Father Your will not mine!

What does it mean to give your life to God? Not even your life, but say just one year? Like NET for example. It is crazy, scary, hard, rewarding, beautiful, but most importantly it is what God wants and desires from you. And I don’t mean for everyone to join NET, what I mean is to offer your life up to God one year… no, month… not even that, one day at a time. When you wake up it is about saying to God, I offer this day up to you, do what you will with it. It reminds me of a common prayer my family would say, the Morning offering. Pope John Paul II said that the Morning Offering is “of fundamental importance in the life of each and every one of the faithful."

Mike talking during a retreat in Behchoko

                 “O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, the reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month.”

                  It is very hard for me to trust that God has a plan but some how when I look back on all that he has done for me it helps me so much. It seems to me that when I am thankful for things I seem to find more comfort and trust in God. I realize that God has always been there in my life even if I have turned my back on him. So maybe it is a leap of faith that must be taken over and over again, but man it is worth the risk every time. In this season we have a very special opportunity to allow God to enrich our lives and bring us a greater sense of joy by trusting in him. Like Jesus during the agony in the garden we can say, “Not my will, but yours, be done.” Luke 22:42

At the Ice Castle in Yellowknife on Great Bear Lake 

            
Recently our team has been separated but this time only for a week. They have been traveling outside Yellowknife to some of the Aboriginal communities of the Tlicho region Behchoko, Gameti, and Whati. It is difficult being apart but trusting in God makes it so much easier. I think of this quote, "If we let Christ enter into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us." -Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI-  

           
I really enjoy the beauty of the north, especially the fact that the days are getting longer and we now have well more than 12 hours of daylight each day. So even though the north can be cold, there is always love to be found. Sometimes it is in the people here other times it is in the amazing creation that God displays his marvelous beauty.

           

Thanks for reading

God bless

Ben and the rest of iNFUSE NORTH