Unceasing Praise

And day and night they never cease to sing ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.’ (Rev 4:8)

When was the last time you were in awe, truly and completely overwhelmed in awe, of our God? For us who have been living the Christian life for all or most of our lives, awe is not something that happens on a daily basis. More often than not our awe turns to complacency. Wonder takes a back seat to daily tasks, and instead of unceasing worship we congratulate ourselves for making it through an hour-long mass each weekend. Why is it so easy to take the Creator of you and me and the whole universe for granted?

The vision of God’s throne room revealed in today’s First Reading portrays so much glory and mystery. Sometimes passages of Scripture like this can be hard to read. What does all this symbolism mean? What I am supposed to take literally? Do these creatures really have eyes inside and out? Most of what I’m reading just makes me feel kind of nervous. But there are two things that are clear to me here. Firstly: that the God I have placed my trust is way more glorious than I can even begin to grasp. And secondly, those who see Him are literally brought face down to the ground because of His glory, and they never, NEVER, cease to praise Him.

But how can we give unceasing praise to God in the midst the unceasing chaos of our lives?

We do this by being good stewards of the things He has given us, like we see in today’s Gospel.

Everything we have comes from God. I don’t want to be like the servant who takes his gold coin and hides it away, to afraid to try to grow. I want to take what I’ve been given, health, my family, food on my plate, clothes on my back, and use them to grow God’s kingdom. Each of us have different abilities and talents, and we all have unique ways of growing God’s kingdom. Those of us who are mothers have the great responsibly to raise our children to know and love the Lord. Those of us who are working have daily encounters with people who are starved for the peace and love of Christ. We all enjoy freedom and wealth that most of the world could only dream of. Though it’s easy to get preoccupied with how times are tight, we have so many resources to help those in need, in our home cities, and in the farthest corners of the world. When we do these things we are praising God, we are offering our bodies to Him as "living sacrifices." (Romans 12:1)

And so, dear sisters, let us stand in awe of our God, and offer Him the unceasing praise He deserves. Let’s make our vocations a living sacrifice, and love in action our spiritual act of worship.

Ask the Lord to show you how He would like you to use your time, talents, and treasure.

photo by Taylor McCutchan

Anna Coyne is a wife, mother, knitter, gardener, and convert to the Catholic faith. Read more about her here.