The Choice

We all have choice to make. It’s with us every day and is in every single choice we make. God invites us to Himself every day and in every moment. It’s not as simple as saying yes to God at one particular transformative moment of our lives. It is saying yes at every opportunity we are given. To show Christ’s love as well as being loved by Christ.

We so often don’t allow ourselves to be loved by Christ. We say “I got this God” and go about our day living our lives our way. God just sits there patiently offering us a better simpler way waiting for us to notice Him. You see, our choice is not whether we choose to follow Christ’s will it is whether we choose to acknowledge Him at all.

If we were to truly look at the face of Jesus we would never look away. Jesus is present in every tabernacle across the world and in every person we encounter. But we just pass by it every day multiple times a day we ignore that encounter.

I think our choice truly lies in slowing down and taking time to truly see. To see the glory of God and just maybe with the eyes of faith to see Christ Himself truly present in our lives. It is this contact that changes us.

If you want to increase prayers, be kinder to others, or just be more present to the world around you then pursue the Lord. For no other motive than to get to know Him. I think we all want to please the Lord, but tend to focus on the means instead of the Lord Himself. If we encounter love true love that is God then we are captivated our souls are satisfied and we overflow. This overflow becomes our works and all those things that we wanted to do to please the Lord become our heart’s desire.

We begin to pray more, see others as Christ does, and are more aware of God’s presence in this world if we but focus on God and God alone. All of these things we desire to do are good things, but often times they become the end with Jesus as the means instead of the other way around.

We get so caught up in what we are doing for God that we forget that it is for God. So we must allow ourselves to be loved by Christ so we can then return that love to Him. So how can we do this? Be present to Him. The best place to do that is in the Mass where God Himself descends to be present to us in a humble host. Witnessing that sacrifice alone is enough to sustain our hearts, but then we get to receive Him.

About a year ago I wanted to be more present in the Mass so I began to be joyful. Mass has that repetitive nature that we can just check out of. So what I started doing was listening to what was said and would force myself to smile because though I had heard all of this before, I wanted to hear it like I was hearing it for the first time. Like I had just come home to the Catholic Church for the first time. Some crazy things are claimed in the Mass, like bread and wine are turned into our Lord and Savior, or we are forgiven of our sins though we don’t deserve it because Jesus loved us enough to do that. I mean “Alleluia” is translated to mean rejoice. Guys, we should be rejoicing at the presence of God. Don’t let the most intricate part of our lives become a dull hour. It isn’t something we have to do it is a privilege for us to see Christ on earth once more.

We all have a choice and that choice or choices determine how we see and live life. Seek the living God, encounter Him, look at Him and see how He looks at you too. I guarantee you you will be filled with a love so abundant and powerful that you feel compelled and joyful to go out and share that love with others. To share Christ with others. The choice is up to you, but know that at every moment He offers it to you saying, “Let me help you, let me serve you, let me love you”.