Be An Oblation

I’ve been pondering this subject a lot in the past several months. The fact is, there is so much to write about that I have had trouble knowing where to start.

Main Entry: ob·la·tion
Pronunciation: \ə-ˈblā-shən, ō-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English oblacioun, from Anglo-French oblation, from Late Latin oblation-, oblatio, from Latin offerre
Date: 15th century
1 : the act of making a religious offering; specifically capitalized : the act of offering the eucharistic elements to God2 : something offered in worship or devotion : a holy gift offered usually at an altar or shrine

How’s that for starting from the beginning?

Leviticus 1:17 And he shall break the pinions thereof, and shall not cut, nor divide it with a knife: and shall burn it upon the altar, putting fire under the wood. It is a holocaust and oblation of most sweet savor to the Lord.

From scripture we see that an oblation is a sacrifice offered by burning and giving off a sweet savor to the Lord. The burning process consumes the sacrifice completely making it a total loss to anyone but God.

Out of love for us, Jesus made Himself an offering to God for us. His sacrifice of self was abundantly pleasing to the Father and redeemed us all; making it possible for all to become the children of God.

In all things we are to be imitators of Christ. We are called to follow in His footsteps in our giving of self to Him and to our neighbor; especially those in our families and our brothers and sisters in Christ, but also to the stranger and the helpless.

Christ did not shrink away from the very personal price of love. He ate with sinners and took the ridicule of the religious elite for it. He touched the sick and the maimed. He spat on the ground and anointed sick eyes with clay of his own creation. Out of love for each of us, he first knocked the soldiers to the ground with a word and then surrendered himself to be beaten, whipped to the point of death, and then crucified for us.

Those of us who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into his death. The life we now live, we live by the faith in Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. (Gal. 2) We are no longer our own. We have been bought with an unfathomable price. Now, as imitators of Christ, we are to pour out our lives out of love for him.

When we come to appreciate the depth of his love for us, our response is to seek to obey him and to give of ourselves for the sake of those souls who have not yet come to understand how loved they are. We seek to lend our own suffering to the suffering of Christ on the cross and therefore become one with him in his sacrifice for souls.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face understood this well. In her Act of Oblation she describes how all those down through the centuries who have poured themselves out for Christ offer their own suffering in union with Christ for the salvation of souls. Until Christ returns in glory, all those who love him will desire to join him there on the cross because the bride loves what the Divine Groom loves: the souls of men and women.

My daughter, Sarah, recently had her first child. Very soon after the birth I recognized in her eyes and her manner that overpowering love of mother for child. It is overwhelming at first. A mother gives up her body, time, strength and attention to this little bitty human who cannot do anything for themselves. When I had my first child, I was surprised to realize that for the first time in my life I would willingly offer my own life in her place. I would gladly take every blow that life delivered rather than see her suffer. I was just beginning to grasp the kind of love God has for us.

Your children become adults. They have their own children. They move away and develop their own families and lives. You get to see how well you have taught them the values and beliefs you hold dear. Sometimes you see them claim those things for themselves and live them out. Sometimes they endanger their own souls and wander away from the God who reaches for them every day and night.

As a parent, you have to find that place between indifference and complete panic in attempting to make some input into their thinking as adults. That is a very illusive place! You pray for teachable moments. You pray that God uses their circumstances, their catechesis and your own example to come to the right conclusions. Most of all you pray. You pray with tears.

Never lose faith that God hears those prayers. Pray in the face of seeming impossibility. And while you pray, offer yourself, your work, your grief, your pain, your weakness to God in union with his own suffering. The very pain in your heart over their unbelief is a mirror image of his own pain as he hung on that cross for those who still mocked him as he bled for them. Offer your own suffering for those you love. Offer the pain you feel when you see that blank stare when you try to offer a word of admonition, or when you see them take yet another step away from God’s best for them.

Growing old provides a plentiful supply of offerings to God for those we love. Offer yourself to him for them as long as he gives you breath. Your prayers are never forgotten; never without impact. I’ve heard beautiful stories about children and grandchildren who have returned to the Church as the result of the prayers of parent and grandparents who prayed for years without visible fruit, but God never forgot those prayers.

Out of love for him and for them, make yourself an oblation with Jesus for those you love and for whole world. Pour out your life with him for them.