Altars and Offerings

Real saints lay the big things on the altar, so that the Lord has complete control.  Not because He’s a tyrant, but because He’s good and He knows what’s good for us.  We ask Him to “bless, acknowledge, and approve this offering” every Eucharistic prayer.  That’s because our offerings are sanctified through His Blood.  And whatever I withhold, I keep from the gift of His Grace.  I am learning how to lay these good things, these holy, big, core desires on the altar, that they might be offered, sanctified, and if He wills, given back.  But the return is not mine to grant—it is His to bestow.  And so I must come to a place of indifference, where my eyes are fixed on the Bridegroom and not on the thing I desire.  And then, when my gaze is purified by His Heart, I’ll be able to receive the gift He has longed to give.  And my hands and heart and mind and soul will be aligned to say freely, Let it be done, I am your handmaid, I want Your Will.