Christmas: The Gift of Working Out Our Salvation
Another day! If we are sitting here reading this, we have been given another day to live. We have been given another with which to work out our salvation. It is really quite amazing to contemplate the great gift that has been given to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ, and it all seems to begin with humility.
I have often written about the non-serviam of Satan (I will not serve) and how it seems abundant in the world, but Our Lord begins his sojourn in the world in the most humble of circumstances. He, King of Kings, Master of the Universe, enters into the lowly human form, but not as an aristocrat or some elitist member of society; rather, he is born the son of a simple carpenter surrounded by animals, wrapped in swaddling clothes. From this point on, His life is an exercise in humility even until his death upon the cross, but it all begins with Mary's acceptance of God's will and Jesus humbling himself into human form.
We are now in the Christmas season and we celebrate the Our Lord's birth, but I think as we celebrate, as we take each breathe; we should ponder on the fact that each moment that passes is a gift. You can consider it a Christmas present, for each moment given to us is yet another moment for us to strive for Christian perfection and attempt to imitate Our Lord's blessed example, especially in humility.
More times than not, we are confronted with images in modern society that are paradoxical to our Christian values. The images blasted over the media tell us to be egocentric and pursue what is most important for 'my own self'. With those images and messages, we can readily see how youth have grown up aloof from the family, how spouses wander away from marriages because they feel that their own happiness is paramount to the families'. This egocentrism is evident in the economic world as well. You only need consider the exploitation of workers for mass profit, illegal sex trafficking, the abortion industry (which kills the innocent for pecuniary gain), or any other number of activities which degrade the human condition. The bottom line is that humility is the antithesis of greed and egocentricism.
Consider Our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemani, when he was praying and sweating drops of blood, he knew the horrible death that was to come, but he put his wants aside for the will of the Father and for love of us. [Saying: Father, if you will, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but yours be done. He sacrificed his life so that we may have eternal life. (Luke 22:42)] Now, we are sitting before this computer screen, reading these words and obviously we have the gift of life. We have been given the opportunity to work out our salvation to choose the narrow path or the one to the abyss, so are we humble enough to accept the yoke of Christ, or are we too vain and desire the vanities of the world?
The Christmas season celebrates the birth of Our Lord. It celebrates the decision made by Him and his Blessed Mother, so if you haven't already why not begin celebrate your gift of life? Why not begin to grasp the sacred virtue of humility and shed the vanities of the world and imitate Our Lord and Our Lady? For each breathe you take is another opportunity to begin, but remember you never know the hour when He will come so it would be prudent to begin sooner rather than later.
Merry Christmas.
I have often written about the non-serviam of Satan (I will not serve) and how it seems abundant in the world, but Our Lord begins his sojourn in the world in the most humble of circumstances. He, King of Kings, Master of the Universe, enters into the lowly human form, but not as an aristocrat or some elitist member of society; rather, he is born the son of a simple carpenter surrounded by animals, wrapped in swaddling clothes. From this point on, His life is an exercise in humility even until his death upon the cross, but it all begins with Mary's acceptance of God's will and Jesus humbling himself into human form.
We are now in the Christmas season and we celebrate the Our Lord's birth, but I think as we celebrate, as we take each breathe; we should ponder on the fact that each moment that passes is a gift. You can consider it a Christmas present, for each moment given to us is yet another moment for us to strive for Christian perfection and attempt to imitate Our Lord's blessed example, especially in humility.
More times than not, we are confronted with images in modern society that are paradoxical to our Christian values. The images blasted over the media tell us to be egocentric and pursue what is most important for 'my own self'. With those images and messages, we can readily see how youth have grown up aloof from the family, how spouses wander away from marriages because they feel that their own happiness is paramount to the families'. This egocentrism is evident in the economic world as well. You only need consider the exploitation of workers for mass profit, illegal sex trafficking, the abortion industry (which kills the innocent for pecuniary gain), or any other number of activities which degrade the human condition. The bottom line is that humility is the antithesis of greed and egocentricism.
Consider Our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemani, when he was praying and sweating drops of blood, he knew the horrible death that was to come, but he put his wants aside for the will of the Father and for love of us. [Saying: Father, if you will, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but yours be done. He sacrificed his life so that we may have eternal life. (Luke 22:42)] Now, we are sitting before this computer screen, reading these words and obviously we have the gift of life. We have been given the opportunity to work out our salvation to choose the narrow path or the one to the abyss, so are we humble enough to accept the yoke of Christ, or are we too vain and desire the vanities of the world?
The Christmas season celebrates the birth of Our Lord. It celebrates the decision made by Him and his Blessed Mother, so if you haven't already why not begin celebrate your gift of life? Why not begin to grasp the sacred virtue of humility and shed the vanities of the world and imitate Our Lord and Our Lady? For each breathe you take is another opportunity to begin, but remember you never know the hour when He will come so it would be prudent to begin sooner rather than later.
Merry Christmas.
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