Consecrating the Mundane

“In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19 NIV)

As a Roman Catholic child, I learned to recite the above verse as I made the sign of the cross. It was a habitual gesture--when I woke up and before I went to sleep, before meals, and before and after prayers. Like many other religious customs, I did this unthinkingly. Over the years, this little ritual disappeared from my life. It felt like a relic from the past, a tradition I no longer wanted to practice. Until recently...

I was reading through 2 Thessalonians 1, and I noticed how frequently St. Paul invoked the name of God. He reminded himself and others that everything he did was under the authority of God. He prayed that God would infuse His energy, grace, and peace into every thought and action. 

“We pray for you all the time—pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 MSG)

I want to be fit for what God has called me to be. I want my thoughts and behavior to be filled with God’s energy so that it amounts to something. I want everything I say and do to honor God. Like St. Paul, I want to invoke the name of God, do everything under His authority, infuse everything with His power. I want to consecrate the mundane actions of my life. I want to dedicate my day--my waking up, my sleeping, and everything in between to the Lord. I want to remind myself of the sanctity of every hour. I want to acknowledge that I have been called to be set apart.