Memorial of Saint Agnes, virgin and martyr
By Beth DeCristofaro
But Samuel said: “Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the LORD? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams. For a sin like divination is rebellion, and presumption is the crime of idolatry. (1 Samuel 15: 22-23)
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me; and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God. (Psalm 50:23)
…no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins. (Mark 2:22)
Piety
Lord Jesus, take my fears, my doubts, my worries and my cares. Let me not hold on to them, thus blocking myself from truly trusting in you. Let me abandon myself into your care, knowing that following you, the bridegroom, and trusting in your great love for me, is the only way to holiness. Help me to know, cherish and desire always your great love for me as did your courageous servant Agnes.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/012108.shtml
Saul just didn’t get it: We did what God asked, he answers Samuel. Saul continues: of course, we will offer sacrifices of praise to God from the spoils of war which, rightfully, belong to me, the king, and to my soldiers as victors.
But that is not what God asked. God, through Samuel, asked Saul to put aside the old way of doing things, put away his ego as king and give over all to God. God did not say to Saul that he should use God’s victories as a means to get rich and powerful.
God asks the same of us: Obedience is better than sacrifice and submission than the fat of rams (1 Samuel 15: 22). Heartfelt obedience is what God requests rather than half felt, external rituals. The new wine which is Christ will rip the old wineskin of our own ego if we do not put ourselves aside and open to Christ. Christ’s life will pour out, wasted, rather than bring us to holiness. The bridegroom has come, we should rejoice and follow what he wants – as we do for the bridegroom when we attend his wedding – not just mouth platitudes.
Today is the memorial of St. Agnes, of whom little is actually known. “…Agnes is a symbol that holiness does not depend on length of years, experience or human effort. It is a gift God offers to all.” http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1267
Agnes knew that the bridegroom was with her and that she belonged to the bridegroom. No one could sway her. Her own love for God trumped, in an awesome, awful and triumphant way, her love for her own existence. God offers each of us a chance for such holiness as God gave such an opportunity to Saul.
Action
Quietly, lovingly, consider a place in your life in which your ego is leading you towards asking, “What’s in it for me?” Is it how you treat your colleagues at work? Is it the way you drive home? Is it in the manner you answer the panhandler? Is it the way you listen to a politician from the “other” party? Is it the manner in which you interact with your family? Consider how you could better follow the Bridegroom and ask for Jesus’ help to put aside yourself in order to become a new wineskin.
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