Becoming One With God 

   “And now it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.  The life I live now in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave himself up for me.” (Gal 2: 20) 

   Jesus loved me so much that He was willing to give up His majesty for a while and became a man, like me in all things but sin.  What He asks in return is that I love Him.  Though I cannot love with a perfect love like His, I can love Him to the best of my ability, to give myself to Him and His will in all respects.

   But even more, I am to strive for complete communion with Him, to become one with Him and like St. Paul, “live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.”  This I also try to do, but in my weakness I sometimes fail.  Even then He still loves me and forgives my sinfulness.

   Life intrudes in my efforts to die to self and live for God.  It seems there’s always something that needs to be done and a lot of it appears to have nothing to do with becoming one with Jesus.  Yet, even in this messed up broken world in which I live, it is still possible to give more and more of myself to Him.

   By offering all I do to Him I can make even the mundane tasks of daily life a prayer of thanksgiving.  While preparing a meal I can give thanks for the food available to nourish me.  When cleaning the house I can praise God for giving me a safe and comfortable place to live.  Even in times of pain and sorrow I can offer thanks to Him for the comfort and strength He gives.  All things can become prayer when offered to the Lord.

   There are prayers that I recite each morning to help me prepare for the coming day and whatever it may bring.  One of these prayers goes like this:  “Dear Lord, when shall I be completely one with You and entirely forgetful of myself?  You in me and I in You; grant that we may be always so and remain as one forever.”  Amen Lord, make it be so!