Ah, we have made it into January 2024. What a long road it has been, through the preparation of Advent, Christmas parties, family visits, gift wrapping, and the celebration of Christmas Day. We then add the feast of the Holy Family and, finally, New Years! We can now breathe a sigh of relief… hopefully!
I was catching up on some of my Advent readings and found this quote of Pope Benedict XVI: “The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.”
Wow! Do you really believe that? If you do, it means that in being a true Christian, we are asked to follow Christ and the example He set for us. Jesus provided for us a model to live by first by His humble birth and complete vulnerability, and then by His simple and common life followed by three years in public ministry. We need to look at all these life events and emulate those virtues of vulnerability, simplicity, and prayerful compassion in dealing with others.
Everything that Jesus did involved prayer and action where many times the action was not comfortable. Yet the truth needed to be spoken and these actions needed to be taken. It calls to mind the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-12). Jesus prayed, spoke the truth, and saved her life. He was a friend to the common folk who, like all of us, sometimes failed. Still, he loved them into GREATNESS. We have so many stories, so many people who were touched by Jesus’ compassion.
In 2024, what worldly comforts do you need to let go of to allow Jesus to make you GREAT?
Spend some time during this week reflecting on the virtues of Jesus. How can you change your ways of living by the norms of this world to the ways of living that reflect Christ’s own earthly life?
Til next week… and welcome, 2024...!
Sister Theresita
