Remain In My Love

Remain In My Love (John 15:9-11)

         From these few Sacred Words, we receive from Jesus all that is sufficient to obtain happiness in this life and in Eternity…

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.” (15:9a)

           This is why Jesus came, that we may know the Love God has for us; that we might hear it with our ears, see it spoken from his lips, and witness it both in the life he lived, and in the death he chose.  Jesus gave his life for us.  The Father gave his Son for us.  This is how we are Loved.

          God, Creator of the Universe, loves us as he loves Jesus –as an Only Child.  He is not a Disinterested Entity who brought us into existence just to abandon us into chaos.  He is a Loving Father who cannot cease longing for us, to exchange his Love with us.  He created us to be eternally in love with him.  This is our God -the Word made man, the Truth revealed.

“Remain in my love.” (15:9b)

            This is not God demanding.  It is Love pleading.  God’s Love for us is unchanging, unaffected either by our virtue or our sin, it is eternal.  Our love for him is what ebbs and wanes.  The desire of God’s Heart is that we remain in his love; that we make our home in him; that we abide in him; that we choose him above all things; that every decision we make is an expression of our love for him; that our life is set apart, consecrated to knowing him as the fulfillment of our being.  These Words are a Love Proposal -patiently calling, ever wooing us to give up our petty desires in exchange for his Wonderful Plan.

“If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.” (John 15:10)

          Jesus is not saying, that if we do not keep his commandments we will lose his love, for he cannot not love us.  What he is saying is that being faithful to his commandments is the only Way to remain in his Love.  His commandment is that we love as he loved us.  To turn our back on Love is to turn our back on Jesus.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, to love is to remain in him, to know Eternal Life.  

The essence of love is Sacrifice.  Love is making our wishes subservient to the wishes of an Other.  If we are to remain in his Love, then we must place his Will above our own, or better, make it our own.  Faithfulness and Obedience are the expression of Love.  Jesus showed the Way, he was Obedient unto death.  No less than Jesus, we too must experience death to Self, if we are to remain in his Love.  In giving Jesus our mortal lives, he gives us his Eternal Life.

I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete.” (John 15:11)

              This is a Promise.  God has made it.  Let us believe it.  He knows what brings us Joy -more than we know ourselves.  He made us for Love.  As a petal unfolds in the Light, so Joy springs forth from Love.  Only in Love are we complete.  Only in Faithful Obedience will we find true reward.  Only in losing ourselves in him does our heart become transfigured –able to grasp the height and depth, the Beauty and Joy of knowing the Source of All Love.

          “My Lord and my God, I want to know you as my Father.  In vain, I have tried to earn your Love.  So often have I fallen short.  I know too well what I deserve and I have trouble giving my eyes to yours.  I believe you love me.  I believe I am forgiven.  Yet still, it seems too good to be true.   And in spite of all that you have shown me, of all that you have made so clear, when I am put to the test, your Truth seems but a shadow.  

Jesus, my smallness is awash in your Mercy.  You are Faithful when I have failed.  Never let me withdraw from your Love.  I give you permission, in advance, to work in my life any way you see fit, that I may remain in your love, that I may be obedient to your command.

          Holy Spirit, you are my reason to Hope.  Release anew today your Grace to live fully alive, undaunted in my heritage –that I am Loved as an Only Child.  By your Living Waters am I refreshed.  In weakness you bring strength, in darkness you bring forth Joy.  Because of you, because of the Father’s Love, which you pour into my heart, I shall remain  in your Love.  Amen”

Forged In Fire

Forged In Fire

“No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise him on the last day.” (John 6:44)

         Jesus tells us that His Spirit blows where it pleases, that like the wind, we cannot see it coming.  Neither do we know where he might lead us when as submit our mind to his Word in prayer.  He comes ‘in the moment’ -when we are not dressed; when we are weak; when we least expect to hear His Voice…

         I have been watching a series called Forged in Fire.  It is about metalsmiths who form magnificent swords out of common discarded steel.  They begin by selecting the combination of metals that will produce the qualities they desire; then heat them in a fire until molten and white; then it is cooled to a blood-red soft ingot, where its impurities have floated to the top forming a black crust; this then flakes off as it is hammered and drawn (stretched) into a shape resembling a sword.  

