Daily Prayer Reflection: Can We Offer God Everything?

How numerous, O LORD, my God, you have made your wondrous deeds! And in your plans for us there is none to equal you. Should I wish to declare or tell them, too many are they to recount. Sacrifice and offering you do not want; but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts and sin-offerings you do not require; so I said, "Here I am." Psalm 40:6-8a

Here I am, I come to do your will. That is all the Lord asks of us...all of ourselves. Yet, saying yes to the Lord is life-altering, and not always in ways we would anticipate or choose for ourselves. Today is the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. We need only to look at the life of Mary to see the unthinkable ways in which the Lord leads us if we offer ourselves to Him. Betrothed, not married, she became with child. In the early years of her marriage, she fled her home to provide safety, trusting Joseph was being led by God. She raised a son, whom she loved as her son and God's son, only to see him brutally murdered, unable to help him...and asked not to do so as his sacrifice was for a greater cause. For her faith and for her suffering she was greatly rewarded with protection throughout her life and a glorious assumption into heaven at the end of it.

Now, we're no Mary, that's for sure! Like Mary, though, we need to keep our eyes focused on the bigger picture. It is easy to get stuck in the little trying details, but when we step back I think most of us would agree that God's hand has blessed us more than we sometimes acknowledge. Today, let's let go of what we hold back from God, and following Mary's example, offer our whole lives to him with expectant faith and trust in his providence for us.