Mark 1: Jesus approached a man possessed by a demon. The demon cried out, "I know who you are: the Holy One of God!" In Mark's Gospel, a demon is the first to give testimony to Jesus as the Messiah! It isn't enough for a Believer to say, "I know Jesus." Even the demons know Jesus. More is demanded of one who dares to claim the name Christian.

Jesus asks only one thing of us: to give our entire lives into His hands. Our destiny, our hopes, our dreams, our fears, our memories, our hurts, our joys... All I am and will be is yours, Jesus; be the Lord of my life. Saint Ignatius of Loyola perhaps said it best in his great "suscipiat" prayer, a prayer of radical surrender to God:

Take, Lord, and receive my entire liberty,
my memory, my understanding and my whole will.
All that I am and all that I have You have given me.
I surrender it all to You; use it wholly according to Your will.
Give me only Your love and Your grace;
this is sufficient for me.

Msgr. William J. King

01/28/2012