Many trips to the furnace are required before it takes on the desired form.  Only then is the blood red sword immersed in a bath of oil, where the quenching process transforms its natural state into a super hard yet flexible material.  But this is not the end.  It is hammered again for straightness, then ground away at, until a perfect geometry is achieved which has a razor sharp edge to cut while still retaining a spine for the strength to survive a life of shocking blows.  Only after many hard hours of labor does the metalsmith’s arm raise up a gleaming work of art.  

         …And so it was with these images in mind, and reflecting on the morning’s reading from John 6:46, that the Spirit blew through my life-jumbled thoughts and allowed me to perceive, to peak, to glimpse into his Purpose for suffering.  

         As the raw metal is heated, hammered and drawn into a work of art, so must we be melted, beaten down and ‘drawn by the Father’.  Like the steel, we did not ask to be brought into existence -we were chosen.  And like the steel, we cannot delight in the hammer’s blow.  But unlike the steel, we, with our gift of sentience, must choose to conform to the Divine Purpose which preceded our being, or, cling to our smallness.  Either way, we will encounter suffering; but only in the former will our suffering bring us to Eternal Life -where our Creator can say, ‘I will raise him on the last day’ …like a gleaming Work of Art. [To suffer in God's way means changing for the better and leaves no regrets, but to suffer as the world knows suffering brings death. (2Cor 7:10)]  Only Faith in the Master’s tender love, will secure a future of Hope… “We know that by turning everything to their good God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those that he has called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

         These reflections of suffering brought me back to a moment, decades past, though still present…

It was a painful time –of brokenness and loss.  I had just given my life to God, and he, was pulling me out of a deep, dark hole.  I was recovering from a life apart from God, and, from the death of my brother Stan.  I had a chemistry exam the next morning and tears were keeping me from reading the words on the textbook.  What was most tearing at my soul was the profound sadness my mother was enduring.  Stan was the second son she had lost, and now it seemed she was lost to grief.  I was angry.  I could not come to grips with the injustice.  Why must my mother suffer for being guilty of love?  

It was an overwhelming time.  I felt stuck in the hurt.  I felt unbearably alone.  I turned away from my textbook and just stared the Crucifix on my dresser.  It was in this broken moment that the Mercy of God spoke.  His Voice issued forth from the Cross.  Twice in my life have I heard the Voice of God, both, in times of brokenness.  In that darkness he said, “I suffered for you.”  

At the time, I did not understand what those Words meant, but they awakened me to a knowing that I was not suffering alone.  An Unspoken Truth was instilled into my spirit –that the suffering I bore was also being borne by The One who has walked that Hill before me.  Those Words did not carry theological meaning then, only Peace.  The hurt was still there, but the weight and anger was lifted.  Instead of feeling crushed by the suffering, I strangely felt like it was part of a larger purpose.  These were not thoughts in my natural mind, but rather an experience in my soul.  The thoughts would come much later.

God does not make us suffer.  Suffering is a condition of Life –it is part of the Privilege of being called into Existence.  All creation suffers.  Mountains are eroded into sand and steel is suffered into swords; animals suffer; innocent children suffer; and we, with our capacity to sin, have an even greater capacity to suffer.  The fundamental question of life is not, ‘Why do we suffer?’ but, ‘How can we suffer?’

Jesus, Creator of the Cosmos, who embraced the condition of his creatures, showed us how to suffer.  Even more, he bore our suffering for us.  On that Cross he took on the Suffering of Humanity –past, present and to come.  In assuming our suffering he was consumed into Death.  And through his Resurrection, he, who joined himself to our Death, now joins us to his New Life.  As we are joined to him, so too, our suffering is joined to his Cross –in a way that is as sacrificial as it is healing.

Through our Faith in the Resurrection, we now have the Grace, the Gift, to transcend our suffering –not to escape it, but to deflect its Death into Life- so much so, that our suffering is Redeemed; Re-Purposed; Transformed; and we can now in truth proclaim the Privilege of participating (as a Mystery Revealed but not grasped) in the Salvific Cross of our Savior. “The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God.  And if we are children we are heirs as well: heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory.” (Rom 8:16-17)  

Jesus, God Incarnate, suffered.  So must we -but never alone or without purpose.  That we, as creature, may not understand the Creator’s Design should not surprise.  That we, in the Pure Love of a Gentle Father, are called into an Existence which demands suffering is a Fearsome Revelation -made Glorious with the Gift of Faith.  

