My Life’s Offering

Daily events are like bread and butter that nourish or diminish a person’s energy to continue the quest for life’s meaning and self-fulfillment. There is no end to learning for this is a lifetime experience of newness and renewed relationships for the purpose of self-improvement. The present moves on from the past while the future is inevitable. But what will life lead to in the end? The answer lies in the ageless word of wisdom that speaks of what lies beyond time, or the leap to eternity. This takes us to the uncreated Source of all life to Whom we have pledged our life direction and Whose example of living on earth we have striven to follow through our baptismal promises and their renewal on the road to maturity.

The closer a person comes to various goals, the happier he/she becomes; what more if it is the final goal of life—to return home to the Maker, to the Father. For this purpose, the wise follower of the divine model undertakes needed changes in the self and social relations so as not to miss the overall target of approximating God’s image in Jesus, that “when Christ appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (cf. 1 Jn 3:2). This means growing in the love that pervaded all throughout the earthly life of the Son of God who came precisely to teach us the keys to the kingdom through the beatitudes and to be ready to offer one’s life as a pleasing sacrifice of love offered in the daily trials of the cross, transfigured by the efforts towards wholeness [holiness].

As members of a family or community, it is a recommendable practice to share one’s faith-life experiences, as stories of God’s outpouring graces in one’s life-journey. Like branches on a tree, such faith-stories inspire different persons’ life directions, while rooted in God. Stronger foundations are built for friendships in both human and spiritual levels. Whatever be our age and status in life, it always behooves us to see our lives as a gift-offering from God—to God. May our offering be that of love and service, as the Latin saying goes, “Amare et Servire”, to love and serve the Lord in humility as Jesus Himself taught us, and continues to manifest through events/surprises of God’s faithful love. With Mary our Mother and Queen assumed into heaven, we can proclaim, “Who am I that He looks upon me, his lowly servant with favor? The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (Lk 1:46-47).