Serving the Lord

“Fear the LORD and serve him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24: 14-15)

There are only two choices. We can choose to serve the Lord or to serve other gods. There is no middle ground. “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24) Choosing to serve the Lord is more than lip service. As a parent, how am I guiding my household to be one that serves the Lord? My husband is not Catholic but we made the decision to raise our children in the Catholic faith. It was something I was not willing to compromise on. A friend in high school was not raised in any religion. His parents said he could make that decision when they got older. He was envious that my family went to Mass together every Sunday; that we went to CCD and learned about our faith. How can he make a decision about faith when he has never been exposed to it?

We try to live as a family of service. We look for opportunities to reach out to those less fortunate. We’ve helped with different ministries through our parish. We serve meals to the homeless and to families at the Ronald McDonald House. We’ve worked in food pantries and other service projects through CCA. We’ve spent many hours at Mt. Carmel Center, helping clear the brush, repair trails, put together furniture, etc. There are so many in need. Over the years we’ve chosen things that the boys could do when they were young (like the food pantry) and as they have gotten older we choose things that are more involved and work with our busy schedules. But no matter how busy we are, it is a priority. We want God to use us to bring Christ to our small part of the world. 

Today when I was in Adoration, I was struggling with temptation and was journaling about that. I actually thought that is what I was going to write about today, but after reading today’s readings again I felt called to write about the verses in Joshua about serving the Lord. But my struggle with temptation fits with it as well. When we choose to serve the Lord, we have to invite him into every aspect of our lives. He is there in the midst of my struggle whether I am able to persevere or I give into the temptation. He is there reaching out to me when I fall, helping me to rise again. 

"A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, and must empty ourselves. Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in his love than in your weakness." (Mother Teresa)