We humans mostly like new things. And even if we do not like the present new leadership, we at last know there is newness already.
But the Bible often means much more. They sang about their freedom from Egypt. They sang about when David became the new leader of them as a people. They often sang about newness in their lives. They sang about the newness of forgiveness, which we sing every Friday in the morning office, Psalm 51. All through the Bible they sing about newness of one kind or another.
But the greatest and most wonderful newness is the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
That mystery gives us a great expanse for newness. In Isaiah, God says he will make a new way in the wilderness…so if you feel like you’re in confusion as if in a wilderness, just ask God to lead you in a new way.
Again in Isaiah, God says I will make you hear new things. But to hear we have really to listen. And over and over we hear that God has mercy and love for us. There is only goodness in God, only love
In Jeremiah we read that the Lord says I will make a New Covenant. We live in that covenant and celebrate God’s promises to us often, especially in Holy Mass.
In Lamentations is a favorite of mine: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, say my soul, therefore will I hope in Him.
This newness is in us every day, because God is within us. We live and walk in God, and as Paul say: Christ in you, your hope of glory. 1 Col.
As we say at the end of Ps.73: My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
With God giving total attention to each of us, it seems a strong invitation to give ever more attention to God. Which is why we pray.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Behold the Kingdom of God is within you.
In the very first line of the Spiritual Canticle by John of the Cross, he writes “Where have you hidden, Beloved.” And when St John writes in prose about this he insists that we pay attention to the words of Jesus. The Kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:20. That is, God who loves us so much is within each one of us. So it is important to go within ourselves if we want to know our God. Yes, all creation gives witness to the glory of God. Yet we also have St. Augustine writing: "I did not find You without Lord, because I wrongly sought You without, Who were within."
As the Prophet Isaiah said: Come my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself for a little while. Is 26:20
How are we to go within ourselves? One way is to become silent and to make an act of faith in the reality of the Presence of God within. O God, I believe you are here in mystery within me.
WE cannot ever be without God. As we are immersed in God so God is immersed in each one of us. You are the Temple of God. St. Paul tells us. (2 Cor. 6:16) God is love so when we read in Romans that God’s love is poured into our hearts, we can be assured of the Presence of God in us.
St.John of the Cross adds: “All your good and hope is so close to you as to be within you, or better, that you cannot be without Him.”
So when we come to Christian Mediation or Centering prayer, it does seem important to me, to take a moment to make a very personal word to the Beloved within. A word of faith in the Presence of God. A word of Hope in which we express our trust in the love God has for us. Or a word of desire for more intimacy with God, which is a word of love. Then we begin our prayer word as a way to keep silent By saying our mantra and paying attention to it, we are letting go of all our ego thoughts, imaginations, worries, and quarrels with life. For this short time we are letting God within do as He wills with us. We say with Mary; behold the servant of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word.
As the Prophet Isaiah said: Come my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself for a little while. Is 26:20
How are we to go within ourselves? One way is to become silent and to make an act of faith in the reality of the Presence of God within. O God, I believe you are here in mystery within me.
WE cannot ever be without God. As we are immersed in God so God is immersed in each one of us. You are the Temple of God. St. Paul tells us. (2 Cor. 6:16) God is love so when we read in Romans that God’s love is poured into our hearts, we can be assured of the Presence of God in us.
St.John of the Cross adds: “All your good and hope is so close to you as to be within you, or better, that you cannot be without Him.”
So when we come to Christian Mediation or Centering prayer, it does seem important to me, to take a moment to make a very personal word to the Beloved within. A word of faith in the Presence of God. A word of Hope in which we express our trust in the love God has for us. Or a word of desire for more intimacy with God, which is a word of love. Then we begin our prayer word as a way to keep silent By saying our mantra and paying attention to it, we are letting go of all our ego thoughts, imaginations, worries, and quarrels with life. For this short time we are letting God within do as He wills with us. We say with Mary; behold the servant of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word.
Friday, January 09, 2009
“Value yourself at your true worth.” Sirach 10:28-29
This quote is from Today’s English Version of the Bible. I like it. The New Revised Standard says: “Give yourself the esteem you deserve”. And the New Jerusalem says: “Value yourself at your proper worth”.
Actually the first part of that verse counsels humility! So where does our true worth come from? Not from what others think of us. And not really from our accomplishments either. Not how much money we make. Why not? Because even these are a gift from God. After all, we did not choose where we were born or what family we might have.
Our true worth is that we are loved unconditionally by God. Thomas Merton wrote “The root of Christian love is not the will to love, but the faith that one is loved. The faith that one is loved by God.” (New Seeds of Contemplation. New York, a New Directions Book. 1961. p.75)
"Nothing or no one is more beautiful than I, since God -- beauty itself -- has fallen in love with me." Angelus Silesius 1670
Our reality is that we are greatly loved. There is no pretension here. Our reality is that we have been loved into life. And that the love God has for us is forever. This is our faith. When the Bible expresses God’s anger with us, we need to realize this is like the anger my Mother had when I went near the Troublesome Brook and fell is. She had after all, warned me no to go near it. . Why was she angry? Because I had done what was bad for me, dangerous. It was from her love for me. So punishment was to make me remember what was safe and not dangerous. I was probably only 10 but I knew well that my Mother loved me.
Often we identify ourselves with our work. This is not true. What is the first reality about me? I am the beloved of God. What is the first reality about you> You are God’s Beloved.
