As I was growing up in a family of eight children, with a hardworking dad and a stay at home mom, I just assumed I would follow in her footsteps. If I wasn’t called to be a nun, then I would care for my children at home. In my mind, these were the only two options. I had no desire to pursue higher education, nor did I see the need for it. But, as God often does, He turned my plans upside down.
I ended up living both of these vocations for a time before settling into what God had in mind for me. I fought so hard against going into debt to continue my studies, yet I did it. I held on so tightly to the traditional family roles that I tried not to disrupt them, yet I did. And the only reason that I did was to follow His plan for my life.
As I write, I am sitting in my home office staring out the window at a bright blue sky, wishing I could break free. I have only been at home two weeks, caring for my husband as he recovers from surgery, and caring for all of my children besides, and I already want to go back to work. There is a restlessness, a boredom, a need for a change from the ordinary, a rest from the noise. “And you wanted to be a stay at home mom!” my husband chuckles. We know now that it would have made all of us miserable.
What is it that you wish to break free from? Is it your tendency to sin? Your mundane daily life? Your addictions? Your racing thoughts? The walls you put up to prevent you from intimacy with our Lord? What is stopping you from allowing those walls to crumble?
In today’s Gospel, Herod the tetrarch wished he could eat his words. He wished he could roll back time and not have sworn so openly to give the daughter of his mistress whatever she wanted. He wanted to break free from his oath, yet his cowardice prevented him from doing so, and the result was deadly.
When we fail to seek ways to break free from the chains that enslave us, we suffer a type of spiritual death. We cannot live the fullness of life that God has in mind for us. We can not taste the depth of the love that He has for us.
Allow God to untie your knots today, to cut loose that which binds you. Welcome His unfathomable love into your heart and hear Him speak to you, “I, the Lord, am your God” (first reading).
Daily Reading
Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading I Judges 2:11-19 The children of Israel offended the LORD by serving the Baals. Abandoning the LORD, the God of their fathers, who led them out of the land…
Saint of the Day
