I was recently on a 3-day Ignatian silent retreat. What a gift it was to be away from life to focus my attention on God. There were a lot of thoughts and ideas that percolated through my head that weekend, there were a few things that have stuck with me these past few weeks. Today I want to explore an idea that the retreat leader shared with us on the first day. He made the following statement “Our core purpose is to praise, reverent, and serve God.” At that moment God had captured my attention and I knew that I would be chewing on it for the rest of the retreat.
I want to start by dissecting this statement to see where it leads us. First, I want to talk about the idea of “core purpose.” How many times have you asked yourself the question “What is my purpose?” We often answer this question based on the role(s) we live. How I answer this question is different if I am in the role of friend, spouse, parent, grandparent, employee, or Christ-follower. There is no doubt an overlap exists between some of the roles but I am guessing you could identify some purpose(s) specific to each of the roles you are playing. But these “role purposes” were not what Father Pat was referring to. Rather, he was talking about our “core purpose.” This is the purpose that lives in our soul. This purpose comes from us being created beings wanting to engage with our creator.
Now I want to take a look at the three action verbs of our core purpose. We start with praise. I see praise as our response to the things God has done in us, for us, to us, and through us. It is a measure of our gratitude. Praise is the result of a constant internal evaluation of the things going on around us. I wish I could say that I have mastered this action but I haven’t. I am grateful for a lot of things but I often fail to verbalize my praise to God for His interactions in my life. What about you? How good are you at praising God?
The next action verb is being reverent. This is an upward look at the one who created us. The word reverent means a deep feeling of respect or awe. This sense of awe is what drives me to simply sit silently with God and be fully present with Him. Now there was another statement from the retreat leader that fits nicely here. He said we need to “learn to be comfortable with being utterly and fully present to God.” Can you remember a time when you felt the overwhelming presence of God? As I gaze out over creation I am often awe-struck by the beauty of God’s creation. At the same time, I am reminded of God’s presence as I sit quietly in my hermitage simply being present to God. What aspects of God’s give draw you into a sense of awe or respect?
These first two verbs are about being. Being present to God. Being present with God. Being present for God. In Psalm 46:10 we are to “be still and know that I am God.” Being still is what grounds us in our sacred relationship with God. It is out of this grounding that we can “do.” This leads us to the third action verbs – serve.
One way we serve God by allowing Him to work through us to care for others. So what does that look like? What is your spiritual giftedness? What are your natural abilities? What talents have you learned? What stirs you to action? What gives you a sense of joy? These are the things God will use so you can serve Him by serving others. It is the little things we do every day at home, at work, and while doing life – it’s about coming alongside and serving others. If we do this with a heart for God, we are serving Him. How can you allow God to work through you to serve others?
