We had a really great day on Saturday with the remainder of the seminars. I hope the attendees were as touched as I was by the Spirit's work in our lives. I had a little bit of trouble getting out of there for Mass at St. H., because there were so many of my former fellow parishioners to say hi to! The weekend masses were also wonderful, although the messages from the three visiting priests were a mixed bag. I am a little disappointed that we never use the vigil readings, because that passage from St. John about rivers of living water flowing from us was such a key part of my weekend.
There was also a couple hours of good work Saturday evening finishing up the proposal that we needed to submit by today. I was pleased with where it ended up.
I was beginning to feel pretty sad, though, by Sunday afternoon. I attributed it to the typical letdown that we often experience when we've seen the Lord work in powerful ways that we had been anticipating and fostering for a while. "Okay, down from the mountaintop now." But it felt like more than that. About mid afternoon, after I'd had a short nap - I had not really had very restful sleep throughout the weekend - when my wife told me that a fellow parishioner had called to tell us about a friend who had passed away in the morning. I'd known him from music ministry, men's group, and our prayer group. He was always enthusiastic, loved the Lord with his whole heart, willing to work on his weaknesses. He felt so uplifted by music, and enjoyed playing guitar and bass. But he'd also been in declining health, really, for as long as I'd known him.
I will miss you, Jerry. I'm confident that you're home now, and for your sake I am glad of it, for your praise is no longer restrained by your suffering - not that you ever let that hold you back very much. I'm sorry I wasn't a better friend for you, as you now know. Please pray for me anyway, my brother.
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Monday, June 05, 2017
Saturday, June 03, 2017
Pentecost weekend
Our prayer group, which we started (well, God started) in the on-base Catholic community in 1987, is sponsoring a video Life in the Spirit Seminar for Pentecost weekend. We started last night. I'm excited for what the Holy Spirit is doing in people's lives. I'm mainly leading music for it. This can be a little tricky, because many wonderful songs invoking the Holy Spirit are not typically in the Catholic liturgical repertoire, and you can never tell whether a given parish is going to have many that are. So we're using our organization's license to use songs that are in use by the charismatic community throughout the world, but need to select things that are simple enough for people to learn quickly. So far I think we've found a pretty good balance between music they know and music they can learn quickly.
For our closing song last night, I felt led to use this simple, repetitive, meditative invitation to God, Come Into My Heart. But as we were finishing, I pointed out that God always first issues the invitation to us. We had just heard David Mangan share (on video) of God's great love for us. [He has written a book on the topic: God Loves You, {and there's nothing you can do about it}] He spoke of God's unconditional love for us, and how He doesn't wait for us to get ourselves squared away - as if we ever could - before working in our lives. He meets us right where we are, in whatever messed-up state we may be, and begins to heal and transform us. And I pointed out as we were finishing the song inviting Him into our hearts that this is always a response to an invitation He always first issues to us: Come into My Heart, He says. Enter my loving heart. Another verse says, "I give my life to you," and this is another one that He sings to us before we ever sing it to Him. So finished by repeating those two verses from that perspective.
It was after this that one of the attendees paid me the wonderful compliment I wrote about last night. So apparently this is going pretty well. But I know that at least one attendee expressed reservations about the whole thing. We can be so resistant to allowing God to work in our lives. We can be so maddeningly rational and skeptical, so certain that our lives are okay the way they are, thank you very much. Or we can believe the lie that we are too flawed, or we can be afraid that nothing will happen, or in that fear worry that that would just confirm our low opinion of ourselves.
God's love, and His great dreams for us, are so far beyond our understanding, but our understanding isn't required. Our willingness to trust Him, to yield to the infinitely greater things that He wants for us, is so much more important. But it is hard for us to set aside our 'need' to understand. But somewhere within us, the message that God takes great delight in us and desires only the best for us resonates with truth. We can trust Him. And when we finally do, He fulfills in us the Gospel reading that we will hear proclaimed at the Pentecost vigil this evening: "Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. As Scripture says: Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me."
I have been blessed to see this fulfilled. I know this is not of me. I have no living water of myself to offer anyone, I am a flawed, sinful man. But as we thirst, and we come to Jesus to drink, God shares His Holy Spirit freely with, and through, anyone who is willing to be His vessel. It is a great gift of His love for us.
I can't wait to see what He does today!
For our closing song last night, I felt led to use this simple, repetitive, meditative invitation to God, Come Into My Heart. But as we were finishing, I pointed out that God always first issues the invitation to us. We had just heard David Mangan share (on video) of God's great love for us. [He has written a book on the topic: God Loves You, {and there's nothing you can do about it}] He spoke of God's unconditional love for us, and how He doesn't wait for us to get ourselves squared away - as if we ever could - before working in our lives. He meets us right where we are, in whatever messed-up state we may be, and begins to heal and transform us. And I pointed out as we were finishing the song inviting Him into our hearts that this is always a response to an invitation He always first issues to us: Come into My Heart, He says. Enter my loving heart. Another verse says, "I give my life to you," and this is another one that He sings to us before we ever sing it to Him. So finished by repeating those two verses from that perspective.
It was after this that one of the attendees paid me the wonderful compliment I wrote about last night. So apparently this is going pretty well. But I know that at least one attendee expressed reservations about the whole thing. We can be so resistant to allowing God to work in our lives. We can be so maddeningly rational and skeptical, so certain that our lives are okay the way they are, thank you very much. Or we can believe the lie that we are too flawed, or we can be afraid that nothing will happen, or in that fear worry that that would just confirm our low opinion of ourselves.
God's love, and His great dreams for us, are so far beyond our understanding, but our understanding isn't required. Our willingness to trust Him, to yield to the infinitely greater things that He wants for us, is so much more important. But it is hard for us to set aside our 'need' to understand. But somewhere within us, the message that God takes great delight in us and desires only the best for us resonates with truth. We can trust Him. And when we finally do, He fulfills in us the Gospel reading that we will hear proclaimed at the Pentecost vigil this evening: "Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. As Scripture says: Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me."
I have been blessed to see this fulfilled. I know this is not of me. I have no living water of myself to offer anyone, I am a flawed, sinful man. But as we thirst, and we come to Jesus to drink, God shares His Holy Spirit freely with, and through, anyone who is willing to be His vessel. It is a great gift of His love for us.
I can't wait to see what He does today!
