†JMJ†
Happy new year! This year's resolution is to die and find new life.
When Christ went to the River Jordan to be baptized by John, it marked the beginning of His ministry. Those same waters that touched Christ now have the power to mark the beginning of our lives as Christians. We enter the waters with original sin and as the waters sweep over us, we die and are reborn into the family of God. Our sin is washed away and we gain our salvation, should we choose to accept it. Christ purchased that for us; He died so that we may have new life! We owe everything to our humble King, yet we still live for that which the world has trained us to live for: ourselves.
How sad is it to live like that? There is no way to find peace when we desire to have control over all things. Think of the false bubbles of security we create at the expense of love. We seek our security in worldly things: counterfeit pleasures that do not fill the void of the heart. Over and over we indulge in false delight, in hopes that it will bring us lasting joy, but find ourselves at a loss. We are restless, broken, duped by sin. But we have a choice to either float on down the mediocre river of self indulgence or to turn around and battle the current towards sanctity.
Why not sanctity? If we can admit that monetary wealth and material possession is just not cutting it, then we can stop pursuing those things and start seeking lasting happiness. True happiness can only come from God! He will ask us to trust Him, and we will suffer for Him, and we will suffer for each other because we will truly appreciate and love those around us! Our commitment to this will lead to pain and desolation at times but we will forever have joy and peace!
Let’s keep our eyes off ourselves and keep them on each other! Let’s nurture the souls of our friends and enemies, dying to self so that they can truly experience the love of Christ through us!
I want the world to know Jesus. I want death to vanity and birth to humility. What do you want this year?
Pax Christi
