-Last Sunday's homily is available by email request
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at www.usccb.org/readings
-I will be celebrating mass this weekend at 5:30 PM on Saturday and 9:30 AM and 12:30 PM on Sunday
Resurrection Check up: symptoms of death and symptoms of life?
This is a series on the spiritual signs of freedom and life versus the worldly signs of slavery to death/sin. I began with fear of dying, then individualism, and today autonomy. I am wondering where in our lives do we submit to others' will? Where and to whom are we obedient out of love?
As the children of God, we are called fundamentally to submit our will to the will of God. For most of us mere mortals this is a daunting task. Submission to the will of God is a symptom of freedom and life. Like Jesus we must freely submit out of love, not obey out of fear of punishment.
In our worldly existence we long for independence and autonomy: symptoms of death/sin. Commitment phobia is probably a subset of this symptom. The sacrament of matrimony is the most often chosen path of submission - for those who are married in Christ. So much of the trend to cohabitation is a symptom of autonomy in relation to others = symptom of death.
The church and our call to holiness insist that we practice submitting to the will of God by our practice of obedience to others for the sake of love. To whom do you submit? To whom are you obedient?
5 comments:
I submit to the Will of God out of love by submitting myself to Him in loving the one most beautiful gift He has blessed my life with; my very being with; with so much love. This in fact truly is life.
Obedience out of Love.
Marriage is a spiritual vocation as there are other spiritual vocations. All spiritual vocations the self will is surrendered to God - and accepting God's Will be done takes place - visually the Ecstasy of St. Theresa comes to mind.
Having a spiritual vocation the other's soul is always considered first ; not to go against another's soul and their knowing in faith in God, always considering their relationship with God and their salvation.
When a person is acting against another in an unGodly state - or " not of God" that's when it becomes especially pertinent to be steadfast in obedience in faith - in union with God. Faith in being True to God , strong and true in the Love for God is awakened. Prayer and foregiveness for the one acting unGodly should take hold in order to bring spiritual love into the situation- into the spiritual interpersonal relationship.
By uniting the love of God with the God of love the soul gains a permanent connection with the abiding source of all life and love and through obedience the soul is awakened to spiritual passion. In marriage and all spiritual vocations this is a spiritual goal to achieve.
The sheep submit to the shepherd. They are sheep. They know he provides grass and water and shelter. They do not question as all their needs are met. Mindlessly they/we follow. When of us ventures off the shepherd gently brings us back. Are sheep grateful? Are we? We are called to be the children of God. That is what we are - children. We really as sheep can't reason this out, but we do know that it is better to be in the shadow of the shepherd than not.
Our free-will is never so free as when it is a slave to the will of God, nor ever so much a slave as when it serves our own will. It never has so much life as when it dies to itself, nor ever so much death, as when it lives to itself.
Obedience to the will of God appears to some as lack of freedom because at times it seems contrary to doing what I want for myself. Hanging on a cross, unjustly, is an example that comes to mind. But when "my want" becomes DOING the will of God - and His will is centered on accomplishing communion among all creatures, no matter the cost - then all suffering takes on loving meaning. In fact, the more accepting I/we am of that, the more the "suffering' does not even strikes us as such. It becomes an opportunity of love and mission.
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