RENDERING TO GOD HIS DUE

 A REFLECTION FOR THE 12TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

What is it that makes us want to please God above all things?  And what can we do to fulfill this innate desire?  Once we know God exists and we begin to have some understanding of who he is and what he wants from us, the virtue of Religion encourages us to perform acts calculated to render the honor and glory that are due to God alone.  This virtue of Religion is what drives us to give honor to God and to promote that honor in others.  By this virtue we are motivated to pray, to sacrifice, to adorn our chapel and decorate the altar, to sing in the choir, serve at Mass, and do all the other things whose primary function is to give honor to the Supreme Being.

These acts alone, while of great value to our spiritual life, are not, however, enough of themselves.  We are creatures living in a material world, amidst a multitude of other human beings, each with his own cares and needs.  Our Lord reminded us of this when he told us that the Second Commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves is like unto the First, which is to love God above all things.  “The virtue of Religion can and must direct to the glory of God all the works and exercises of a Christian life, that it may become a perpetual divine service” (Fr. Nicholas Gihr on the Virtue of Religion).  In other words, all our actions must have as their objective the glory of God.  As St. Paul puts it in his Epistle to the Corinthians, “Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever else ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

This brings us to the importance of making a good Morning Offering daily upon waking up.  With a prayer such as the one following, we offer up to God everything we do, no matter how banal or insignificant, and thus make each action meritorious and pleasing to our Creator.  The words of our prayer may vary, but the basic sentiment should be as follows: “O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer thee my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of thy divine Heart, and for the suffering souls in Purgatory.”  You can add to these intentions the reparation for your sins, the increase of a particular virtue, your relatives and friends, the Church, the nation, or any other intention close to your heart.  What’s important is the idea of elevating the mundane tasks of your daily life to becoming a source of grace and goodness, even when you’re not thinking about them specifically.  The day is thus sanctified without any further effort on your part and abundant are the graces and mercies you will receive from this simple morning prayer that takes only a few seconds to say.

Naturally though, we are called upon to practice other virtues and perform deliberate acts that are morally pleasing to God.  Other than the ones directed specifically to God, such as adoration, thanksgiving, supplication and repentance, we should also strive to pray and practice acts of Faith, Hope and Charity.  Fr. Nicholas Gihr explains this as follows: [These three virtues] may be elicited with the intention of acknowledging the divine truth, fidelity, and goodness, and God is thereby greatly honored and glorified.  In believing, hoping, and loving, we give ourselves to God with all the powers of our soul, we lean upon God and rest in God as our last end; in other words, we render to the divine perfections and majesty due homage and submission.  The three divine virtues also condition the development and completion of the Christian life, which is founded on faith, nourished by hope, and animated by charity.  Faith enlightens the understanding with celestial light, hope endows the soul with supernatural strength, and love inflames the heart with divine fire.  Thus these three virtues enable us by a new and holy life to announce to men the glorious prerogatives and perfections of God, that they may see our works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.  They give rise to the virtue of religion, and excite us to glorify God through works of piety, mercy and penance.”