THURSDAY, SEVENTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Jer 18: 1-6 Ps 146: 1-6 Mt 13: 47-53
ENTRUSTING ONESELF ENTIRELY TO GOD
Total self-surrender is rooted in humility and acknowledgement of our limitations. It is a theme that echoes deeply in spiritual teachings across various traditions. To truly understand self-surrender, it is important to grasp that it is not about passivity or spiritual lethargy, as some might wrongly see it. Rather, it is about active engagement with one’s faith and a willingness to align one’s will with the divine will; it is a process of active abandonment.
In our Christian context, self-surrender involves entrusting oneself entirely to God’s providence and guidance, without the desire to control all that happens around us. It is to tune our desires in favour of God’s plan for our lives. It’s about acknowledging that, on our own we are limited, but with God, all things are possible.
During a regular walk Saint Don Bosco took with his students, he noticed Dominic Savio lingering behind the group. Concerned, Don Bosco approached him and asked the reason for walking so slowly. Dominic, with a hint of sadness in his voice, replied, “I am trying to walk at your pace, but it seems I am not getting any closer.” Don Bosco, deeply moved by Dominic’s sincerity and desire to cheer him, knelt down and hugged the young boy. He then explained that he was not just walking beside Dominic physically, but he was also walking with him spiritually and would always be there to support and guide him. This is the relationship between God and me.
We must realize that we can only try. We are frail human beings and often lag behind. We are anxious and frightened of our near future. To surrender everything is not easy and walking the path is still difficult, we always fall short. We must pray for the grace to never lose the desire to surrender ourselves into the Lord’s hands, for it is in that surrender that we walk closely with Him spiritually.
Response: Blessed is he who is helped by Jacob’s God.
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