…      ‘No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise him on the last day’ …like a gleaming work of art.

Well Of Salvation

Well Of Salvation

“…anyone who drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again: the water that I shall give will turn into a spring inside him, welling up to eternal life'.” (John 4:14)

            John’s account of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well has become one of the most popular Gospel stories, in no small part, due to the endless lessons to be drawn from it.  

         After a half day of walking, Jesus sat down at Jacob’s well.  He was tired.  It was hot. Everybody was hungry and the food was gone.  He sent the disciples to go to town for food, leaving himself alone under the noon sun.  

For most of us, this would not be a good time to pray.  But for Jesus, whenever he is off alone, we find him in prayer with his Father.  And whenever he prays, something big happens.  This inopportune prayer was no different, for it set up an encounter which has become a Window-to-God for all of history.  Two millennia and billions of views later, I peeked into it this morning, as I reflected on this glimpse into the Mind of Jesus.  

The Samaritans were despised by the Jews for having mingled with pagan gods, and, this Samaritan woman was despised by her own people for adulterous relationships.  She was a spurned woman of a spurned nation.  And, based on her history of five ex-husbands, it is certain she knew loneliness.  She went to the well in the heat of the day hoping to draw water, free from the crowd of insults.  Little did she know that her encounter with Jesus would free her from all insults, that his Welcoming Presence would slack her thirst to be known and loved,  that this Well-Coming would transform her life.

When she set off in loneliness to the well, she had no idea she was approaching the Wellspring of Salvation.  When she discovered Jesus, she encountered unconditional love.  She spent her life hiding her real self to avoid rejection.  Now, she encounters a man who knows her better than she knows herself, a man from whom there is no need to hide shame –for he knows all about her yet still gazes upon her with love.  She thought he needed her for life giving water.  Now, she recognizes Jesus as the Wellspring of Life.  She came, tough-as-nails; now, her heart is melted by Love.   She came ashamed.  Now, she knows she is precious in the Eyes of God.

The Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus prefigures our encounter with him in prayer.  When the disciples return, they urge Jesus to eat some food, but he replies, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”  When they left him alone, he was really hungry, but, he was not really alone -he was encountering the Love of his Father in prayer.  He was receiving the sustenance required to be obedient to the Father’s Will.  He was finding the clarity to live in Truth.

          When we commit to a daily time of prayer, we are establishing a Well-Coming with Jesus; where he pours the Love of his Holy Spirit into our heart; where we will discover our true worth –that we are prized by the Father of Creation; where we are freed from shame and dare to gaze into his Loving Eyes; where we will find the nourishment to persevere in faith; where we encounter that spring ‘welling up to eternal life’.

A GOOD DAY TO DIE

A GOOD DAY TO DIE

Then to all he said, If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

Lent begins with our Lord’s call to pick up our cross, and it culminates with Christ’s Passion.   In reflecting on verse twenty-three, it became apparent that not only does everyone have a cross, but that we have one every day.  And, somehow, every cross has to do with renouncing our Self.  

That each day contains a cross is not up to us.  Suffering is a condition of our existence –only to be understood in fullness when we are claimed into The Fullness.  However, Jesus’ invitation to pick up our cross clearly implies that we have choice -to embrace its suffering as we follow in His footsteps; or to reject it as an obstacle in Our path.  How am I to understand this call?  With these thoughts I settled into prayer.

“Dying is hard Lord,” I complained to God.  In my imagination, his response did not appeal to my plea for sympathy:  

“And water is wet!” he replied.  “What did you expect?  I learned obedience through suffering and so must you.  I was obedient unto death on The Cross in order that you may have Life in Truth.  As you are obedient to the death of your self-centered life, I will raise you up, and you will be born again, into New Life in me.  I am the only Way to the Father, and the Cross is the only way to me.  It is the Tree Of Life which demands your death.”

