“Love will consume us only in the measure of our self-surrender.”
St. Therese of Lisieux
Today’s Gospel reading continues the beautiful Last Supper discourses of Jesus, spoken to the Apostles the night before He was crucified. Knowing what was to come, Jesus reassured His disciples, saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”
Jesus knows us so well. He understands the human heart, and knows we suffer terribly from worry, fear, and anxiety. Knowing how His Apostles will suffer from fear and confusion after the crucifixion, Jesus reassures them, speaking of the peace of soul that God offers them - and us.
The peace of God doesn’t mean that we will have perfect lives. Instead, Jesus is telling us that when we unite our will to the Father’s will, we will find peace even the midst of the storms of life. We will find joy even in suffering. We will be filled with love even when we suffer persecution for our faith. The peace He gives will take the place of all our fears. This interior peace can be ours, if we surrender ourselves completely to the will of God.
That’s not an easy thing to do. We all have the tendency to want to control outcomes in our lives. We assert our own will into our prayers and become discouraged when it seems that these prayers are unheard, unanswered. But when we trust in God’s will, He will lead us to greater joy than we could have imagined.
I recently heard about a simple novena prayer written by Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo. Padre Pio once said of this priest, "The whole of paradise is in your soul." This prayer is to be said 10 times each day:
O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!
When we surrender completely to God’s will, love will cast out all our fears, and we will be able to go bravely forward on the path God intends for us, sure that it will lead us to a greater joy than we could ever have asked for. Trust in Jesus, and surrender all.
Comments
Post a Comment