Click here to read the daily readings from the USCCB website.
One thing kept running through my mind as I prayed with today’s readings. “Everything is Christ… Everything is Christ.” There’s a big word that we used a lot when I was in missionary formation: Christocentricity. Keeping Christ at the center of everything.
Christocentricity is the answer to the scribe’s question in the Gospel. “Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”
Jesus Christ is “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Rev 22:13). I think this is a hard concept to understand unless you see it lived out, and it’s an even harder concept to live out unless you say “yes” without conditions. To make Jesus the beginning, middle, and end of our lives is where we will discover our most enduring satisfaction, fulfillment, happiness.
Paul lives it out in the first reading. “Jesus Christ … is my Gospel.” Paul never stops talking about the suffering that he endures for the sake of Jesus Christ and the Gospel, but he reminds us that “if we have died with Him we shall also live with Him; if we persevere we shall also reign with Him.”
It’s really easy to question whether the reward of discipleship is worth the cost. Jesus asks us to reject the enticements of the world for His sake. Jesus asks us to give of ourselves generously without counting the cost including our time, our treasure, and our talent. There are so many things that Jesus asks of us and they can feel like such an imposition and sacrifice, but what if we change our perspective?
For me, I have found that I resent Jesus when I make my life about the world. I resent Jesus for asking me to not watch TV shows that don’t glorify Him (looking at you, Tiger King). I resent Jesus for asking me to give Him at least 10% of my income instead of spending it on myself. I resent Him whenever I think about myself first and foremost.
But when I make my life not about me but about Jesus and my neighbor, I have found that I can let go of all of these attachments with joy. I’m no longer thinking about me, me, me and my never-ending pit of unsatisfied desires. I think of making Jesus happy. I think of making my husband happy. I think of loving the people around me. Doing those things brings me more satisfaction than binging Tiger King ever could.
Christocentricity. What does that look like in your own life? I challenge you to start small. What’s your favorite way to make God smile? Make that a priority this week. Do a little something extra to help you not focus on yourself but rather on God and neighbor. One of my favorite things to do is to get out of bed on my first alarm. That way I’m not giving in to my first selfish desire of the day and instead offering a small sacrifice to Jesus to let Him know I love Him.
-Amanda Benner, Director of Evangelization