I am currently reading, “My Beloved is Mine and I am His” by Mother Mary Francis (she is so lovely and wise!) on what it means to be a Bride Christ, and I wanted to share some of my thoughts. While I am not a nun, we know that Christians are called to be the Brides of Christ even though we serve Him in different vocations. This is a very hard teaching for many men (LOL)
In her chapter titled, “Complete Surrender”, Mother Mary notes that Saint Clare of Assisi said that true Brides of Christ are supposed to, “Love Him in complete surrender.” She goes on to say that this surrender is not a servile giving, but a “loving surrender”. She points out that many people always assume surrender is painful and reluctantly given, but this is not the type of surrender we are called to give. Our surrender must by complete. No conditions given. Just our whole-hearted submission to the Lord. True surrender means to trust Him completely and put Him before all others…even ourselves.
True abandonment and surrender to the Lord can only be achieved if it is 100% complete and freely chosen. When we hold a part of ourselves back from the Lord, we are like Adam and Eve in the Garden or the Israelites begrudgingly following Moses in the Desert or Peter sinking in the waves. Our lack of faith and trust in the Lord leads to turmoil in our souls. True peace can only be achieved by complete surrender to the Lord. Without it, we are a creature with two minds or a servant with two masters or even worse….a bride with two beloveds…unfaithful and restless.
Mother Mary notes that surrender is always a work of love. Mankind has always given our Lord stipulations for our surrender. “Lord, I will follow you if….” Or “Lord, I will obey you if….” For surrender to be complete, there cannot be any stipulations attached to it. Like true love, it must be freely given with nothing held back. I am my Beloved and He is mine. That is it. Any conditions attached will diminish our love to a transactional arrangement, which only leads to frustration for both parties. True love is all consuming. If we are constantly thinking of what we are owed, this only leads to unhappiness and a restless heart.
Our Lord has pointed out that He is a jealous God and does not tolerate unfaithfulness. We are called to put Him first above all other gods and that includes the worship of ourselves. Adam and Eve’s sin was a mortal sin because they chose to worship their own desires and opinions over God’s. They doubted His Goodness. Rejected His love. Denied their status as His Beloved and became unfaithful.
But the betrayal in the Garden did not end in a complete tragedy, God gave us a glimmer of hope: A Savior would be sent to defeat the serpent and bring Adam and Eve back into the Father’s arms.
What would it take???
Complete surrender.
Jesus’ complete surrender to the Father’s Will was the only way to defeat death and open the gates to Heaven once more. Like Jesus, we are called to complete surrender. Complete trust in the Lord. Trust in His goodness and complete faith that what He taught in the Gospel is the answer: that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. When we hear Him, we hear the Father. Once we accept that, we realize that abandoning ourselves 100% to Jesus is the smartest thing that we can do. It is the only solution to the restlessness that we feel in our hearts when we seek goodness and pleasure elsewhere. Jesus is the answer to every question we have. He is our Beloved and we are His.
Jesus is the peace that the world cannot give, if we but surrender ourselves to Him completely.
Lord, I surrender my heart and will to You.
Guide my thoughts, words, and deeds to Your glory.
In all I do, may I seek only Your holy will.
Grant me the grace to trust and follow You always.
Amen.
Clinging to the Little Way 