Upon hearing yesterday's first reading from the Book of Genesis,(Cain and Abel)I was brought back to something I once heard.
"You know my child, every Sabbath that reigns on you, rains like stars from the heavens. You must offer up all of your gifts at His banquet so as to anoint yourself as an offering to Him. He will accept your gifts and lead you into a place closer than you have ever been before. My child, know that I am with you. I hold you now because you are my child. I love you as I do all my children. You must enter into my presence today, so I may help you through these feelings you are having. You are not alone. I am with you."
Before I heard these words I never realized that I myself was the offering that I would place on the altar. To think that Cain was so envious of his brother's gifts that he killed him. Day after day I approach the altar with all my unworthiness and the closer I come to HIM the more I understand that I must accept that my stripped down self is what is being offered on the altar. I somehow have to get past all the baggage I carry. How I compare myself to saints and never come even close. He knows every cell of my being, every thought and desire and still I must nakedly walk up to that altar giving myself to HIM. We must never compare our gifts. We must long to become that perfect gift. The one Our Father create us to become. "THE PRECIOUS CUP" Purify me Lord, posses my thoughts, increase my faith!
