Monday of the Second Week of Advent
December 10, 2007
"A highway will be there, called the holy way; No one unclean may pass over it, nor fools go astray on it."
- Isaiah 35:8

How badly she wanted to do God's will. Not to do his will, even for a second, was such a serious offense to her. When she got her "Call with her Call", she made a private vow to the Lord. Her vow was this, "Jesus, I will not refuse you anything." What an utterly challenging vow to emulate. How many times do I refuse Jesus in just one day? But that is where we all want to go. We want to live the life Jesus lives. Thank God for Mother Teresa calling us all on to holiness!

What does it mean to be pure or clean before God? One definition of purity is willing the one thing. Purity is to will God's will and will it alone. Purity is summed up in Mother Teresa’s vow, "Jesus, I will not refuse you anything."

I use the image that Satan likes to work in the fog. What does that mean? He does not want us to see things clearly. He does not want us to clearly see our sin and our Savior. He keeps us in the fog away from our God who has come to save us. We lose our sense of sin and our constant and total need of our Savior.

If you or a friend is living in the fog of not knowing sin and, most importantly the one who is saving you from that sin, there are ways to get out of it. Study and pray every facet of the 10 Commandments and be challenged to grow out of the fog. Read the Gospel and live its teaching. Know what the church teaches and follow it. Ask holy friends how you can grow in holiness and be open to that change. There are countless ways to get out of the fog! Good News!

Let us pray for purity- to will only God's will in our lives: "Lord Jesus, please make your will clear to me always. I want to do only what you want me to do. Give me the desire to please you in all things and let me not refuse you anything. You are the love I want to love and your life is the life I want to live. I trust in your promise to make me holy. You are my life, Jesus, and I love you. Amen."

We are infinitely blessed!

+ Fr. John