By Sister Regina Marie, O.C.D.
How do people make a genuine surrender of their lives to God? The answer is – one step at a time. For most of us, it starts out quite pure and simple. As children, we had adults in our lives, usually parents, who told us about God, and it was the most natural thing to love and trust. They made sure we were baptized and received our First Holy Communion. We said YES to Christ and it was honest and sincere and He truly came to be a part of our life.
As we grew up, leaving childhood behind, life started to get complicated. We are faced with complicated decisions, with heart-wrenching losses, the effects of sin – our own and those of others. We get so caught up in the daily demands of life, we cannot find the time to be in touch with the God who dwells within us. We start reaching for securities that we can grasp and hold onto immediately, right here and now. We start relying on ourselves, our own strength, good looks, smart children, professional status. While none of these are bad things, we are investing in them an expectation that they cannot possibly live up to.
We need to delve deeper. This is the crucial time of what spiritual writers call the “second yes.” This is what happened in the lives of the saints. In their complicated lives, they turned to God. The real person opened himself to the real God and found an unending source of love, and soon objective changes began to happen.
Say your “second yes” to God and again welcome Him to becoming part of your life.
