In prayer tonight, I felt the nearness of Christ more deeply than I ever have before. As I reflected on the deacon’s call to bring the world’s pain to the altar, I began to understand the mystery of how Jesus bears the sins and sorrows of all people upon the cross. The thought overwhelmed me. I could feel the weight of one community’s pain resting on my heart, yet I knew that Christ had already carried the pain of the entire world. That realization opened my soul to awe. Jesus does not stand apart from human suffering. He carries it, transforms it, and redeems it in love.

This awareness filled the room with a sense of peace. I felt as if Christ Himself was standing beside me, lifting the burdens I could not carry. The Gospel became vivid in that moment: the Lamb of God truly takes away the sins of the world. The cross was no longer a symbol from long ago, but the living heart of divine compassion unfolding now. Jesus takes every cry, every injustice, every grief, and gathers them into His mercy. In His presence, the impossible becomes holy.

To bring the world’s pain to the altar is not to claim power but to surrender it. It is to stand before God with open hands, offering what is too heavy for anyone to hold alone. The deacon’s calling is to do this each day: to carry the wounds of the world into the presence of Christ and then to return to the world with His peace. The altar becomes the meeting place between suffering and salvation, between human fragility and divine love.

As I prayed, gratitude overflowed. I saw that every act of service, every prayer for justice, every attempt to love my neighbor is a small participation in Christ’s redemptive work. None of us bears these burdens alone. Jesus bears them with us and for us. This is the hope that sustains all ministry: that in every sorrow offered to Him, there is resurrection waiting to rise.

May I be humble in this calling and faithful in the work that God entrusts to me. May I always remember that the heart of ministry is not achievement but surrender. And may I never forget that when I stand at the altar, I stand before the One who has already given everything.

Thanks be to God.