Friday, June 02, 2017
What to rejoice in
It's really hard to explain the combination of emotions I have after receiving an incredible compliment this evening. It is kind of strange to get such affirmation for something that you know is wholly God's work. But a woman after the As By a New Pentecost event this evening said to me, "The Holy Spirit comes through you and, whoosh, just flows over us!"
Wow. Thank you, God, for using me in this way. I couldn't ask for more. But let me not take a bit of Your glory for myself, for You are the source of every good thing in my life, including my desire to serve You.
Friday, October 21, 2016
Today's pageview zip codes
Argos, IN 46501, Atwood, IN 46502 I have passed just north of these zip code twice - well, on both legs of round trips on two separate occasions. The first time was in 1988, with our friends Herb and Maureen as we attended the national charismatic conference at Notre Dame. This was my only visit to the campus, and I can understand why people love it. This was just a couple months after my sister had passed away, suddenly and unexpectedly at age 23, due to a drug problem none of us knew she had. I didn't fully realize how filled with remorse I was over the role I might have played in her drug issues in my younger days - by the conference I'd turned 28 (so a dear friend was a newborn!) - and that I'd never really shared the gospel with her following my conversion experience. After the sessions late one night, I joined others at the grotto and felt led to ask for prayer, though I wasn't really sure for what. I was surprised when I heard myself sharing with the prayer team the burden that I didn't even realize was on my heart. As they prayed with me, I had the experience of being "slain in the Spirit" for the only time in my life, as the Holy Spirit brought me God's consolation in my grief and flooded me with a deep sense of His mercy and love. I laid there for what felt like a half hour but was probably only a few minutes, allowing my loving Lord to minister to me, and arose with a deep sense of gratitude for His forgiveness and with a truly peaceful spirit, as the months-long tension with which I'd been unwittingly living was lifted from me. The next day I found myself able to join in the praise and worship with abandon.
My second trip through the area was on my way to and from the Apple Cider Century in Three Oaks, MI. At that point, I still had aspirations of doing a century (100-mile ride) in every state, back before my cramping issues really developed. I'll have to look at my shirt from that ride to see what year it was, or perhaps I have information in a scrapbook at home. Memories of the ride: I overnighted at a motel west of South Bend and drove the last 25 miles the morning of the ride; a pancake breakfast was served in the town firehouse; there was apple cider to drink at every rest stop; the ride was very well supported; route markings were in the shape of an apple, and color coded for the five different length rides; I ended up feeling a little as if I had cheated on my goal, because about 45 miles of the century route was in Indiana; I talked with some folks at both breakfast and lunch who had come over from Chicago for the ride; lunch was at park in a neighborhood with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. A coworker friend did this ride just a few years ago and lunch was no longer at such a picturesque venue.
My second trip through the area was on my way to and from the Apple Cider Century in Three Oaks, MI. At that point, I still had aspirations of doing a century (100-mile ride) in every state, back before my cramping issues really developed. I'll have to look at my shirt from that ride to see what year it was, or perhaps I have information in a scrapbook at home. Memories of the ride: I overnighted at a motel west of South Bend and drove the last 25 miles the morning of the ride; a pancake breakfast was served in the town firehouse; there was apple cider to drink at every rest stop; the ride was very well supported; route markings were in the shape of an apple, and color coded for the five different length rides; I ended up feeling a little as if I had cheated on my goal, because about 45 miles of the century route was in Indiana; I talked with some folks at both breakfast and lunch who had come over from Chicago for the ride; lunch was at park in a neighborhood with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. A coworker friend did this ride just a few years ago and lunch was no longer at such a picturesque venue.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
A blessed Pentecost weekend
We had a really great Life in the Spirit Seminar weekend using the videos As By A New Pentecost. How wise God was to select these men and women to pour forth his Spirit afresh on the Church in the U.S., almost five decades ago. It was my privilege to give testimony to the need for continued growth after we give the Holy Spirit permission to pour forth God's transforming power in our own lives, as well as to help with supplies, music, and to emcee the day on Saturday. I am always amazed that people don't utterly reject me when I share the darkest parts of my own story, how I became what I detest, in the context of how abundantly greater God's love is than our own failings.
Many received new spiritual gifts, including an older couple who have been in the renewal for years but have never prayed in tongues before. It was a deeply moving day, and as we emphasized, only the beginning of the new life in Him that God desires for all of us.
Many received new spiritual gifts, including an older couple who have been in the renewal for years but have never prayed in tongues before. It was a deeply moving day, and as we emphasized, only the beginning of the new life in Him that God desires for all of us.
Friday, May 13, 2016
A chance to share God's love
This has been a lot of work, and everything has not gone off perfectly, but God is at work here.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Reflections on today's readings
When I was trying to walk out the door at 7:31 to play at 8:00 mass and didn't have the right keys hanging where they belong, I decided on plan B. I'll have to find them before too much longer here, but I wasn't going to lose my mind trying to find them after I was already supposed to be at church if I was going to play.
Perhaps the bishops are trying to avoid controversy over the history of Israel and the idea that God provided this land for his chosen people. But it seems to me that it is important for us to know that it we need to focus as much on what the Lord is doing in our own lives, even those things that are in fact discipline or correction for us, as on what he has done in the past. I have been greatly blessed by God, my heavenly Father, and need to keep in mind that his direction for my life is intended for further blessing rather than caprice and control.
The psalm was of course written before we were given much inkling of the triune Godhead, and was a song of the Jewish chosen people, but it resonates even more for me today as a follower of Christ who has filled me with his very presence by pouring out the Holy Spirit, choosing me to be his own in a far more intimate way than even the Jewish people were first chosen. I have read that salvation history has been a continual journey from a chosen person (Adam, then Abraham) to a family (Abraham's descendents, down to Jacob's family in Egypt) to a nation (those delivered from slavery in Egypt to the promised land of Israel) to include the entire world (to the ends of the earth). The Incredibles got it wrong when they said that "if everyone is special, then no one is." We are all special, each chosen individually in our unique way to enter into this relationship with God the Father through Christ Jesus in the Holy Spirit.
The second reading is fairly short, and is worth including in its entirety here:
How wonderful that this follows last week's epistle reading, in which we are assured that no one can proclaim Jesus as Lord except by the Holy Spirit. This passage brings out the roles of the persons of the Trinity in our lives. It isn't that they act individually to do separate things, but that God works together in our lives in various ways to draw us into relationship with him, indwelling us with his very self that we might carry on the mission on which Jesus has sent us as he himself was sent. We have the boldness of the Spirit to carry us through the trials we might be asked to bear in his name, for a season or for our lives, so that God is glorified by the works he has prepared for us in which we walk.
