A Power Greater Than Ourselves

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Right before Christmas it is good to reflect on the question: Why do we need Jesus? The answer: We can’t save ourselves. The Jews couldn’t save themselves by following the Law of Moses; and the rest of us, the Gentiles can’t save ourselves by science, medicine, politics, economics or reason alone.

In Romans 6, Paul explains that sin is turning away from God, and the consequence of turning away permanently is hell – for hell is the only place one can go to get away from God. In a variety of degrees, we are all slaves to sin, we are all addicts to our disordered desires and vices and we don’t have the power on our own to turn away, to stop, to be set free. Yet we don’t like to admit we are powerless – do we? Every one of us is a slave to sin: Pride, envy, sloth, anger, greed, gluttony, lust, fear, resentment…the list goes on and on – pick your poison.

Still, we go on thinking we can solve our problems on our own. This is pride – self-reliance – and it is the reason we refuse to go to Jesus and to spend the time we should in prayer because, you know, we’ve got this.  And even if you aren’t ready to acknowledge your inability to overcome your vices – there is one thing no one can overcome on their own – death.

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Not long ago a good friend gave me the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Not because I am an alcoholic but because its principles are spiritually universally applicable. It states: If a code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome our addictions, many of us would have recovered long ago. But…such codes and philosophies did not save us, no matter how hard we tried.

That is precisely why Paul was writing to the Jewish and Greek Romans: neither the mosaic law nor the philosophy of the age could save them. The needed power wasn’t there. Our human resources, as marshalled by the will, are not sufficient, they fail utterly…Lack of power is the dilemma. We have to find a power by which we can live, and it has to be a Power greater than ourselves. But - where and how are we to find this Power that will set us free from all that enslaves us? Where we find it is in Jesus; how we find it is in total surrender.

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Luke 2:9 The angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds and the glory of the Lord shone round them. They were terrified, but the angel said, 'Do not be afraid. Listen, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in the town of David a savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.'

We find the Power greater than ourselves the same way the shepherds did: by following the guidance of angels who tell us to go to Mary and Joseph who will present this Power to us – “Here” Mary says to us, “take him, hold him, the baby’s name is Jesus. There is nothing to fear in Him. He won’t steal your freedom, your happiness, he won’t enslave you. He will set you free! But you must decide to surrender to Him”

Now surrender does not mean defeat or giving up. To surrender to God means to admit that I cannot save myself. Surrender is to turn your life over to God unconditionally to let Him do whatever he wants in you. Jesus, I surrender to you, take care of everything.

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Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not be honest with themselves…so we turn now to God, in this decade, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to us that thing we cannot control or deal with or do or forgive. Maybe it is a habitual sin you cannot stop, or someone you should love but cannot; or a resentment you can’t forgive; a cross you cannot bear, a loss you cannot accept, a fear you can’t overcome…I know some of mine…now you must identify yours.

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Remember that we are dealing with Satan and an enslavement to sin —cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power—that One is God. May you find Him now! Half measures avail us nothing. We stand at the turning point. Here are the steps we must take:

We admit we were powerless over our sin—that our lives have become unmanageable.

We believe that a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. So we make the decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of Jesus.

Then make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Admit to God, to ourselves, and to a priest in confession now, before Christmas, the exact nature of our wrongs.

Humbly ask God to remove your shortcomings.

Continue each day to make a daily examination of conscience and when we are wrong promptly admit it.

Through daily meditation, especially the Rosary, strive for a deeper union with God…praying only for knowledge of His will and the power to carry that out.

Finally, the step that will help you the most, make the commitment to help another person, or a handful to God by living genuine friendship, good conversation and invite someone else regularly into your habit of the Rosary.