So. Tonight we started with Trust.
Trust is the #1 necessary part of faith for someone to Lay it Down. We as faithful must trust in Christ; that he will provide for us. He will make it easy. He will give us the tools. He will make it happen. Our Trust is critical to living a Christian life.
Did you leave XLT with a greater sense of Trust in our Lord? Or are you moving toward greater trust? These things take time and hard work.
We are sometimes so tied to withholding trust because of what has happened to us that trusting a God who is hard to comprehend, is a tough thing to do.
The simple answer is: Trust that God will not break your trust.
The hard answer is this: How do you know God won’t break your trust, if you don’t allow Him the chance?
In either case I hope that you left tonight with either deeper trust, or a willingness to try.
Then Deacon Mick spoke about Love.
Love is a natural extension of Trust. When we trust in God that he will always love us, then it is easy to love others. I’m amazed at how when we trust that God will see us through, we are inhibited by fear and are able to love a such a higher level. That is laying it down.
Are you willing to give it all in the name of Love? Could you handle the type of Love that Deacon Mick spoke about? When we allow God to work through us, His love is revealed to His people. Now that is trust.
At the end of our time I challenged us to do 2 things this week.
1) Do 1 thing different this week to more orient your life to Christ.
2) Ask ourselves when the last time we went to confession was.
Have you done these things?
At the next XLT, we will talk about dying to ourselves. How can we Lay It Down for others if we don’t start with ourselves?
I hope you enjoyed this week. See you next Tuesday.
August 31st, 2008 at 9:45 am - Edit
A beautiful meditation on trust and a worthy mission for us all. This Sunday’s liturgy of the word includes a second reading from Romans. I urge you brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. [Romans 12:1-2]
We are to take up our crosses and allow the power of the Holy Spirit to guide to our true vocation in the church. God asks us to be dignified because we were made in his image and listen to his Son as he spoke his heart through the Beatitudes. This will ensure that we offer ourselves as a worthy sacrifice not of our will but the will of our Father.
It can be scary to shed the comfort of worldly possessions, fear, anxiety and solace of those who make us feel significant. However, just as our Lord was able to pass the test in the Garden, so may we too trust on our Lord to be with us when we carry our cross. We thank the Lord that we may due this in unity with him and the Holy Catholic Church.