Most of the time we can float through life if we’re not careful. The more we become focused on ourselves and our own lives the quicker and easier it is to forget about others.
We (the novices) made a pilgrimage last week to the shrines of three American saints who offered their lives for others. We also visited the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg where tens of thousands of men gave their lives to keep a country together and the dream of democracy alive.
Last night many of us went to see a movie called “the counterfeiters” which portrayed the lives of a handful of Jews who were spared from death if they agreed to work to make counterfeit money for the Nazis. They too had to face the question of whether to offer their life for a good cause, sabotaging the operation and thus hurting the Nazis’ chance of winning the war, or holding on to their lives and thus aiding the Nazis’ war effort.
Many of us may not face these types of challenges in our lives, however we are all called each day to lay our lives down in some concrete way as Christ did. Our small gift of ourselves offered in love will transform this Earth and build the Kingdom of God.
I will offer my whole life to God this coming August when I make profession. Please pray that I do not hold back but give Him everything. If I and if we do this, following the example of so many others that have gone before us, God will work miracles through us, transforming us into His instruments and challenging the world to begin to see with His eyes and His love.
You need to see Ironman! It is right up there with Batman Begins! I will have to check out the counterfitters too! Keep smiling amigo and God bless! Padre