Passages like this should disabuse us of the notion that Christians are destined for an easy path because of our faith.
The Gospel reading is the most succinct confirmation of the triune Godhead, for why would anyone have any need of being baptized in any name except that of God himself?
Some scholars try to reduce today's feast and the concept of the Trinity to a pantheistic concept. There is value in knowing and reflecting upon the presence of God in all things. But there is also value in taking one day out of the year, not to put the Divine Persons of the Trinity into a box of orthodoxy, but to consider the implications that the God who loves each of us so much as to have created this universe for us with all its marvels to reveal his glory then humbly came among us to reveal his glory in redeeming sacrifice and even more humbly reveals his glory by dwelling within us even though we still choose our own wishes over God's greater dreams for us - and to know that all of these actions are really one united expression of a love that we barely begin to know in this life.
And so it turns out that this time soaking in God's presence was probably better than playing at an extra Mass this morning.
Sometimes I completely understand why the bishops skip over verses in the assigned readings, because they don't fit with - or even distract from - the main point of the reading which they're trying to emphasize. And sometimes I just shake my head and fear that they've actually failed to underscore the most important part of what we need to hear. For instance, in today's reading from Deuteronomy, here is the passage they've omitted, after "before your very eyes?"
The passage then continues: "this is why you must now know . . . "To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you; and on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. And because he loved your fathers and chose their descendants after them, and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day; - Dt 4:35-38
Perhaps the bishops are trying to avoid controversy over the history of Israel and the idea that God provided this land for his chosen people. But it seems to me that it is important for us to know that it we need to focus as much on what the Lord is doing in our own lives, even those things that are in fact discipline or correction for us, as on what he has done in the past. I have been greatly blessed by God, my heavenly Father, and need to keep in mind that his direction for my life is intended for further blessing rather than caprice and control.
The psalm was of course written before we were given much inkling of the triune Godhead, and was a song of the Jewish chosen people, but it resonates even more for me today as a follower of Christ who has filled me with his very presence by pouring out the Holy Spirit, choosing me to be his own in a far more intimate way than even the Jewish people were first chosen. I have read that salvation history has been a continual journey from a chosen person (Adam, then Abraham) to a family (Abraham's descendents, down to Jacob's family in Egypt) to a nation (those delivered from slavery in Egypt to the promised land of Israel) to include the entire world (to the ends of the earth). The Incredibles got it wrong when they said that "if everyone is special, then no one is." We are all special, each chosen individually in our unique way to enter into this relationship with God the Father through Christ Jesus in the Holy Spirit.
The second reading is fairly short, and is worth including in its entirety here:
(btw, I continue to use the RSV translation, which doesn't exactly match the USCCB link above because the bishops are probably using the NAB.)For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. - Rom 8:14-17
How wonderful that this follows last week's epistle reading, in which we are assured that no one can proclaim Jesus as Lord except by the Holy Spirit. This passage brings out the roles of the persons of the Trinity in our lives. It isn't that they act individually to do separate things, but that God works together in our lives in various ways to draw us into relationship with him, indwelling us with his very self that we might carry on the mission on which Jesus has sent us as he himself was sent. We have the boldness of the Spirit to carry us through the trials we might be asked to bear in his name, for a season or for our lives, so that God is glorified by the works he has prepared for us in which we walk.
Passages like this should disabuse us of the notion that Christians are destined for an easy path because of our faith.
The Gospel reading is the most succinct confirmation of the triune Godhead, for why would anyone have any need of being baptized in any name except that of God himself?
Some scholars try to reduce today's feast and the concept of the Trinity to a pantheistic concept. There is value in knowing and reflecting upon the presence of God in all things. But there is also value in taking one day out of the year, not to put the Divine Persons of the Trinity into a box of orthodoxy, but to consider the implications that the God who loves each of us so much as to have created this universe for us with all its marvels to reveal his glory then humbly came among us to reveal his glory in redeeming sacrifice and even more humbly reveals his glory by dwelling within us even though we still choose our own wishes over God's greater dreams for us - and to know that all of these actions are really one united expression of a love that we barely begin to know in this life.
And so it turns out that this time soaking in God's presence was probably better than playing at an extra Mass this morning.
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Pentecost novena, session 7
We've already visited the scripture passages that prompted a great discussion at men's group this morning. The Acts 2 and 1 Cor 12 readings got us talking about our own witness to Christ Jesus. We talked about how some people have a gift for knowing the words to share, but our primary (that is, first, but not necessarily main) witness is house we live our lives. We also talked about how that may lead to opportunities to talk about the reason for how we're living. It also brought us around to the importance of our lives truly being transformed, or confirmed to Christ rather than to the world, or no amount of testimony in words will do anything but drive people away. We finished this discussion thread with an acknowledgement that the Spirit will lead us in the changes necessary for us to truly walk a life of integrity in Christ Jesus.
I love this group of men!
Friday, May 22, 2015
Pentecost novena, session 6b
Acts 2 (cont.)
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear. - (33)
When the Holy Spirit does a work, the human person through whom the Spirit works does not claim credit for the work of God. Rather, we are quick to give God credit and glory for this wondrous thing, and to proclaim Jesus' preeminence in it all.
God is the one who has prepared every work in which we now walk, and God alone gets the credit for the good works he does.
There are potential traps all over this, though: false humility, undertaking things of ourselves rather than by the Spirit, failing to humbly submit to the authority of Scripture and the Church and claiming the authority of the Holy Spirit for our disobedience, just to name three. How are we to know? By the fruit of the Spirit! Particularly, impatience and anxiety over the outcome we desire are indicators that we are acting of ourselves rather than in the Spirit.
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear. - (33)
When the Holy Spirit does a work, the human person through whom the Spirit works does not claim credit for the work of God. Rather, we are quick to give God credit and glory for this wondrous thing, and to proclaim Jesus' preeminence in it all.
God is the one who has prepared every work in which we now walk, and God alone gets the credit for the good works he does.
There are potential traps all over this, though: false humility, undertaking things of ourselves rather than by the Spirit, failing to humbly submit to the authority of Scripture and the Church and claiming the authority of the Holy Spirit for our disobedience, just to name three. How are we to know? By the fruit of the Spirit! Particularly, impatience and anxiety over the outcome we desire are indicators that we are acting of ourselves rather than in the Spirit.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Pentecost novena, session 6a
Acts 2
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. - Acts 2:1-4
Jesus had charged them to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. Now they receive the promised outpouring, and it changes everything!
