It is 24th January 2017. We celebrate the memorial of St Francis de Sales. The Bishop and the Doctor of the Church. The readings are from Hebrews 10:1-10; and the Gospel from Mark 3:31-35. The first reading recounts the obedience of Jesus who did the will of the Father by accepting the chalice of salvation for the sake of all of us. Christ went out of himself completely and freely to do the will of the Father. The sacrifice of Jesus is His absolute obedience to the Father in which we all share. We too are invited to do the will of God in our lives. Doing God’s will requires the inner disposition of heart and soul rather outward impressive rituals. Our God deserves the sacrifice of thanksgiving, the Eucharist as we acclaim the sufferings, the passion and the death our Lord Jesus. The Most Holy Eucharistic celebration in a community of God’s people is the perfect thanksgiving to the Father who sent the only Beloved Son to save us all. Our sacrifice of thanksgiving must not end only with the Eucharist, the reenactment of the paschal mystery, a memorial that brings the real presence of Christ in the world tangible; we must make efforts to practice mortifications, fasting, penance with charity towards the poor and the sick. The responsorial Psalm repeats, “Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.” (Ps.9:8,9). The Gospel reminds us that doing God’s will is not that easy. Obedience cannot happen without our openness and willingness to accommodate the commandments of love and striving seriously to avoid sin in every moment of our lives. To belong to the family of God, one has to familiar with the Word of God and to practice them on a daily basis. True sacrifice is to offer oneself totally to God without reservation. We can overcome all the sins just being faithful and open to the will of God. We all need to discern the will of God in our lives. It is a challenging task yet we all need to know and to do the God’s will in order to be happy and peaceful. May you have a good day.