“Your obedience requires suffering death.  It requires that you trust only in my love for you –believing that you belong only in me; that you exist, not because you live, but, because I love you.  Obedience leads to the Cross, where weakness vanquishes pride and exposes the illusion of self sufficiency.”  

“The Cross is required of you, to crucify those fears and desires which imprison you within a false reality, where you are bound from trusting in my Love.  The Blood of my Cross has broken the Lies that now chain you.  Come, follow me.  Take up my cross in this season of Brokenness, of Littleness, of Sacrifice.  Bow your head unto Death.  Surrender your spirit, your hopes, your dreams, your fears and your sins.”

          “Believe in my love which eternally sustains you.  Let go!  Release your Self into the stream of Water and Blood flowing from my Wounded Heart -pierced by your sin.  Allow my Holy Spirit to wash over you, to carry you away -into my Father’s Bosom.  Now is the time, today is a good day to die into New Life.  By my stripes you are healed.  I have suffered for you.  I am suffering with you.  You are never alone in your need.  I am with you always.  Do not be afraid of today’s cross.  I bear it with you.  I had Simon of Cyrene, but you have me.   Come, see my footprints already cast –I know The Way.  The road is hard, but with me, the night has no Darkness, and your burden will be made Light.”

Get Behind Me, Satan!

Get Behind Me, Satan!

“And he began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again; and he said all this quite openly. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him.  But, turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said to him, 'Get behind me, Satan!  Because the way you think is not God's way but man's.'” (Mark 8:31-3)

         Hearing this stinging rebuke by Jesus used to leave me feeling a little embarrassed for him; as if these words accidentally slipped out of his mouth in a moment of passion and could have been better framed if he had a second chance.  It seemed they were angry, cutting words –not in tune with the tender Heart of my Lord.  I felt bad for Peter; both, because his feelings were hurt; and, because he was reprimanded for reasonable and loving advice given discretely, away from the crowd.

         This all changed, one morning prayer, a few years ago, when the, till then unseen words in that passage, leapt off the page: “But, turning and seeing his disciples...”   As I tried to picture that exact moment, my imagination threw me back into time –into that dramatic scene, as if it were frozen with meaning.

Peter was crying.  His eyes were begging.  He was clasping Jesus’ left hand within his own hands -pressing it against his own heart.  His voice was desperate; his mind wheeling –he could not bear the thought of his Messiah and friend absent from his life; of Jesus leaving and taking all Hope with him.  The pain in Peter’s heart poured into the Breaking Heart of Jesus.

Jesus’ eyes too, began to fill with tears, causing him to break away from Peter’s eyes –for, if but an instant more, he too would have been weeping. Turning toward his disciples, he blinked hard -to clear his welling tears- but their faces remained blurred.  Like the blind man whom he had healed by putting spittle into his eyes, he now could only see distorted figures; lost sheep staring back, befuddled; his chosen companions whom he so cherished; and his Mother, whose heart the Sword of his Cross had now begun to pierce.

Jesus was like us in all ways but sin, he experienced our weakness… (Hebrews 4:15)  He did not want to die.  He was in love with his Creation and it needed him so.  There was so much left to do; so much more he could give; but the looming Cross was now casting its Shadow –a life so bright was now made Dark; and Peter’s plea was wrenching his gut.

If Jesus, like all humanity, possessed an Achilles heel, then surely he would have been most susceptible to spiritual attack through the Passion of his Heart -since his logic and Truth were impenetrable.  His Heart was bursting within him as he searched the faces of his bewildered flock so confused and afraid.  Their faces, to the one, were pleading, ‘You must not leave us!’  And now, in the Voice of his beloved Peter, Satan too, was entreating him to forsake the only thing that could save them –the Cross.  

Jesus’ battle with Satan during the Forty Days in the desert was but a preview of the Enemy’s guile.  Now, Satan was using the full weight of Jesus’ immense Love to weaken his resolve –a Supremely Evil attack upon Divine Vulnerability.

As Jesus’ Heart was battling his Mind, the Spirit echoed his Word yet proclaimed, ‘For it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the Sovereignties and the Powers who originate the darkness in this world, the spiritual army of evil in the heavens...’ (Eph 6:12).  Driven by Holy Anger and riled with rage against the Dark Powers waging war upon the Children of his Father, Jesus unleashes his rebuke upon the Voice seducing him from the Cross…  'Get behind me, Satan!’  