(It was a long time before I was aware that there was a Jewish feast referred to by Hellenic Jews as Pentecost, so I thought that the name of this day was given by the Church to refer to this event rather than the Hebrew feast day to which it corresponds.)
The gift of tongues is manifested to the apostles, but more important is the transformation in boldness that is evidenced as, in subsequent verses, they go forth to proclaim the Gospel with the boldness that it warrants but which they had heretofore lacked. The Spirit has driven timidity from their hearts and loosened their tongues to proclaim the wondrous events to which they were witness. They are not afraid for themselves any more.
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. - Acts 2:1-4
Jesus had charged them to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. Now they receive the promised outpouring, and it changes everything!
(It was a long time before I was aware that there was a Jewish feast referred to by Hellenic Jews as Pentecost, so I thought that the name of this day was given by the Church to refer to this event rather than the Hebrew feast day to which it corresponds.)
The gift of tongues is manifested to the apostles, but more important is the transformation in boldness that is evidenced as, in subsequent verses, they go forth to proclaim the Gospel with the boldness that it warrants but which they had heretofore lacked. The Spirit has driven timidity from their hearts and loosened their tongues to proclaim the wondrous events to which they were witness. They are not afraid for themselves any more.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Pentecost novena, session 5
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. - Gal 5:16-25
A study of contrasts. The world insists that there is nothing wrong with a little impurity, openly scoffs at any quaint notion of self-control that contradicts what it celebrates. Anything that squelches its idea of fun is oppressive and outdated.
Perhaps it has always been so.
But those who live by the Holy Spirit manifest fruit that is otherwise beyond us. These are different from the gifts discussed in Corinthians (going to have to go back there, but I have fruit on the brain this morning). These are characteristics manifested in our daily living. They are the result of the branches abiding in the vine by the Holy Spirit. Like the spiritual gifts, they are to be sought after and asked for, for the purpose of manifesting Christ's presence in the world, and they are not attainable strictly by our own efforts, though we can certainly grow emotionally in ways that greatly facilitate them. Unlike the spiritual gifts, we are to work toward this fruit as well as pray for it.
Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. - Gal 5:16-25
A study of contrasts. The world insists that there is nothing wrong with a little impurity, openly scoffs at any quaint notion of self-control that contradicts what it celebrates. Anything that squelches its idea of fun is oppressive and outdated.
Perhaps it has always been so.
But those who live by the Holy Spirit manifest fruit that is otherwise beyond us. These are different from the gifts discussed in Corinthians (going to have to go back there, but I have fruit on the brain this morning). These are characteristics manifested in our daily living. They are the result of the branches abiding in the vine by the Holy Spirit. Like the spiritual gifts, they are to be sought after and asked for, for the purpose of manifesting Christ's presence in the world, and they are not attainable strictly by our own efforts, though we can certainly grow emotionally in ways that greatly facilitate them. Unlike the spiritual gifts, we are to work toward this fruit as well as pray for it.
Monday, May 18, 2015
Pentecost novena, session 4b
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free -- and all were made to drink of one Spirit. - 1 Cor 12:4-13
Within the charismatic renewal, this passage is often used for a couple purposes. First, it demonstrates that the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been at work in the Church since its earliest years. We tend to think of many of these gifts as strange expressions on the periphery of orthodoxy,when nothing could be further from the truth. It is important for believers to understand that these spiritual gifts are both desirable and normal expressions of the Holy Spirit's presence within us.
Second, and related to this purpose, it is used as a guide for neophytes in the renewal to pray for Spirit to manifest in them. We're often forced to put a fair amount of attention on tongues - which many refer to as "prayer language" - because this gift seems so strange to us now, and there's a funny thing about the Holy Spirit: if we don't want a gift, God won't force it on us. Therefore we end up talking a lot about tongues because people don't want anything they consider "weird" unless they can also see its benefits, and so they stifle the entire movement of the Spirit by not yielding to whatever gifts God wishes to pour out for the benefit of the Body.
Oh, we haven't gotten very far into to that part of Paul's analogy yet, but here's the point: these gifts are apportioned by the Spirit individually, but they are for the benefit of the whole Body.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single organ, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. - 1 Cor 12:14-26
So apparently the Corinthians were experiencing a sense of stratification over the Holy Spirit's apportionment of gifts among them. Paul is taking them to task for missing the entire point of the Spirit in pouring out those gifts among them in the first place. They are a gift of grace, and taking pride in some gifts at the expense of those who have received "only lesser ones" misses the entire point of grace and of the gifts.
You'd think that folks who have received such gifts from the Holy Spirit wouldn't need a lesson like this, but we have the same issue with our own gifts, spiritual or otherwise, and how we treat those whom we deem less blessed with their gifts.
Within the charismatic renewal, this passage is often used for a couple purposes. First, it demonstrates that the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been at work in the Church since its earliest years. We tend to think of many of these gifts as strange expressions on the periphery of orthodoxy,when nothing could be further from the truth. It is important for believers to understand that these spiritual gifts are both desirable and normal expressions of the Holy Spirit's presence within us.
Second, and related to this purpose, it is used as a guide for neophytes in the renewal to pray for Spirit to manifest in them. We're often forced to put a fair amount of attention on tongues - which many refer to as "prayer language" - because this gift seems so strange to us now, and there's a funny thing about the Holy Spirit: if we don't want a gift, God won't force it on us. Therefore we end up talking a lot about tongues because people don't want anything they consider "weird" unless they can also see its benefits, and so they stifle the entire movement of the Spirit by not yielding to whatever gifts God wishes to pour out for the benefit of the Body.
Oh, we haven't gotten very far into to that part of Paul's analogy yet, but here's the point: these gifts are apportioned by the Spirit individually, but they are for the benefit of the whole Body.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single organ, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. - 1 Cor 12:14-26
So apparently the Corinthians were experiencing a sense of stratification over the Holy Spirit's apportionment of gifts among them. Paul is taking them to task for missing the entire point of the Spirit in pouring out those gifts among them in the first place. They are a gift of grace, and taking pride in some gifts at the expense of those who have received "only lesser ones" misses the entire point of grace and of the gifts.
