“Those who risk all for God will find that they have both lost all and gained all.” (Saint Teresa of Avila).
My children – like many children – love Pokemon cards. While my eldest son has pretty much outgrown the obsession with Pokemon, my younger son is well and truly obsessed with them.
There is not much that that child would not do to earn a Pokemon card. He would – for example – clean his room, or vacuum the car, or tidy the living room of our home. He would also – for example – try to improve his study habits and work harder at school if he could be sure that he would receive a Pokemon card.
And I have been reflecting on that today. You see, in Matthew 16:24-28, “Jesus told His disciples, ‘If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?’”
And I have been thinking about that because when I look at the efforts my son makes to gain a mere Pokemon card, and compare those efforts to my own efforts to achieve eternal salvation, it seems that I am completely overwhelmed with grief.
You see, I make investment into all sorts of things – I invest in my future, by working hard and saving money. I invest in my family, by caring for them and making sacrifices for them so that they can achieve their dreams. I invest in my development, through reading and studying and the people I interact with. But what do I really invest in the one thing that is eternal and will never go away?
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux said, “You cannot be half a saint. You must be a whole saint or no saint at all.” And I have been reflecting on that, because Saint Teresa of Avila said that “those who risk all for God will find that they have both lost all and gained all.”
And I have been reflecting on the paradox of that. You see, if I give everything to God then I will lose everything and yet I will gain proportionately more than I will lose.
And that means something. You see, the Blessed Virgin gave everything to God and He rewarded her by making her Queen of Heaven. And what exactly did she give for such a reward? She gave her entire self. She gave her body and soul to the Lord to do with what He pleased. And that looked like watching her beloved Son die – unjustly and in agony – on the Cross with never a complaint passing her lips…
Saint Augustine prayed, “Late have I loved You, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new. Late have I loved You!”
And it seems that I too am very late to sing the praises of the Lord – and it seems that there is much more yet for me to give up – so that I have “lost all and gained all.” (Saint Teresa of Avila).
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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