My freshman year of college I had a really good friend that offered me a challenge. Now, if you know me, I enjoy a good challenge and I don't give up until I accomplish my goal. However, this one was intimidating to me. She said, "Ask God what He wants from you and if it isn't the same as your desires then ask Him to change the desires of your heart." My initial thoughts were full of apprehension. Why would I ask God to change the desires of my heart when I was quite content with where my desires were? She saw within me potential that I could not see in myself and challenged me to fulfill what God had already started. The thought terrified me but I realized that if I truly wanted to do what God wanted, the desires of my heart had to change if they were not already what He wanted. This is where Blind Obedience really took hold in my life.
What is Blind Obedience? It is one of the ten Marian Virtues and simply means to follow God's will without knowing what's ahead and what it may "cost" you. This journey has taught me more about myself than I ever could have learned by trying to do "my own thing". Too often I would, unknowingly, hold myself back from things because I didn't "think" I was capable of it. From simply handing my heart and life over to the Lord and going where He leads I've learned my strength of heart, the depth of love I'm capable of, and how God can use me to reach people even when I feel weakest. It has taught me the greatness of God and the tenderness of Our Lady. I've gone places, had experiences that I could have never conjured up in my imagination. I look back on the last 10 years of my life and just shake my head in awe of how amazing God truly is. I can say with 100 percent certainty that I am happiest living in conformity with God's will and that nothing else will satisfy me.
My prayer this week is that we all look to Our Lady, in her virtue of Blind Obedience, and take a leap of faith. Padre Pio said, "Pray, Hope, and Don't Worry. Worry is useless." If one is truly seeking the Lord's will, God will not let them stray far from the narrow path. Let us be faithful in the small things, even when it means that circumstances may not be "ideal" so that in the end, God is glorified and souls are transformed by our example.
"Modern man listens more willingly to witness than to teachers, and if he listens to teachers, it is because they are witnesses." -Evangelii Nuntiandi, 41, Pope Paul VIWritten by Alycia