You'd think that folks who have received such gifts from the Holy Spirit wouldn't need a lesson like this, but we have the same issue with our own gifts, spiritual or otherwise, and how we treat those whom we deem less blessed with their gifts.
Pentecost novena, session 4a
The first of several thoughts today from the first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 12:
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. - 1 Cor 12:3
A bit of Greek and ancient cultural study would be helpful for me here to confirm my suspicion that Paul would not consider that someone would say a thing they didn't believe to be true. That makes this passage mean something very different from how a modern person might interpret the verb "to say."
The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus as Lord. This is consistent with our previous consideration of Jesus' teaching that the Holy Spirit convinces the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, for what greater truth is there about these things than that Jesus is the answer to our need in all three areas?
But this passage is included here to set the context for these three chapters, which will discuss the various gifts that the Holy Spirit pours out upon the church and the implications of this one verse for those who apparently were tending to judge others based on the perceived quality of the spiritual gifts entrusted to them. Paul is starting the conversation by saying, "Enough of this! Our dignity as fellow followers of Christ outweighs any consideration of the superiority of our gifts. Where is your humility?!"
A discussion of the gifts is important today, that we might be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in ways that we might otherwise dismiss. But the gifts are not the most important nor the fundamental thing, which is the lordship of Jesus Christ!
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. - 1 Cor 12:3
A bit of Greek and ancient cultural study would be helpful for me here to confirm my suspicion that Paul would not consider that someone would say a thing they didn't believe to be true. That makes this passage mean something very different from how a modern person might interpret the verb "to say."
The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus as Lord. This is consistent with our previous consideration of Jesus' teaching that the Holy Spirit convinces the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, for what greater truth is there about these things than that Jesus is the answer to our need in all three areas?
But this passage is included here to set the context for these three chapters, which will discuss the various gifts that the Holy Spirit pours out upon the church and the implications of this one verse for those who apparently were tending to judge others based on the perceived quality of the spiritual gifts entrusted to them. Paul is starting the conversation by saying, "Enough of this! Our dignity as fellow followers of Christ outweighs any consideration of the superiority of our gifts. Where is your humility?!"
A discussion of the gifts is important today, that we might be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in ways that we might otherwise dismiss. But the gifts are not the most important nor the fundamental thing, which is the lordship of Jesus Christ!
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Pentecost novena, session 2
"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Sama'ria and to the end of the earth." - Acts 1:8
The apostles were to await the Holy Spirit because otherwise they would be merely operating under their own power. The Holy Spirit is how the branches remain in the Vine and he in us, and apart from him we can do nothing.
Nothing.
The apostles were to await the Holy Spirit because otherwise they would be merely operating under their own power. The Holy Spirit is how the branches remain in the Vine and he in us, and apart from him we can do nothing.
Nothing.
Friday, May 15, 2015
Pentecost novena, session 1
So I'm basically finished with the Exercises, except for some make-up sessions I might go back and do. I'm not so big-headed as to call this "Step 33," even if I think of it as continuing to keep the discipline of the Exercises going for at least a while longer.
I think it makes sense to start off with the "other side" of the scripture passage of a recent session, which dealt with the Ascension but also talked about the Holy Spirit. Having looked at the Ascension aspect, it makes sense to see what it reveals about the Spirit.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." - Jn 16:7-11
The bold phrase above is why I don't put much faith in the opinions of those who don't follow Christ, no matter how convinced they are of the rightness of their thinking. Those who are not following the Holy Spirit have an incomplete view of sin, righteousness and judgment, rooted in a short-term perspective that fails to consider the most important realities. The most vociferous atheists have taken the view that everyone who believes in God is stupid. I don't hold them in the same disdain, mind you: there is a real danger in thinking that everyone who disagrees with you about the nature of the universe is less of a person for it. But that doesn't mean I should take directions from someone who doesn't know where I'm going.
The world has no idea about sin and righteousness and judgment. It isn't that I don't sin, but when I do, I at least generally know I'm sinning, or will come to see that when it's pointed out to me. Not so the world.
"I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ” - Jn 16:12-15
Only the Holy Spirit can guide us in truth, because God is the truth (and the way, and the life), and God is so far beyond us that only God can reveal God to us. Nobody has figured out God on their own. The other day I was alluding over lunch to an idea that Fr. Dave shared some time past, that I'm pretty sure is from St. Augustine of Hippo, concerning the limitless nature of God and our finite mind. I'm sure I've written it before, but can't find it now. But the point of it is: when you reach a point at which you think you understand God, what you understand is not God.
We are hopeless, then, if we set as our goal to know God as we do the field of endeavor in which we are best versed. But he purpose of our relationship with God is no more to know about him, to understand him, than our relationship with our spouse is. The purpose of knowing the things we know about someone we love is so that we can love them. But it is possible for our focus on knowing about them to interfere with our love for them, becoming more about our knowing than about our being together.
The Holy Spirit does teach us about God, but by being in relationship with us, and bringing us into relationship with the entire Triune Godhead.
I don't always know why my wife does the things she does, and sometimes I judge her because of that. How often do we approach our relationship with God in a similar way? The Holy Spirit helps us to know that God is immeasurably beyond us and yet desires nothing more than to be in relationship with us. As we yield to the Spirit, under the guidance of what the Word and the Church have taught us about God, we find that we are able to draw closer to God even in those areas we don't fully understand.
Oh, I'm not saying this well, but I'm so glad to be in relationship with God rather than trying to approach him like the mother of all final exams.
I think it makes sense to start off with the "other side" of the scripture passage of a recent session, which dealt with the Ascension but also talked about the Holy Spirit. Having looked at the Ascension aspect, it makes sense to see what it reveals about the Spirit.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." - Jn 16:7-11
The bold phrase above is why I don't put much faith in the opinions of those who don't follow Christ, no matter how convinced they are of the rightness of their thinking. Those who are not following the Holy Spirit have an incomplete view of sin, righteousness and judgment, rooted in a short-term perspective that fails to consider the most important realities. The most vociferous atheists have taken the view that everyone who believes in God is stupid. I don't hold them in the same disdain, mind you: there is a real danger in thinking that everyone who disagrees with you about the nature of the universe is less of a person for it. But that doesn't mean I should take directions from someone who doesn't know where I'm going.
The world has no idea about sin and righteousness and judgment. It isn't that I don't sin, but when I do, I at least generally know I'm sinning, or will come to see that when it's pointed out to me. Not so the world.
