VIRTUES OF COMMUNITY LIFE PART 4 (FATHER’S FAITH NOTES: DECEMBER 19, 2021)
We read today in the Letter to the Hebrews, “Brothers and sisters: When Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight. Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll, behold, I come to do your will, O God.’’”
In these words, Christ makes clear that external sacrifices – doing things or giving things up for God – are not what God most desires but instead the sacrifice of our wills, which is both more challenging and more liberating. It is in some ways easier, or at least less threatening to my ego, to do even many good things for God than it is to abandon myself to Him and try to do only His will. We can even look like very impressive Christians: volunteering, serving, leading ministries, etc. but miss this essential point – we are still living from self-will. Instead, we are invited to imitate Jesus who said of Himself, “…I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”
What is God’s will? The particulars vary from person to person but the broad outlines we all know, it is summed up in the dual commandment – love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. During this last week of Advent, may we recommit ourselves to doing just that.