One Choice at a Time

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As a deacon, I’m asked to do a lot.
And every request becomes a crossroads—
a quiet moment where I have to ask:
Is this God’s will… or my will?
His glory… or my glory?

Because the sea of choices we navigate each day
is never just busywork.
Each choice shapes us—
bends us—
forms the person we are becoming.
Our hearts are molded
by what we say yes to,
what we refuse,
and what we allow to enter our lives.

Then Scripture interrupts us with honesty:
“Is it not enough to weary people—
must you also weary my God?”
A reminder that when I run on my own will,
I run out fast.

But God doesn’t leave us there.
“He takes away the first to establish the second.”
Christ clears the old path
so a new one can be walked.
And by this will—His will—
we are consecrated,
made holy,
through His Body offered once for all.

And so Mary’s surrender becomes my anchor:
“May it be done to me according to your word.”

Not my will.
Not my glory.
Just His—
one choice at a time.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
bend my heart toward Your will
when the choices before me feel heavy and many.

Take away whatever is of me alone,
and establish what is Yours.

Consecrate my yes,
purify my intentions,
and let every work be for Your glory.

Make Mary’s surrender my own:
may it be done to me
according to Your word.

Amen.

What We Choose to Belong To

 

Readings 032426 

In all the things God gives, the world is still unhappy.
God pours out beauty, goodness, creation itself—
and somehow, we want to remake it in our own image.
We chase what we desire, what we think is good.
And in all the noise, it’s often the loudest, the angriest,
the farthest from God
who seem to get the most attention.

The world lifts up what looks good on the surface—
recognition, attention, influence, self‑reliance.
The best the world imagines.
But they stay on the surface.
They polish and reshape the outside
so it seems as though those of the world are in control.

Heaven offers something entirely different—
poverty of spirit, mercy, humility, surrender, trust.
These don’t sparkle.
They don’t win applause.
But they open the heart to God.
They make room for grace to breathe.

And Jesus draws the line clearly:

“You belong to what is below; I belong to what is above…
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”

He isn’t scolding us.
He’s revealing a truth we could never discover on our own.

Worldly virtues keep us in control.
Heavenly virtues let God be God.

Worldly virtue says, “I can fix myself.”
Heavenly virtue whispers, “Lord, I need You.”
Worldly virtue says, “Be strong.”
Heavenly virtue says, “Be honest.”
Worldly virtue says, “Climb higher.”
Heavenly virtue says, “Come lower, and I will lift you.”

And Jesus stands before us—
not accusing, not shaming—
but inviting us to choose where we want to belong.

Do we want the life that ends with us,
or the life that begins with Him?

Because the moment I believe that He is—
that He is Lord,
that He is mercy,
that He is the One who saves—
something shifts inside me.

I stop building myself from the outside in.
I let Him shape me from the inside out.
And slowly, gently, almost quietly,
I begin to belong to what is above.

Prayer

Lord, 

Open my eyes to the gifts You pour out each day.
Free my heart from the noise of the world that keeps me restless.
Teach me the quiet virtues of heaven—mercy, humility, and trust.
Break the illusion that I can save or shape myself.
Let Your grace rise within me and make me new from the inside out.
Draw me away from what is below and toward the life that begins in You.
May I belong, fully and freely, to what is above. 

Amen