To Jesus Christ alone do I dedicate my soul!

At one time, it seems like eons ago, where almost all believers in the Son of God would proclaim that theme. But today, too many Catholics have other agendas in their lives and that theme is just a passing thought. Go to the homes that you grew up in and you would discover holy pictures, crucifixes in most rooms, but the living room was a priority. A lot of families would call a priest for a home blessing in the surety that grace would abound in every room.

That is now a passing memory and when children move their families into that new home on the hill, where are all the holy pictures and crucifixes? When working in new houses as an electrician, I noticed pictures of the Sacred Heart and other artifacts somewhere in the basement or a cluttered garage with unopened boxes. It just appeared that the walls of the living room no longer had space for these religious artifacts and most were into neighborhoods where there may not be very many with Christian ideals. It seems new lives in the modern society no longer find a capacity to speak of God let alone hang signs of a worshiping family. Too many sports for growing children with practice or games usually occurring on Sundays. How many of these millennials will say, “To Jesus Crist alone do I dedicate my soul; and include these maturing children who are entering a world without God?

It hurts us when we also may have grown up with some of the same exclusions as the days of old have become history. As I sit at my computer, on the wall in front of me is the Sacred Heart of Jesus. My wife gave this to me in 1960 at Christmas and it has always been an impulse to have his eyes watching over me. I know it is just a picture without any worship needed. However, just like a crucifix in a home or near the altar at Church (which is a requirement under Church statutes) we do not worship these, but are held in awe of their reminder of Good Friday.

We should always have a working reminder of him who died and rose for all of our sins. No matter how wealthy we become or the many acclimations for our advancement in the business world, we must never forget the journey each of us is walking and cannot make it without the hand of God leading us through his Holy Spirit and reaching the Heart of Christ here and now.

When the vigors of a sinful world seem to grab hold of our souls leading us to the evil of sin, use this mantra of, “To Jesus Christ alone do I dedicate my soul.”

It is the priority of our soul and the efforts anyone of us will use to keep the fires going when the cold winter of disbelief enters into the everyday moments of life’s tribulations that can quickly turn the mind to an escape. That exiting of freedom from God’s grace is easier than one might expect. Sin, in its magnetic attraction, makes the reality of Christ’s warm touch to our heart something a composer of fairy-tales would create.

Ralph B. Hathaway