Letting Go-- and Letting God

Luke 9:22-25

Alright. It is not much of a cross, but a little cross it is, nonetheless. The cable went out yesterday, and I lost my Internet connection. Not so much of a tragedy, you could certainly say. I can accept that missing the colossal battle in Olympic Figure Skating is not much of a hardship. But, missing my blog post about the significance of carrying our daily crosses is a tough one to bear. That said-- I'm back, and I'm sorry that I missed you.

Thursday's Gospel reading is extraordinary. In this passage, we read the most amazing prediction in all of human history. The Savior of the Universe predicts that he will suffer greatly, will be rejected, will be killed and will be raised from the dead on the third day. Wow. This is NOT what people expected to hear.

Even more shocking is what Jesus tells us about ourselves.

God, himself, in the second person of the Holy Trinity (more on this likely in another post) tells us in no uncertain terms that for the eternal life that comes only through him we must (1) deny ourselves, (2) take up our daily crosses, and (3) follow Him. This is a tall order.

However, Jesus gives us guidance when he says simply that we should forget the life that we know. We should give it up and let it go. We need to understand that although we live in the world that we are not of the world.

This concept requires almost a suspension of our very notion of reality. We need to understand that to live as God requires we must deny ourselves. Sadly, in our culture, denial is often-- in and of itself-- viewed perversely as a sacrilege. We must also embrace our cross-- we must see it as a gift (see post on suffering-- February 15).

And most importantly, we must follow God. This last one is often the hardest one for me. But, knowing that God has my very best interest at heart, I pray for the grace to hear Him and follow. I need to learn how to let go-- and let God.

We Should All Want to be Poor

The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jer. 17:5-8

Today's First Reading is from the Prophet Jeremiah. I could have chosen the Gospel to talk about today because it shares this same theme, but Jeremiah speaks loudly to me.

The prophet explains in very clear words how important it is for all of us to trust and rely on God and not on man or the things of this world. This notion can be a tall order when you think about the idea of trusting completely in one and in something that you can not see, touch or hear without eyes, hands and ears of faith.

But that is the beautiful thing about what Jeremiah is trying to explain. He uses the analogy of the faithful and trusting man as one who is like a tree planted in fertile ground and perpetually nourished by a life-giving stream. He says this type of man stays healthy (spiritually), is tranquil in temperament and always bears fruit.

Simple: Trust God.

Letting go of things can be hard. God wants us to use our intellect, judgment, and the resources and gifts He has given us-- but he does not want them to be the masters of us. I think of Jesus and the Beatitudes-- blessed are the poor in spirit. The whole notion of spiritual poverty had for a long time be somewhat of a mystery to me. In fact, Jesus celebrates the joy of the poor to whom he says that the Kingdom already belongs. What does this all mean?

At its essence, it is really quite simple. Poverty of Spirit simply means a state of mind that is voluntary humility. Speaking from experience, this can be very hard. But God, himself, calls us to this state of mind because to get to this state of mind-- you have to let go and just TRUST GOD. This means trusting him in everything. For a control freak like me, this is the ultimate test of obedience and love.