28 May 2013
Tuesday of the Eighth Week of Ordinary Time
If we want to make the world a better place, we must start by putting God first in our own personal lives. There is no exception to this rule. Ever.
Our first and most important task as creatures is to offer to God the praise and worship that He deserves. According to Scripture, the most pleasing thing in God’s eyes is the righteous soul, the loving heart, the obedient will, however you wish to put it. The material offerings of grain and animals are just symbols for the true offering of spirit. This spiritual world of holiness and grace are infinitely more powerful than the natural world of policies, programs and pamphlets – needed as these may be. If we neglect the most potent instruments for our work, how can we protest when the project fails?
The world’s pressing problems can and should give the attentive and attuned soul pause. We should wonder at the depravity of evil, the callousness of selfish people, the tragedy of our incapacity to act and get the job done. Yet before diving into the details of forming new policies and projects, we must consecrate our lives to God. Only then will our project have any chance of succeeding. Indeed, if we do our work in this spirit of prayer, true failure isn’t even possible.