hearts "violations to the dignity of the human
person, to pray for the full restoration to preserve life for all."
When the Gospel of John begins with the story of Jesus, the Word who "became flesh and dwelt among us,"
we hear that "what has come into
being in Jesus Christ was life, and the life was the light of all." We
as Church live as people of light and life. We are not to be in a culture of
darkness but of light. From abortion to euthanasia, from capital punishment to
unjust war, and killing on the streets of our own cities, we are called to let
the light shine brightly through us to bring God's peace, justice, mercy, and
most importantly His love, so we can help all to see that God is light and life
for each one of us.
Today's Gospel
reminds us how often Jesus Christ willed to make another interior
"yes" to God!
Open our hearts, O
Lord, to listen to the words of your Son! (Acts 16:14b)