"I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ” - Jn 16:12-15
Only the Holy Spirit can guide us in truth, because God is the truth (and the way, and the life), and God is so far beyond us that only God can reveal God to us. Nobody has figured out God on their own. The other day I was alluding over lunch to an idea that Fr. Dave shared some time past, that I'm pretty sure is from St. Augustine of Hippo, concerning the limitless nature of God and our finite mind. I'm sure I've written it before, but can't find it now. But the point of it is: when you reach a point at which you think you understand God, what you understand is not God.
We are hopeless, then, if we set as our goal to know God as we do the field of endeavor in which we are best versed. But he purpose of our relationship with God is no more to know about him, to understand him, than our relationship with our spouse is. The purpose of knowing the things we know about someone we love is so that we can love them. But it is possible for our focus on knowing about them to interfere with our love for them, becoming more about our knowing than about our being together.
The Holy Spirit does teach us about God, but by being in relationship with us, and bringing us into relationship with the entire Triune Godhead.
I don't always know why my wife does the things she does, and sometimes I judge her because of that. How often do we approach our relationship with God in a similar way? The Holy Spirit helps us to know that God is immeasurably beyond us and yet desires nothing more than to be in relationship with us. As we yield to the Spirit, under the guidance of what the Word and the Church have taught us about God, we find that we are able to draw closer to God even in those areas we don't fully understand.
Oh, I'm not saying this well, but I'm so glad to be in relationship with God rather than trying to approach him like the mother of all final exams.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Transforming (phase 4) - The Ascension (step 32) - session 2d
Acts 1:1-12 (cont.)
And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit . . . But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." - (4-5, 8)
I think I may revisit these verses in my Pentecost novena, but for now let's just consider the importance of the Holy Spirit and Jesus' ascension.
" . . . if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." - Jn 16:7b
Since these words are from the Last Supper discourse, some have interpreted this specifically to mean that Jesus must die in order to bestow the Holy Spirit, and I'm not arguing against that. Partly, that argument is based on Jesus' appearance to the apostles in chapter 20 of the same gospel, in which Jesus breathes on them and tells them to receive the Holy Spirit.
But what if the full power of the Holy Spirit was somehow stifled within them until Jesus had returned to the Father? Doesn't this make sense, both in the tradition of Elijah and Elisha and in our own knowledge of how remaining in the presence of our mentors can keep us from fully spreading our own wings? I am not suggesting that God the Holy Spirit is limited in the same way, but that the disciples themselves may have been unable to receive his full power while they were continually comparing themselves to Jesus due to being in his presence.
Whatever the case, Jesus has indicated in several places that the Holy Spirit is another advocate, leading us in all truth and power when Jesus himself is no longer physically around to do so.
And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit . . . But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." - (4-5, 8)
I think I may revisit these verses in my Pentecost novena, but for now let's just consider the importance of the Holy Spirit and Jesus' ascension.
" . . . if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." - Jn 16:7b
Since these words are from the Last Supper discourse, some have interpreted this specifically to mean that Jesus must die in order to bestow the Holy Spirit, and I'm not arguing against that. Partly, that argument is based on Jesus' appearance to the apostles in chapter 20 of the same gospel, in which Jesus breathes on them and tells them to receive the Holy Spirit.
But what if the full power of the Holy Spirit was somehow stifled within them until Jesus had returned to the Father? Doesn't this make sense, both in the tradition of Elijah and Elisha and in our own knowledge of how remaining in the presence of our mentors can keep us from fully spreading our own wings? I am not suggesting that God the Holy Spirit is limited in the same way, but that the disciples themselves may have been unable to receive his full power while they were continually comparing themselves to Jesus due to being in his presence.
Whatever the case, Jesus has indicated in several places that the Holy Spirit is another advocate, leading us in all truth and power when Jesus himself is no longer physically around to do so.
Thursday, May 07, 2015
Transforming (phase 4) - The Ascension (step 32) - session 1a
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. - Lk 24: 50-53
The first of Luke's two accounts of the Lord's Ascension - and Luke was the only canonical writer to record this event - has fewer details than the one in The Acts of the Apostles.
The disciples are not filled with dismay at the Lord's departure from them, as they were when they thought his life had ended in tragedy. They are not sad for themselves at his absence, but rather are now experiencing "great joy." Have they taken to heart the Lord's words that they should be glad for his sake that he returns to the Father? Blessing God is a hallmark of those who have encountered the risen Lord, even today when we do so by the Holy Spirit. In his gospel account, I think that Luke doesn't separate out the Pentecost experience of the Holy Spirit descending upon the apostles, which emboldened them for the witnessing to which he briefly refers in these last words of the gospel.
This is the last step of the Exercises, and I'm a little disappointed that there isn't one on the Holy Spirit and Pentecost, but I will probably reflect on that between concluding this step sometime before the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost itself. In fact, I might do a sort of novena of reflecting, and there are plenty of scriptures to turn to for that purpose. I will leave further contemplation of the apostles' joy for then.
The first of Luke's two accounts of the Lord's Ascension - and Luke was the only canonical writer to record this event - has fewer details than the one in The Acts of the Apostles.
The disciples are not filled with dismay at the Lord's departure from them, as they were when they thought his life had ended in tragedy. They are not sad for themselves at his absence, but rather are now experiencing "great joy." Have they taken to heart the Lord's words that they should be glad for his sake that he returns to the Father? Blessing God is a hallmark of those who have encountered the risen Lord, even today when we do so by the Holy Spirit. In his gospel account, I think that Luke doesn't separate out the Pentecost experience of the Holy Spirit descending upon the apostles, which emboldened them for the witnessing to which he briefly refers in these last words of the gospel.
This is the last step of the Exercises, and I'm a little disappointed that there isn't one on the Holy Spirit and Pentecost, but I will probably reflect on that between concluding this step sometime before the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost itself. In fact, I might do a sort of novena of reflecting, and there are plenty of scriptures to turn to for that purpose. I will leave further contemplation of the apostles' joy for then.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Conforming (phase 2), The "Hidden Life" and the Value System of Jesus Christ (step 10), session 3
Finding the Child Jesus in the Temple
"Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" - Lk 2, 49b
A question came up recently concerning the point at which Jesus knew he was God's son. Some are apparently speculating that this would not have been until his baptism by John at the Jordan, while others hold that it wasn't until the Transfiguration. But in Luke's gospel we have this account which indicates that a pretty young Jesus had a fairly good idea of his paternity.
