Where am I going?

A good question many ask as they reminisce on the year they left behind at the beginning of a new year is, “Where am I going?”

It’s a unique opportunity to pause and take an account of where they were a year ago and reflect on the things they did to arrive at where they are now.

For the Christian, he takes this question a step further, asking himself:

“Where does God want me to go from here?”

That question is a scarier one so many avoid it–especially when it may involve the possibility of letting something go, as God’s will often does.

His will, or mine?

This self-examination naturally leads to wrestling with wants, which can be unpleasant. For the Christian, it may go something like this:

“What is it that I want? Does it coincide with what God wants? What do I consider to be utmost important in my life? Does Jesus agree with my ‘most important thing‘?

Am I willing to let it go (even if it’s something good) if God is calling me to something else?

Do I only want what I want, or am I willing to ask what God wants?”

Jesus–who is also God–submitted His human will to His Father’s, to carry out Their plan of saving people from their own selfishness and egos.

His selfless actions undid the selfishness and pride of mankind. Therefore, by God’s grace, the Christian is asked to do the same.

The inescapable truth

The Christian knows that loving God is not to the exclusion of loving His neighbor.

That would be too easy.

St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) said in her 1994 address at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., that nations that lack the truth of the dignity of each human being are actually the poorest nations in the world–something she referred to as “spiritual poverty”.

That means their spiritual nakedness is like being dressed in rags when they should be clothed in the royal regalia of the truth that each person is known and loved individually by God.

So, who is the neighbor for the Christian?

St. Teresa answered by imploring all Christians: “I want you to find the poor here, right in your own home first. And begin love there. Be that good news to your own people first.”

That means the people closest to the Christian are at the same risk of feeling neglected, unloved, unwanted, burdensome and forgotten as the people in the slums.

Give up everything?

What does this mean?

The Christian must dialogue with God regularly to discern what God is asking of him.

Giving up everything does not always mean literally giving away every material thing he owns. In fact, most of the time it doesn’t.

It means beholding all things of this world in their proper order, and holding them with a loose grip and a willingness to let them go.

St. Teresa shows the Christian how to do this in that same speech by explaining the demands of love means sacrificing his own wants and desires to provide a good home for his children, to be a more attentive spouse and to be more present to each member of his family.

She taught we are designed to do good for others out of love for their well-being, and to show them they are important and valued.

And who can better love us than the members of our own families?

This is why they also have the potential to hurt us the most.

Neglect is the opposite of love, which conversely breeds rejection, loneliness and resentment in the family.

St. Teresa told the large audience of the United States’ leaders, congressmen and women, and dignitaries the antidote to the massive epidemic of neglect she saw in the Western world, summing it up in one sentence: […] “we too must be willing to give up everything to do God’s will – to love one another as He loves each of us.”

Be ready…

Just as Jesus told His disciples, He also tells His Christians today to be prepared and ready for His unexpected return (Matt 24:44).

But how can one be ready for His arrival?

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821), whose feast day is today, had a brilliant answer to this dilemma:

[…] “be ready to quit at any moment and to do anything else to which you may be called….You think it very hard to lead a life of such restraint unless you keep your eye of faith always open. Perseverance is a great grace. To go on gaining and advancing every day, we must be resolute, and bear and suffer as our blessed forerunners did. Which of them gained heaven without a struggle?…”

May God strengthen us to begin the new year ahead with perseverance and courage.

“…I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me” (John 6:38).

Sources: Mother Teresa of Calcutta, National Prayer Breakfast sponsored by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, February 3, 1994, accessed January 3, 2023, https://www.priestsforlife.org/library/4386-whatsoever-you-do.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, from a conference to her spiritual daughters, Divine Office Breviary, Liturgy of the Hours, January 4, 2023, accessed January 4, 2023, https://www.universalis.com/-400/readings.htm.