May grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. // 2 Peter 1:2
I wish I could say there were times I’ve found myself holding back parts of my heart from the Lord. Unfortunately, those times are not necessarily in the past. I still find that there are places in my heart that the Lord is asking me to give Him, or even to others, but I’m afraid to give them up.
I fear what will happen to the empty space left behind if I offer my heart to the Lord. It has taken me a long time to fill that space and I don’t want to have to do that work again. Then, it hits me: there is a lot of “I” and “Me” in those thoughts and not a lot of remembering the mercies of the Lord.
The Lord asks for these parts and spaces within us that we have worked so hard to fill, so He can give us something even better. He desires to bring Saint Peter’s prayer from today’s First Reading to fruition and fill us with grace and peace in abundance (see 2 Peter 1:2). He wants to pour upon us and into us the precious and very great promises He has bestowed (see 2 Peter 1:4), that we might share His divine nature.
He asks us to empty the spaces of our hearts filled with shame, disappointment, fear, loneliness, bitterness—all the things that result from the works we do on our own without His grace. He wants to remove the junk so He can fill us with grace and glory beyond our greatest imaginations. He calls us to make acts of trust, placing ourselves in the embrace of our refuge and fortress (see Psalm 91:2).
He knows it’s a big ask. But He prepares us. He plants His life within us, protects us, digs out what is not of Him, and builds us anew (see Mark 12:1). He asks for some of the produce—not all (at least, not all at once)—and even with that little He makes us new wine.
Sister, what spaces in your heart is Jesus asking you to surrender to Him today, so that He can make new wine within your heart?
Sœur Maria Fatima est entrée chez les Sœurs dominicaines de Marie, Mère de l'Eucharistie en 2005 et enseigne la religion au collège dans l'Ohio. Elle est titulaire d'une maîtrise en théologie de l'École de théologie du Séminaire Saint-Paul. Elle prend plaisir à aider ses élèves à se rapprocher de Jésus par l'Eucharistie et à découvrir leur véritable identité en tant qu'enfants bien-aimés du Père. Elle a contribué à All She Had . En savoir plus sur elle ici .
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