         In this pivotal moment of Salvation History, Peter’s feelings are but a speck of dust on the scale against the weight of humanity’s Eternal Life.  Jesus, though subjected to Compassion’s Scream, remained submitted to Truth –that he came as the Lamb of God whose Blood would Redeem the world.

Why All This Talk Of Bread?

Why All This Talk Of Bread?

         Jesus and his band of brothers climbed into a small boat and embarked on a journey to the opposite shore.  They had just witnessed the second miraculous multiplication of loaves, as well as the willful unbelief of the Pharisees demanding a sign.  From the view of a gull circling above, it was an idyllic scene –of men united, crossing a sea, sharing a common purpose.  But from the Spirit, which discerns the hearts of man, it was something altogether different.

         Someone forgot to bring the bread, and the disciples, preoccupied with their grumbling stomachs, were arguing about who was to blame.  Jesus, lost in the realm of the Spirit, was processing the miraculous works of his Father and how the other side would lead him to the Cross, when he blurts out: 'Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod' (Mark 8:15).  

         Lost in their own world, the disciples were clueless to the obscure Words of Jesus, thinking 'It is because we have no bread' (8:17).  Jesus replies, “'Why are you talking about having no bread?  Do you not yet understand?  Have you no perception?  Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear?  Or do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?'  They answered, 'Twelve'.  ‘And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?' And they answered, 'Seven'.   Then he said to them, 'Are you still without perception?' (18-21).”

         To lack perception is to be unaware of what is happening around us, leaving us unable to see where we are heading –not unlike being lost at sea without a compass.  What we choose to remember, what we become preoccupied with, becomes the default heading in the compass of our life -leading us, for better or for worse, to that destiny.  In the case of the disciples, their arguing, blaming, and preoccupation with their personal needs was leading them away from Jesus’ plan; earning them a rebuke, for pettiness, in light of his Father’s Abundant Provision.

         In their preoccupation for bread, they were blind to the Bread of Life in their midst; to the Truth Who Saves; to their Safe Harbor; their Wellspring of Life.  Because of his Sacrificial Love, we possess the Bread of Life.  In this Gift, we have a Compass which will lead us in all ways to Truth –to the Father’s destiny for our lives.  It is this Eucharist Encounter which sustains us in our journey; and directs us toward our Destiny in Christ.

         In consuming his Divinity, he consumes our Sinfulness.  In possessing Him, he possesses us.  In offering him our Brokenness, he offers us his Healing.  We are delivered from the pettiness of our personal needs, and empowered to live a Life beyond what we can dream – a Life that our Father dreams for us; a Life freed from Self; surrendered to God; a Life of Eucharistic Union.

           For this, Jesus warns against the yeast of the Pharisees, which beguiles us into Self-Sufficiency, into acts of Dead Religiosity -in place of Acts of Love.  And for this, he warns against the yeast of Herod which seduces us to be our own god –free to define Truth, and Good, and Evil according to our pleasure.  Jesus is guarding us against that yeast which disguises the Suffering of the Cross.

         Only the Unleavened Bread of Life can sustain us into this Death-to-Self so willed by God.  Only the Bread of Life can draw us beyond our need and into the Surplus of God.  The Baskets of Surplus are the Father’s sign of his Provisional Love –lavished and without end.  In surrendering the little that we have, our neediness is transformed into Grace -to love; to embrace his Cross; even, to knowing Union with God.

         This is the perception that Jesus is asking of us.  This is the Truth he is offering us, free of the World’s Yeast which corrupts the offering of our Self.  Let us then, talk of this Bread.  Let us become preoccupied with this Bread.  May all our Hungers lead us to this Bread of Life, for it will point us always to the Father.