In the same conversation, someone suggested that the teachers were amazed only at the depth of his questions, but I believe that this passage (Lk 2, 41-50) indicates they were astonished by his answers, as well.
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we have wisdom that far surpasses our own.
"Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" - Lk 2, 49b
A question came up recently concerning the point at which Jesus knew he was God's son. Some are apparently speculating that this would not have been until his baptism by John at the Jordan, while others hold that it wasn't until the Transfiguration. But in Luke's gospel we have this account which indicates that a pretty young Jesus had a fairly good idea of his paternity.
In the same conversation, someone suggested that the teachers were amazed only at the depth of his questions, but I believe that this passage (Lk 2, 41-50) indicates they were astonished by his answers, as well.
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we have wisdom that far surpasses our own.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Conforming (phase 2), God Prepares a Way for Our Salvation - The Mystery of the Incarnation (step 8), Session 2
The Visitation
"And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." - Lk 1, 45
Yes!! This!! Each of our lives is blessed to its greatest possible abundance when we believe that there will be a fulfillment of what the Lord has spoken to us! This is a true Advent: to spend these weeks longing for God's presence, asking and allowing the Holy Spirit to help us believe what we have not quite been able to fully believe on our own:
May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. - 1 Thes 5, 23-24
It is not us doing this, though we must participate in the process. I don't primarily sanctify myself or keep myself sound and blameless, though I must cooperate in both these things. But having given my fiat, I will trust - and ask - God's Spirit to be at work in me to fulfill what he has spoken.
"And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." - Lk 1, 45
Yes!! This!! Each of our lives is blessed to its greatest possible abundance when we believe that there will be a fulfillment of what the Lord has spoken to us! This is a true Advent: to spend these weeks longing for God's presence, asking and allowing the Holy Spirit to help us believe what we have not quite been able to fully believe on our own:
- That we can do what God is calling us to do, because God empowers us (see last item)
- That we can count on God o fulfill his promise to provide for our needs
- That God's desire for us to do what he is calling us to do is not rooted in some despotic wish to control our lives and deprive us of joy, but instead in a deep love for us and a desire to maximize the blessings he pours out in and through our lives
- That the things we choose in God's stead are a vaporous mirage
- That adoring, praising, and worshiping the Savior leads us to all of the "more practical" ways of living out the Gospel in our lives
- That holiness and sacrificial love are not burdens, but the great gift which is our only means of participating in the life and presence of God
- That the Holy Spirit indeed dwells in us, sanctifying us and drawing us ever deeper into the love of the Triune God
May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. - 1 Thes 5, 23-24
It is not us doing this, though we must participate in the process. I don't primarily sanctify myself or keep myself sound and blameless, though I must cooperate in both these things. But having given my fiat, I will trust - and ask - God's Spirit to be at work in me to fulfill what he has spoken.
Friday, April 18, 2014
Reflection, Good Friday, 2014
First of all, I felt a little cheated today by having not remembered to claim two hours on the adoration schedule instead of just one. I could have stayed longer, but I know the guy who comes after me treasures some time alone there as much as I do - though of course either of us would be glad for company by more participants who wish to keep watch for a while in the night. (Post-adoration additions are smaller and in parentheses.)
God's plan is not to rescue a religious elite from an otherwise botched creation, but to restore all things in Christ. - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon
Through him all things were made - Nicene Creed, 1975 ecumenical version (ICET)
Are made. We must be restored in Christ, are not whole until we are indeed fully restored in Christ, precisely because we are made in him. In him we live, and move, and have our being, as St. Paul professed to the Athenians (Acts 17, 28). Why do we expect to find ourselves in any way other than the Way, the Truth, and the Life?
(Oh, there is so much more to be said about this! I could not capture it all in the moment nor, I suspect, in a hundred lifetimes!
Why do we insist on viewing our existence as something outside of or independent from God? Earlier Fr. Neuhaus has lamented that even those who serve God with their lives have this tendency to think of our corporeal world as the real one and our spiritual world as, well, something less than real.
Knowing that we would reject him in the Garden of Eden and repeatedly throughout history, God nevertheless loved -- I should say "loves," as God is eternally in the present tense -- us so much that he created us anyway, along with the plan for our deliverance back to him. So we are made through the eternal Son and restored in him. There is nothing else for us to be restored to! Yet we insist on keeping "our" stuff -- our family, our career, our finances, our entertainment, our recreation, our "real lives" -- to ourselves and seeking God to what we consider the minimal degree necessary to accomplish our goals: being rescued, becoming the people we think we ought to be. Anything beyond this and we begin to think that we are the ones being crucified by God's unreasonable demands of us.
God longs to fully restore us in Christ, and is waiting only for us to want to be truly and fully restored.)
(That Christ is the only way of salvation:) Many Christians are embarrassed by this claim. They are intimidated by a culture that decrees that all truths are equal. Who are you to claim that you have the truth and others do not? That is indeed an intimidating question, unless we understand that we do not have the truth in the sense that it is ours by virtue of our having discovered it; we do not have the truth in the sense of it being a possession under our control . . .
But Christ is not my truth or your truth; he is the truth. He is not one truth among many. He is the truth about everything that is true. He is the universal and cosmic truth. Everything that is true -- in religion, philosophy, mathematics or the art of baseball -- is true by virtue of participation in the truth who is Christ. The problem is not that non-Christians do not know truth; the problem is that they do not know that the truth they know is the truth of Christ. - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon
What is truth? - John 18, 38 (Pontius Pilate)
(This passage is so stunningly complete that I can add only a prayer:)
Lord, help me to stop chasing the world for a truth that accommodates me (and my desires, my vision). We each have a truth, or understanding(, to which we cling). Let mine no longer be more important to me than you are. Help me to see that the biggest obstacle to all things being restored to you -- the biggest for which I have responsibility, at least -- is my selfish, stubborn insistence that I have been "restored enough," so that I might cling to my sinful unrestoredness.
