Advent Prepare Together - Week 4

If someone saves your life, what is the appropriate response? 

Suppose you are about to be run over by an oncoming car and at the last moment a bystander pushes you out of the way and absorbs the blow. Severely injured and paralyzed, how would you thank that man or woman for saving your life? If you went to their hospital room, said thanks, and gave the person a $20 bill, wouldn’t that be so inadequate? Wouldn’t your $20 bill be more ingratitude than gratitude?

Similarly, what if you came before the bloodied, tortured, crucified Jesus and gave him thanks, a few moments of prayer, and a few good deeds. Wouldn’t that be so inadequate?

For Christians, we have to ask ourselves:

Do I recall every day what Jesus has done for me? Or do I take his rescue for granted?

Our response matters and it’s not automatic. At this very moment, Jesus is longing to hear you say, “Thank You, Lord! I surrender. I give you my life. Use me to help get your world back.“ Even those of us who have lived as disciples of Jesus for years must choose how to respond every single day.

How am I supposed to respond?

The rescue mission of Jesus is two-fold: it is for us personally, and it’s something that is supposed to continue through us. In other words, Jesus’ rescue is something that I receive and something I’m called to spread in my daily life. God has done his part, now it’s my turn.

The Church refers to this two-fold response as the universal call to holiness and the universal call to evangelism. Let’s consider what each of these is supposed to look like.

Our Personal Response

When you ask to be baptized as a Christian, you're making a very specific request of Jesus: Make me holy! God calls us to be holy as he is holy (cf. Matthew 5:48, 1 Peter 1: 15-16). This implies a dramatic change in lifestyle, everything from the relationships we’re in, the language we use, the entertainment we consume, the way we dress, and much more. Indeed, Christianity is a call to conversion for the rest of our life. We can approach this conversion through worship, praise and thanksgiving, and surrender.

Worship

Everyone “worships” something or someone (e.g. your favorite sports team), but the simple truth is that nothing and no one deserves the honor, reverence and devotion that God deserves. Catholics worship God primarily through the Sacrifice of the Mass, participating in the sacraments, and living a life of prayer, obedience, and love. Our worship is expressed through liturgical gestures like genuflecting and bowing, mindful silence, modesty, and actions that show respect for God's creation and others, all centered on the Eucharist as the source of Christian life.

If we’re going to worship God, we must stop worshiping idols. What is an idol? An idol is anything or anyone that is more important to you than God. Things in our life which can become  idols include career, achievements, social media following, money/consumerism, entertainment, sex, comfort, and our phones, to name just a few. To begin rooting out idols, ask yourself: Where do I spend my time? Where do I spend my money? Where do I get my joy? What is always on my mind?

Praise and Thanksgiving

We worship God for who he is, and praise and thank him for what he has done. In our daily prayer, it can be tempting to simply bring a list of requests to God. A better approach is to begin by praising and thanking him for all the blessings in our lives.

St. Augustine said, “He who sings prays twice.” Singing—starting with the hymns and responses at Mass, appropriate contemporary Catholic/Christian music, and also the Psalms—is an excellent way of praising God.

Of course, we praise God with our lives by emphasizing love as the pathway, making everyday tasks along with our vocations a way to sanctity.

Surrender

The thought of giving up control in our lives is unsettling, but necessary in our walk with Jesus. Remember, we have a God who loves so deeply that he humbled himself to become flesh, disguised himself to go into battle, bound the strong one, crushed the powers of sin and death, and is now preparing a place for us in heaven. What’s the reasonable response to a God who does all that? Give him everything!

Realize that Jesus’ plan for our lives is far greater than whatever we might imagine, and he calls us to trust him. While surrendering to Jesus is difficult—it’s a daily decision of the will—here’s what we can expect:

• We give Jesus access to our burdens (e.g., finances, a troubled relationship, addiction). Sometimes he’ll take them away, other times he'll help us carry them.

• Jesus honors our desires that are in accord with the Father’s will and always blesses us with more than we ask for.

• We entrust our loved ones to Jesus—spouses, children, grandchildren—placing them under the protection of his dominion, with the confidence that the Father’s plan for our family will be fulfilled.

• We encounter the living Jesus and learn to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. We begin living a Resurrection Life right now!

• We grow in faith and have greater peace amidst all the worldly chaos.

This sounds like a lot—and it is! Our personal response of worship, praise and thanksgiving, and surrender is something we grow into over time, and with the help of others. It’s where we begin, but it’s not complete in and of itself.

Our Mission Response

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.’”—Matthew 28:18-20

This passage is known as The Great Commission and with it Jesus commissioned all of us—not just his apostles, but all of us—to be heralds of the Gospel. God did not become a man to rescue us so that only a handful of people would know about it. He desires everyone to be saved. But how can others come to believe in him if they don’t hear about him?

We are equipped for mission with two primary tools:

• The story—Created, Captured, Rescued, Response—as a simple way of sharing the gospel.

• Our testimony—the simple retelling of what God has done and continues to do in our lives.

Actually, there’s a third component, and it’s the most important: the presence of the Holy Spirit upon us, so that we can see and love others as Jesus does. Without the Holy Spirit, no mission is possible. The early Church grew in a most hostile environment. Why? In a world filled with despair, Christian life was hopeful and joyful, marked by an intense, revolutionary love that was evident in action.

The Church continues to grow today when people are impacted by the witness of genuinely Christian lives: lives that are radically different, lives that lead to profound changes in the culture that turn the world upside down. The early Christians understood that Christianity is more than private devotion. It’s also about public witness and rescue. Rescued people rescue people!

How do we put this into practice?

You have to be willing to make time for others, and to enter into the messiness of their lives, to accompany them. Ministry happens when your day is interrupted.

You have to believe, through your own Resurrection Life, that obedience to the gospel is perfect freedom, that holiness leads to happiness, that a world without God is a desolate wasteland, and that new life in Christ transforms darkness into light.

The same God who destined the apostles to be alive back then has destined you to be alive right now. And just as he gave them gifts, he has given you natural gifts and will give you supernatural gifts through the Holy Spirit.

He’s asking us not only to make a personal response, he’s sending us out on a mission. As with the Virgin Mary, certain souls’ salvation depends on our yes to God’s call to holiness and evangelization (cf. Luke 1:26-38). Do not be afraid. God is with you. You were born for this!

Week 4 Reflection Questions

1. In the gospel, Jesus says the first and greatest Commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. How sincere am I about putting God first in my life?

2. Jesus goes on to give us the second most important Commandment, which is to love your neighbor as yourself. Do I look forward to serving others and making the journey of faith as an active member of my parish family?

3. The women who visited the empty tomb on Easter morning were so filled with joy that they RAN to tell others. How badly do I want others to know Jesus?