word of life, august 2011
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Word of Life
August 2011
![Page 2: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
""Behold, I come to do your will."" (Heb 10,9)
""Behold, I come to do your will."" (Heb 10,9)
![Page 3: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
These words actually come from a verse of Psalm 40, where the author of the Letter to the
Hebrews attributed them to the mouth of the Son of God in his dialogue with the Father.
![Page 4: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
In doing so the author wanted to emphasize the love of the Son of God when he became man in
order to fulfill the work of redemption in obedience to the will of the Father.
![Page 5: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
These words are part of a passage through which the author wants to show the infinite superiority of Jesus’ sacrifice compared to the sacrifices made
according to the old Law.
![Page 6: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Those previous sacrifices offered to God were of animals or things external to the human being, but
what Jesus did was different. In his earthly life, his
intense love led him to offer to the
Father his very own will, that is, all of
himself.
![Page 7: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
""Behold, I come to do your will."" ""Behold, I come to do your will.""
![Page 8: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
These words provide the key to understanding Christ’s life. They help us to grasp its deepest
aspect and the golden thread that ran through all the events of his life on earth:
![Page 9: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
from his childhood, the years of his
private life, to the temptations he
faced, his choices, his public life, all the way to his death on the
cross.
![Page 10: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
In each instance, and in every situation, Jesus sought only one thing: to fulfill the will of the Father. And he accomplished it in a most radical way; that is, he never did anything outside of what was expressed in
that will, and refused even the most striking suggestions that were not in full agreement with it.
![Page 11: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
""Behold, I come to do your will."" ""Behold, I come to do your will.""
![Page 12: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
These words help us understand the great lesson offered us by the whole of Jesus’ life.
![Page 13: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
That is, that the most important thing to do is to fulfill not our own will, but the will of the Father. It means being able to say “no” to ourselves in order to
say “yes” to him.
![Page 14: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
True love of God does not consist in beautiful
words, ideas and feelings, but in
effective obedience to God’s commandments. The sacrifice of praise that he expects from us is to lovingly offer him the most intimate thing we possess: our will.
![Page 15: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
""Behold, I come to do your will."" ""Behold, I come to do your will.""
![Page 16: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
How can we put this passage into practice?
![Page 17: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
This is also a sentence that emphasizes the fact that the Gospel goes against the current in so far as it goes against a very basic human tendency: to fulfill one’s own
will, to follow one’s own instincts and feelings.
![Page 18: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
This sentence may also be one of the most annoying for modern men and women.
![Page 19: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
We live in an age that exalts the ego and celebrates individualism. Freedom is considered an aim in itself, and self-satisfaction as the fulfillment of the human person. Whatever gives pleasure is considered the guideline for
one’s decisions and the secret to happiness.
![Page 20: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Yet we all know too well the disastrous consequences that the pursuit of this culture leads to.
![Page 21: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
A culture based on satisfying one’s own will is in complete opposition to that of Jesus, which is totally
oriented towards fulfilling the Father’s will and produces the wonderful effects that he promises.
![Page 22: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
Let us try to live this passage by choosing the will of the Father, making it the guide and motivating
force of our whole life, as Jesus did.
![Page 23: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
We will thus be setting out on a divine adventure, for which we will be eternally grateful to God. Through it we will also attain sanctity and enkindle the love of
God in many hearts.
![Page 24: Word of Life, August 2011](https://reader033.vdocument.in/reader033/viewer/2022052508/559c292b1a28ab8f408b476f/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
""Behold, I come to do your will."" (Heb 10,9)
""Behold, I come to do your will."" (Heb 10,9)
Text by Chiara LubichText by Chiara Lubich