A certain cognitive humility is in order at this point and at all points in our talking about God and his ways . . . . Now all our talk about God, including the God-given talk of the Bible, is by analogy. That is to say, the mind of God infinitely surpasses the human mind, the Creator infinitely surpasses the creature. Analogy means that we can draw inferences and make comparisons. We can say, for instance, that God is to the world as the artist is to his or her work. But in saying that we should not think that we thereby understand God or his relationship to the world. The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 put it very nicely: "No similarity can be found so great but that the dissimilarity is even greater." God is always infinitely "more" and infinitely "other." . . . Therefore it is rightly said that all theology is finally doxology. That is to say, all analysis and explanation finally dissolves into wonder and praise. - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon
Cognitive humility indeed. Yet we insist that our minds are individually -- or, at least, collectively -- capable of (comprehending and) containing all truth. Could there be a prouder concept? And Christians are -- I am -- as guilty of this as anyone. "The truth is nothing other than I understand it to be," we think in our conceit. Even as revealed by God's very Word in sacred Scripture, the sum of all that all of our minds know about God is still infinitely less than God himself, and will be for all time, for God is beyond time. But Jesus restores us to himself in time so that all of his creation may enter into a God and an eternity that we cannot otherwise begin to even conceive.
(How timely relative to my rereading of this relationship of theology and doxology is Pope Francis' reminder this week to the theologians of the Church to remain rooted in prayer, and especially of the dangerous effects of theology that is not thus grounded. In Christian circles we often refer to the difference between knowing about God and knowing God personally, in a relationship that can only be made possible by the Holy Spirit's -- God's -- presence and movement within us. When we spend too much time studying and analyzing and not enough time praying, we become foolishly proud of what we think we have figured out about God. We scorn the humble simplicity that must form the foundation of a right relationship with a God who is utterly unreachable except by his grace-full condescension to his beloved creatures.)
I thankfully find myself, at the end of this hour, dissolving into worship and praise. May it always be so! You are so worthy, Lord! Help me to trust in you, to entrust my life to you, to know that you are the only Way, Truth and Life that ever matter, and to be the only One that I ever desire.
God's plan is not to rescue a religious elite from an otherwise botched creation, but to restore all things in Christ. - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon
Through him all things were made - Nicene Creed, 1975 ecumenical version (ICET)
Are made. We must be restored in Christ, are not whole until we are indeed fully restored in Christ, precisely because we are made in him. In him we live, and move, and have our being, as St. Paul professed to the Athenians (Acts 17, 28). Why do we expect to find ourselves in any way other than the Way, the Truth, and the Life?
(Oh, there is so much more to be said about this! I could not capture it all in the moment nor, I suspect, in a hundred lifetimes!
Why do we insist on viewing our existence as something outside of or independent from God? Earlier Fr. Neuhaus has lamented that even those who serve God with their lives have this tendency to think of our corporeal world as the real one and our spiritual world as, well, something less than real.
Knowing that we would reject him in the Garden of Eden and repeatedly throughout history, God nevertheless loved -- I should say "loves," as God is eternally in the present tense -- us so much that he created us anyway, along with the plan for our deliverance back to him. So we are made through the eternal Son and restored in him. There is nothing else for us to be restored to! Yet we insist on keeping "our" stuff -- our family, our career, our finances, our entertainment, our recreation, our "real lives" -- to ourselves and seeking God to what we consider the minimal degree necessary to accomplish our goals: being rescued, becoming the people we think we ought to be. Anything beyond this and we begin to think that we are the ones being crucified by God's unreasonable demands of us.
God longs to fully restore us in Christ, and is waiting only for us to want to be truly and fully restored.)
(That Christ is the only way of salvation:) Many Christians are embarrassed by this claim. They are intimidated by a culture that decrees that all truths are equal. Who are you to claim that you have the truth and others do not? That is indeed an intimidating question, unless we understand that we do not have the truth in the sense that it is ours by virtue of our having discovered it; we do not have the truth in the sense of it being a possession under our control . . .
But Christ is not my truth or your truth; he is the truth. He is not one truth among many. He is the truth about everything that is true. He is the universal and cosmic truth. Everything that is true -- in religion, philosophy, mathematics or the art of baseball -- is true by virtue of participation in the truth who is Christ. The problem is not that non-Christians do not know truth; the problem is that they do not know that the truth they know is the truth of Christ. - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon
What is truth? - John 18, 38 (Pontius Pilate)
(This passage is so stunningly complete that I can add only a prayer:)
Lord, help me to stop chasing the world for a truth that accommodates me (and my desires, my vision). We each have a truth, or understanding(, to which we cling). Let mine no longer be more important to me than you are. Help me to see that the biggest obstacle to all things being restored to you -- the biggest for which I have responsibility, at least -- is my selfish, stubborn insistence that I have been "restored enough," so that I might cling to my sinful unrestoredness.
A certain cognitive humility is in order at this point and at all points in our talking about God and his ways . . . . Now all our talk about God, including the God-given talk of the Bible, is by analogy. That is to say, the mind of God infinitely surpasses the human mind, the Creator infinitely surpasses the creature. Analogy means that we can draw inferences and make comparisons. We can say, for instance, that God is to the world as the artist is to his or her work. But in saying that we should not think that we thereby understand God or his relationship to the world. The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 put it very nicely: "No similarity can be found so great but that the dissimilarity is even greater." God is always infinitely "more" and infinitely "other." . . . Therefore it is rightly said that all theology is finally doxology. That is to say, all analysis and explanation finally dissolves into wonder and praise. - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon
Cognitive humility indeed. Yet we insist that our minds are individually -- or, at least, collectively -- capable of (comprehending and) containing all truth. Could there be a prouder concept? And Christians are -- I am -- as guilty of this as anyone. "The truth is nothing other than I understand it to be," we think in our conceit. Even as revealed by God's very Word in sacred Scripture, the sum of all that all of our minds know about God is still infinitely less than God himself, and will be for all time, for God is beyond time. But Jesus restores us to himself in time so that all of his creation may enter into a God and an eternity that we cannot otherwise begin to even conceive.
(How timely relative to my rereading of this relationship of theology and doxology is Pope Francis' reminder this week to the theologians of the Church to remain rooted in prayer, and especially of the dangerous effects of theology that is not thus grounded. In Christian circles we often refer to the difference between knowing about God and knowing God personally, in a relationship that can only be made possible by the Holy Spirit's -- God's -- presence and movement within us. When we spend too much time studying and analyzing and not enough time praying, we become foolishly proud of what we think we have figured out about God. We scorn the humble simplicity that must form the foundation of a right relationship with a God who is utterly unreachable except by his grace-full condescension to his beloved creatures.)
I thankfully find myself, at the end of this hour, dissolving into worship and praise. May it always be so! You are so worthy, Lord! Help me to trust in you, to entrust my life to you, to know that you are the only Way, Truth and Life that ever matter, and to be the only One that I ever desire.
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