I hope all of you are having a beautiful December. This Sunday, we were in mass and I realized it was already the third Sunday of Advent. I am not sure about the rest of you, but as a kid, I remember how long Advent seemed - by the time it was the third Sunday of Advent, I felt like Advent had already lasted a year.
Because the last Zeteo event was a dance, and we did not have a teaching, I have decided let the Lord inspire the posts through the Bible readings and reflections I will be reading over the next month, and see where that takes us.
So it happens that I am posting a blog post on a Monday for the first time ever. The Lord likes to work outside of our conventions.
God bless,
Olivia
Week One: Master Potter
"More [deceitful] than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, the Lord, alone probe the mind and test the heart, to reward everyone according to his ways." Jeremiah 17: 9-10
Today, and this is an ongoing struggle for me, I was feeling like I am missing out an important aspect of my life, of what would give me purpose. Everything I do feels very small, very monotonous. Automatically, this got me thinking that I need to discover a way to make my life more adventurous, more exciting - after all, poopy diapers and cleaning the bathroom are the farthest things from exciting.
As I was cleaning up from lunch, the Lord spoke softly to me. "Is having a relationship with me so small, Olivia?"
Many of the saints did great things: fought wars, physically battled the devil, were teachers and evangelists. But many simply lived their lives for Christ, every moment a chance to sacrifice, every action an opportunity to pray. One of the greatest examples of this little way is the life of saint Therese of Lisieux.
My heart is deceitful, like every human heart, and has desires that are contrary to the desires of Christ. When I rely on my own heart, I become confused by false hopes, desires, and promises for peace that are not what Christ has planned for me. Even though it is my heart, I am actually incapable of understanding it or of seeing it clearly, for God alone can understand my heart, as it says in Jeremiah.
Just as it was the Lord's desire for Saint Therese to live a simple life - a life that lead to sainthood because it followed the will of the Lord, so too, must I accept that God may be calling me to sainthood in this simple, monotonous, sacrificial life.
It is deceitful for my heart to desire anything different than what the Lord wants of me, as I know that only by following His way, will I be lead to joy. As a reflection on Jeremiah 18 I was reading earlier today summed up: God is the potter, and we are the clay. Foolish as it would be for the clay to question the potter over his design, so it is foolish for us to dispute with God over how He is fashioning us.
If I am the clay, and my life is God's way of forming me into His perfect design for me, who am I to question if I am taking the shape of a simple bowl instead of something bigger and more important? Who am I to question the Master Potter, to not trust that He is making the most beautiful bowl imaginable?
No comments:
Post a Comment