DIDACHE August 16, 2010 Entry
“If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. ” – Matthew 19:21
I was kidnapped.
I was in Sulu, Mindanao covering news as a TV reporter when it happened. Armed men captured me in an area where there was no cell phone signal, no jeepneys, no tricycles.They took all my valuables. I was separated from my loved ones. They threatened to kill me.
Before this ordeal, I found it difficult to surrender to God. But in that situation, with nothing to cling to except my faith, it was suddenly easy to surrender.
“His will be done!” I kept saying to myself. It was only a matter of time before I could go to heaven, I thought. I was at peace.
I had accepted that whatever would happen, my God loves me and I’d endure everything with gladness for the Lord.
I thought, this was what Jesus meant when He asked us to sell all our possessions. It meant I had to be detached from the material wealth and everything else that kept me from surrendering. After all, I own nothing, God owns everything, even my life. If this abduction didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have known how to surrender completely.
REFLECTION:
Will I wait for an ordeal to be able to surrender to God every day? What steps can I take to surrender?
PRAYER:
Holy Spirit, teach me how to surrender and realize that God gives and God can take away.