Light And Joy

Light And Joy

“He also said to them, 'Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed?  Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand?” (Mark 4:2)

         On New Year’s Eve I was feeling more than a little cynical regarding any impending personal epiphany, and my many past resolutions, which had faded out as whimpers, left me in no mood to begin another.  But the Holy Spirit was not giving up on me so easily -even in the presence of my obstinacy.  That morning’s daily reflection suggested listening for a “Word from God” as a guide for the new year.  I had considered the idea, and was actually in the very act of dismissing it, when three Words abruptly overrode my thoughts: “Light and Joy”.  God’s Word had broken through my crusty heart.

         Chastened, like a crotchety old man by God’s unrelenting Mercy, I repented of my negativity, and received his Word as personally tailored to guide me through this year.   I did not experience this as an epiphany moment, yet I knew with certainty those simple Words were calling me toward one.  They had no profound meaning, yet I was sure they would.

         Every day they have been percolating into my consciousness, as if rain preparing the earth.  They were seeds of Hope yet expressed, but still, taking root.  Today, in reading Mark’s Gospel about the parable of the lamp, that personal Word broke through the soil of my soul.   That pregnant Word which had remained formless, now, by the Breath of the Spirit, is beginning to show Itself to me.  

         It began with my pondering of the ridiculousness of Jesus’ question –Why would anyone bring in a lamp just to hide it under something?  What if he posed this question because its ridiculous scenario is a real problem that needs to be confronted?  Surely I would not be so foolish?  Could he be illustrating such a self-defeating action in order to point to something amiss in my life?  What Truth is his silly question speaking?

         The parable of the lamp fundamentally addresses God’s purpose for our life; as well as the consequence of living inside of, or, outside of that purpose.  A lamp is created to emit light.  Its purpose is to bring light to what is hidden in darkness.  We too, are created as vessels of Light.  To live our life outside of this purpose is as foolish as placing a lamp under a basket.

         St. Matthew speaks to this point: “You are the light of the world.  A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden.”(5:14)  We have been created to be a Light to the world.  If we live our lives outside of our Divine Purpose, then Darkness remains around us.  If we live according to his purpose, then Darkness is expelled -for, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”(1John 1:5)   

         By itself, a lamp cannot produce light.  It merely holds the flame -burning the oil which was placed within it and ignited.  So too, we are not the source of the Light of Christ which we bear.  We are merely holders of the flame of God’s Love which lives within us.  And just as there is a vast difference between an ember and a roaring fire, so are there differences in the intensities of Light emanating from our lives.  The brightness of our Light is according to the Fire of Love in our heart for God.  And the Fire of Love in our heart correlates to the Faith, Hope and Love that is lived out in our life –to the degree we are living according to our Divine Purpose.

         The more alive we are in Faith, Hope and Love, the more Darkness is expelled around us.  And, it is a spiritual law that a life in Christ bears the fruit of Peace and Joy.  This is what my Personal Word “Light and Joy” is speaking to me: if there is Light in my life, there is Joy; if there is Joy in my life, there is Light.  The two cannot exist apart.  

          Joy then, is a dependable indicator of my spiritual health.  Not the giddy feel good joy of fickle happiness, but the deep joy of Peace, of knowing I am cupped in the Hand of God.  If I am lacking in Joy, I need only to increase the Light in my life –to renew the exercise of Faith, Hope and Love.  If I offer these to the world, then there will be the Light of Christ, and its Fruit will be Joy. 

Behold Your Child

Behold Your Child

“And when the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord- observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord” (LK 2:22+)

         Ever faithful to the Mosaic Law, Mary and Joseph bring their Precious Jesus to the temple, to be presented into the service of God, to be set apart, dedicated, freely given to do His bidding –thus, establishing the feet of The Only Son, onto the path to Calvary.  

         As soon as they enter, Simeon, a saintly old man seized by the Holy Spirit, joyfully snatches the Fated Child from Mary’s arms, and prophesies: “… 'You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected- and a sword will pierce your own soul too- so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare'.” (Luke 2:34)   St. Luke takes us, from the joyful beginning of the Good News, and thrusts us into the darkness of the Crucifixion, where the murderous thoughts of humanity are laid bare -through the Blood of Mary's Lamb.

