Entrusting

Entrust is not a verb much used in conversation, and yet, over the weekend I heard it used twice by different people meaningfully. First, during our Sunday community meeting, Karen raised up JP2’s article written in early 1994: A Meditation on Givenness where he expounds on gift and entrustment. 

‘God has given you to me.’ This is true of every person God has placed in my life: parents, siblings, spouse, children…so on and so forth. Every person I know is a gift, a gift to be treasured. I need to recognize the value of each gift for as JP2 writes: 

…to entrust means God believes in you, trusts that you are capable of receiving the gift, trusts that you are capable of embracing it with your heart, that you have the capacity to respond to it with the gift of yourself. Honour and respect are due to each person I meet and know, whether friend or foe. The question is how have I treated those entrusted to me? Am I intentional in being as ‘loving’ as I can be? Na-ah, I could do so much better. And I fail most times, especially with those closest to me. 

 That evening I went home and P and I began the Catechism of the Catholic Church in a Year with Fr Mike Schmitz, yet another JP2 initiative (the CCC ie). Now you get why JP2 is my hero. Anyways, we were listening to Jeff Cavins on Day 3 and here it was again, the word entrust. 

This was in relation to the obedience of faith which has two parts: intellectual assent and a personal entrusting of yourself to that truth. This is biblical faith, a faith that requires both words and action. I believe and I respond. It is not a passive faith to which we pay mere lip service, or one which is compartmentalized. It has to be lived out in all areas of our life, in every waking moment. We do not snooze just because no one is looking. 

As A put it, when she is obliged to carry out a task she is not keen on, she does it willingly and cheerfully as her “sacrifice of love”. She is a generous giver for she has fully entrusted her life to the Lord. I have a lot to learn from her for I am not exactly the cheerful giver she is. 

Aside from how we live our life going about our day with an active faith, Cavins encouraged us to entrust ourselves especially when we are praying articles of our faith such as the Creed. He says: “And if you entrust your life to that, every part of that Creed, you're going to live differently.” 

It not just a recitation which I go through because I am at mass, but it’s an opportunity to say hey God, I believe in you and I entrust my life to you in all these ways, and in an active manner, no matter how I am feeling right now, whether I am in crisis or thanksgiving mode. I believe in you and I know what’s happening right now is not the be all and end all of my life. 

 Entrusting goes beyond surrender which does not always come from a choice position. Entrust implies a deep faith, a I am willing to bet my life on this act of trust because I know you love me and I KNOW you would never harm me. Let it, life, your will, be done unto me. I will entrust and not go it alone by myself.

So today, I entrust my life to the Lord, knowing He loves me and I desire to love Him back with a more proportionate level of passion and devotion. And I will try my best to nurture those whom He has entrusted to me, loving them the way He loves them. With this act of entrustment, may my prayers gain more power and vibrancy. 

May your prayers, and your life be enriched with entrusting the Lord.