Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
It’s worth considering what God wants from us, and how we got that idea about God. Listening to some believers, it’s possible to think that our Lord is a very serious Spirit who demands near-impossible acts of faith. Many other believers may give the opposite impression; that our Lord asks nothing of us, other than our belief and maybe a trip to Mass once in a while. The psalmist today gives a very different third way: Delight.
Consider this: if the author of your life, the perfect parent, were watching how it’s going, would they heap impossible demands of righteousness and sacrifice upon us and then watch as we attempt to meet those demands alone? Or, would that parent be happy to see us live life as if their love & goodness didn’t change anything? In today’s psalm we see the answer; “sacrifice or oblation you wished not…to do your will, O my God, is my delight.” Delight. Is that how we feel about serving God? Is Mass, prayer, service to the poor, etc. a delight for you? If not, consider why. Perhaps you have the wrong idea about what God wants, or how you want to accomplish the Spirit’s movements. I don’t know why so many of us think that a life of faith either makes no demands or makes them in such a way that they are drudgery. But I do know it’s not of the Spirit.
The Spirit seeks to write God’s law of love in our hearts. Love does demand a lot, but acts of love in unity with Jesus’ Sacred Heart create joy. Sometimes these acts are hard, but many times they are easy and flow cheerfully. What would need to change in your life to allow you to smile while you live this faith of ours? It may be as simple as a joke-a-day, or as complex as a paradigm shift in your knowledge of the identity of God. Maybe you have memories of your spiritual formation that need to be healed. Whatever the case, may the Spirit help us live as the psalmist lived, glorifying the Lord, loving salvation, full of delight and unrestrained lips as we Love the way Christ Loved. Amen!
-Chris Nieport