During my Holy Hour, with head bowed, I tear up when I remember the powerful truth that “I am His”. Lifting my head, I gaze at the round, white wafer that has the appearance of bread, but is, in fact, the Holy Eucharist, contained within a beautiful Monstrance. The Blessed Sacrament is surrounded by rays of gold, artistically representing the power and greatness of the second Person of the Holy Trinity. Jesus, in real-time, in real-existence—Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity—once again reminds me of this eternal truth of my existence. I belong to God Almighty! As I gaze upon my Lord, He returns my look with His tender gaze, emphatically declaring, “You are mine!”
God’s unconditional love of me simply because I belong to Him is overwhelming. Burdened by my many inadequacies, lamenting all the times when I have failed to be a wise steward of my gifts and talents by giving in to procrastination, laziness or fear (which seems to lead either to paralysis or a redirection of my efforts to focus on the “easier” stuff in life), I nevertheless humbly and gratefully acknowledge that God loves me none-the-less—with the most benevolent, fatherly love imaginable.
Basking in the loving gaze of my Lord, I realize that He sees me and loves me for who I am and who I have the potential to be; my failures melt away—blown away by the breath of God who is so merciful. Jesus is not content to simply look upon his daughter—He embraces me with the all encompassing love of the Trinity—which is the sweetest, warmest hug imaginable. Peace and renewal flow freely and I feel inspired to take another step forward on the path to holiness —by trying to love my Lord a bit more than I did yesterday. How? By trying to love others a bit more than I did yesterday. By trying to sacrifice a bit more for my family than I did yesterday. By dying a bit more to myself than I did yesterday. I’m convinced that I will make progress along my path to holiness not by waiting for the rare giant leaps, but walking with consistent baby steps.