         By custom, a Jew’s heritage is verified via the mother -as a child’s father could be uncertain.  And so Jesus, whose Father was hidden, hanging on that Cross…“Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her …said to his mother, 'Woman, this is your son. Then to the disciple he said, 'This is your mother'.” (John 19:26-7)  As his last wish, Jesus, wanting his Beloved Disciple to know his true identity, consecrates him to his Mother.  Pronouncing John ‘son of the Mother of God’ confirms him as Brother to the Savior of the world -son of the Father.  And Mary, with her soul pierced by the Sword of the Cross, was ever consecrated to mother His Beloved.

         Now, we all are His Beloved.  And Mary eternally retains her mantle as ‘Mother of His Beloved’.  So we too, can be sure of our heritage, for in looking upon his Beloved John, Jesus saw our needy faces, and pronounced His Mother as our own.

As we read then, Luke’s Presentation of Our Lord, let us pause …close our eyes …and see our Mother …with her heavenly mantle …lifting us up and saying…  “Holy Father, behold Your Child, whom I consecrate to do your bidding, to follow wherever the footsteps of my Son will lead –fill this son, this daughter, with the fullness of your Spirit, to be His Light unto the world.”

          Father, in the Name of your Son, Jesus our Lord and Brother, hear this perpetual prayer of His…of Our Mother. 

The Gift

The Gift

           I am a sucker for time travel movies. I pride myself as logical, yet, I find myself seduced by the implausible –hoping against hope.  They all have the same plot: the protagonist living in regret, lamenting a future made dismal by an event from the past, is given the chance for a do-over.  Of course, time travel stories are based on the premise that the impossible is possible, that the consequences of the past are undo-able.  And, since the past is changeable, there must then, exist alternate realities to add to the storyline’s intrigue.

         Not strangely, the Gospel Story speaks to this same universal dream –that there exists for us a chance for a do-over; to un-do the sins of our past; to change the course of our future.  And this is the Advent message of John the Baptist, that in our repentance we will find The Gift; The One Sent; The Savior; The One who uttered the Ancient Word, “I know the plans I have in mind for you - it is Yahweh who speaks - plans for peace, not disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you.” (JER 29:11).  Unlike the fantastical offered by time travel movies, the Gospel offers, in Truth, The Gift which holds out to us the chance to erase our past sins and to receive a New Life, with a future full of hope.

         Luke records these Words of Jesus regarding the Voice crying out in the wilderness, “All the people who heard him, and the tax collectors too, acknowledged God's plan by accepting baptism from John; but by refusing baptism from him the Pharisees and the lawyers had thwarted what God had in mind for them.” (LK 7:29).  Here, Jesus poises the Present Moment as a point about to diverge along two alternate realities: those who accept John’s call to Repentance receive The Gift of a New Life, to be Born Again with a new future; and those who refuse to repent, remain mired in their Sin, and thwart the wonderful future that ‘God had in mind for them’.  The world was then, and still is today, divided into those who receive The Gift, and those who reject Him.

         Earlier, in chapter three, we read of John, “He said, therefore, to the crowds who came to be baptized by him, 'Brood of vipers, who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming?  But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruits…” (Lk 3:7).  All in the crowd had sinned against God, so, all had earned the title ‘brood of vipers’ –all were under the retribution of their Sin.  

         The answer, to who warned them to flee from it, is none other than the Spirit of God within, the Voice of conscience, bending to the gravity of what they have done.  This repentance is the gift that introduces them to The Gift.  It is the Seed that leads to a Death which is raised up to New Life.  And it is this Death which is evidence of the appropriate fruits –a life lived for God.  Some in the crowd heard John’s call to Repentance; accepted Gods’ plan for their lives; turned from Sin and made straight the path in their hearts to receive the One Sent, the Savior of the world.  And some in the crowd did not.

         Father, this Advent as I gaze upon The Gift of your Son, may your Spirit gently gift me with the revelation of my wretchedness, with the gravity of my Sin, that I may fly to your Mercy, that I may Live Anew in all ways pleasing to you.  Jesus, you are The Gift of my desire.  I submit to John’s baptism of repentance –I stand washed in the Water gushing from your Wound on the Cross, washed of the Sin I renounce.  Baptize me now, in your Holy Spirit and Fire –empower me to live in the Light of your Truth.  This, my plea for your Mercy, is the only gift I have to offer.  I wrap it in Faith, Hope and Love.