When we take the time to be silent in the Presence of God, we are opening our hearts to love. When we sit quietly and repeat a prayer phrase, we are letting go of our own agenda and letting God do with us as His love wants to do. We are entrusting our lives and our inner being to the great and enduring love that God has for us. We cry out with Jeremiah: The Mercies of the Lord are new every morning, great is thy Faithfulness. The feast days of the Christmas season are a yearly reminder to us that God has so loved the World that he gave us his only begotten Son. (John 3)
Actually the first part of that verse counsels humility! So where does our true worth come from? Not from what others think of us. And not really from our accomplishments either. Not how much money we make. Why not? Because even these are a gift from God. After all, we did not choose where we were born or what family we might have.
Our true worth is that we are loved unconditionally by God. Thomas Merton wrote “The root of Christian love is not the will to love, but the faith that one is loved. The faith that one is loved by God.” (New Seeds of Contemplation. New York, a New Directions Book. 1961. p.75)
"Nothing or no one is more beautiful than I, since God -- beauty itself -- has fallen in love with me." Angelus Silesius 1670
Our reality is that we are greatly loved. There is no pretension here. Our reality is that we have been loved into life. And that the love God has for us is forever. This is our faith. When the Bible expresses God’s anger with us, we need to realize this is like the anger my Mother had when I went near the Troublesome Brook and fell is. She had after all, warned me no to go near it. . Why was she angry? Because I had done what was bad for me, dangerous. It was from her love for me. So punishment was to make me remember what was safe and not dangerous. I was probably only 10 but I knew well that my Mother loved me.
Often we identify ourselves with our work. This is not true. What is the first reality about me? I am the beloved of God. What is the first reality about you> You are God’s Beloved.
When we take the time to be silent in the Presence of God, we are opening our hearts to love. When we sit quietly and repeat a prayer phrase, we are letting go of our own agenda and letting God do with us as His love wants to do. We are entrusting our lives and our inner being to the great and enduring love that God has for us. We cry out with Jeremiah: The Mercies of the Lord are new every morning, great is thy Faithfulness. The feast days of the Christmas season are a yearly reminder to us that God has so loved the World that he gave us his only begotten Son. (John 3)
O WISDOM
These nine days are the days of what we call the O antiphons. And the one today starts O Wisdom. These are the antiphons for evening prayer of the Church.
I remember when I first realized this pattern. It filled me with joy somehow. So I want to talk about the joy of Christmas. We have all these lights because we are celebrating Jesus the Light of the world. People may not know that anymore but that is the real reason for all the light. Divine light is more penetrating than laser, more vast that the light of the sun. God’s Light, Jesus, Light of the world, goes through and overcomes all darkness – prejudice, hypocrisy, deceit, pernicious ideas.
The Light of Christmas brings peace to disturbed hearts, overcomes all our tendencies to get even, to retaliate, to unforgiveness. AS Jesus said “My peace I give you, not as the world gives, I give peace.” Christmas is a good time to remember that Jesus really said that whole sentence that included “not as the world gives peace.” I am sorry we say only say half of the sentence at Mass. Some days I feel like petitioning Rome to put them together! And think of Paul writing: “See now if the day of salvation”2 Co 6.2.
Christmas is a gift to us, - God giving himself. Yet Christmas Is also an invitation to open our hearts to each other, for that is how we open to God.
In Christian Meditation or Centering Prayer we say our prayer word and let go of all our inner monologues and images. We entrust our whole being to God. We are opening our hearts to the Light of Christ, to the light of Christmas. We kept our prayer word going so that we do not drift into a sort of dreamy state that we might think of as holy. What we seek is to be open to the light of God. To let God lead us, and teach us in the depths of our hearts where we never really can go on our own.
None of us have real physical poverty like the millions of people who are on the edge of starvation today. And yet, when the Light of Christ shines in our hearts at Christmas we are invited to recognize that all is gift. That Jesus told us the truth when He said: without me you can do nothing. Christmas can be a time to rejoice. The flip side of the gift of Christmas is our own total need of Jesus. And so we can be filled with joy because the light of Christ shines upon us. And within us when we open our hearts. Let us take time each day, against the demands of business this season, to sit in silence to pray. Let us pray now.
I remember when I first realized this pattern. It filled me with joy somehow. So I want to talk about the joy of Christmas. We have all these lights because we are celebrating Jesus the Light of the world. People may not know that anymore but that is the real reason for all the light. Divine light is more penetrating than laser, more vast that the light of the sun. God’s Light, Jesus, Light of the world, goes through and overcomes all darkness – prejudice, hypocrisy, deceit, pernicious ideas.
The Light of Christmas brings peace to disturbed hearts, overcomes all our tendencies to get even, to retaliate, to unforgiveness. AS Jesus said “My peace I give you, not as the world gives, I give peace.” Christmas is a good time to remember that Jesus really said that whole sentence that included “not as the world gives peace.” I am sorry we say only say half of the sentence at Mass. Some days I feel like petitioning Rome to put them together! And think of Paul writing: “See now if the day of salvation”2 Co 6.2.
Christmas is a gift to us, - God giving himself. Yet Christmas Is also an invitation to open our hearts to each other, for that is how we open to God.
In Christian Meditation or Centering Prayer we say our prayer word and let go of all our inner monologues and images. We entrust our whole being to God. We are opening our hearts to the Light of Christ, to the light of Christmas. We kept our prayer word going so that we do not drift into a sort of dreamy state that we might think of as holy. What we seek is to be open to the light of God. To let God lead us, and teach us in the depths of our hearts where we never really can go on our own.
None of us have real physical poverty like the millions of people who are on the edge of starvation today. And yet, when the Light of Christ shines in our hearts at Christmas we are invited to recognize that all is gift. That Jesus told us the truth when He said: without me you can do nothing. Christmas can be a time to rejoice. The flip side of the gift of Christmas is our own total need of Jesus. And so we can be filled with joy because the light of Christ shines upon us. And within us when we open our hearts. Let us take time each day, against the demands of business this season, to sit in silence to pray. Let us pray now.
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