Oct 11 Sat
Does God ask too much from us?
As part of his plan of salvation, God, through his mercy, grants his gifts to each person according to each one’s needs. All are called to be co-redeemers with Jesus. Christ says, ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and have appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide.’
God shows particular care and favor toward those who are faithful to this calling; God is attentive to everything that happens to them. Christ himself is the Good Shepherd, and says: ‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.’
I should therefore have great confidence that God will not fail to carry out his part in the divine plan He decided for me before I was born, before the world was created.
But I should not forget that his loving care for me should be a new incentive for my loyal response. As Jesus also says: ‘Everyone to whom much is given, much will be required of him; and of him to whom much has been entrusted, more will be demanded.’
To be faithful instruments of God, we need to look after our interior life and fulfill the norms of piety with love.
Additionally, we must work conscientiously. Since we are co-redeemers, we are called to co-redeem with Christ through our work. Therefore, in the midst of our ordinary tasks, we can raise our hearts to God through Mary's intercession.
By God's special will, our ordinary daily work is the material for our sanctification. It is what we have to offer and sanctify, as well as sanctifying ourselves and other people. If we did not sanctify our work, we could not sanctify ourselves or bring the souls around us to God.
An outstanding feature of the first Christians was their dedication to their work. In this, they followed Jesus Christ's example. As one early writer puts it, He was himself considered a carpenter, and He made the things all carpenters make ... while He was among other men, thus teaching them the symbols of justice, and what a life of work is.
Thus, we will feel urged to offer God each of our tasks in union with Christ, to work intensely, with an upright intention, with a spirit of sacrifice, finishing each job down to the last detail, with the assurance that by our work we are collaborating in the redemption of all mankind.
Contemplate the scene on Golgotha. The fortitude of our sorrow-filled Mother gives rise in us to the firm resolution never to leave her alone, never to abandon Jesus. “Let us resolve to always stay at holy Mary's side, at the foot of the Cross. We want to console her, and to read from that book that is Christ crucified, to be filled with peace, joy, and desires of holiness."