'Be at peace
Be happy at all times;
pray constantly;
and for all things give thanks to God
because this is what God expects you to do
in Christ Jesus.'
1 Thessalonians 5:14-18
I cannot describe the force with which this phrasing struck me:
'Be happy...this is what God expects you to do.'
I can expect that He wants prayer, thanksgiving, peace.
It never crossed my mind that He desired me to be happy. What can this matter to the 'Holy, Mighty One'? As human beings, we are always looking for a justification. God is Love, and Love is its own justification.
It is so very easy to believe in God, so easy to love Him,
It is not so easy to believe that He loves me!
This beautiful figure, this great man, this God Incarnate, Whom I see in the paintings of Old Masters, a glittering face in golden icons--the greatest man who ever lived, of all eternity, the Beginning and the End--could He really have thought of me, and loved me personally, and maybe the love of me, my self, was in His mind as He hung upon the cross? And what am I to Him, that even now He seems to take so much trouble about me and my life?
To be a Christian is to accept, not just Who Jesus is, not just that He is God, not just that God is Love; but also we must accept who we really are and who we are meant to be. We have to accept that we are truly loved and that we are truly worth loving. And we have to accept that every other single person in this world is worth loving (yes, sometimes that's the hardest part!).
I wonder how many people truly feel that they are worth being loved?
Is God's love for you an act of folly?
We are still looking for a reason for our worthiness. God doesn't need you to justify your worth, He has justified it for you from the Cross.
Monday, 14 December 2009
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Ennui
"Three new planets discovered!" read the headlines today.
It seems that from his infancy, Man has desired to know all,
To comprehend the mysteries that hold him still in thrall;
To chart the cosmos, and of this to be the overlord:
Strange that when his last question’s answered,
To comprehend the mysteries that hold him still in thrall;
To chart the cosmos, and of this to be the overlord:
Strange that when his last question’s answered,
Man says again, ‘I’m bored.’
Saturday, 12 December 2009
I Took and Chose the Richer
Today for the first time I was acquainted with this story of the 'two crowns,' upon seeing this painting of Saint Catherine of Siena by Carlo Dolci at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London.
"Saint Catherine of Siena was a fourteenth century mystic and lay member of the Dominican order. She devoted herself to the care of the sick and needy, and was thought to have developed an acute sense of human suffering. Christ appeared to her in a vision and offered her the choice of two crowns, one of gold and one of thorns. She chose the crown of thorns."
Of these two crowns, the gold and Thorn
I took and chose the richer:
For how should I dare hold in scorn
The one my Lord Himself had worn?
Crowned with pomp and glory, I
Still may die alone:
But greatest is the company of those
Who rejoice before God’s throne.
Thursday, 10 December 2009
The Heart of the World Started Beating Again
At all times, there are so many worlds revolving on our one planet.
Yesterday, a girl in black shoes walked through the grey streets of London on her way to church. This girl was not really a girl anymore, but she still felt like one inside. The sky above her was grey. So were the drab winter-coats of all the passers-by. The pavement beneath her black shoes was grey. The air was cold, and no one smiled. There were many human faces passing, but not one in whom she could find a sympathetic friend. The girl was sad inside. For a moment it seemed, the heart of the world had stopped beating.
Then, coming up the grey pavement, through the parade of drab winter-coats, the girl saw two sisters coming towards her. One sister was old, and one sister was young. This young sister was not a girl anymore, but she still felt like one inside. Her head was veiled in the same fashion as her older companion: with white cloth, striped with blue. They were Sisters of Charity, they belonged to the Order of the Blessed Mother Teresa.
And the girl in the white veil with the blue stripes passed the girl in the black shoes.
And the girl in the white veil with the blue stripes smiled at the girl in the black shoes.
And the heart of the world started beating again.
This is the way that God works:
Christ lived in the heart of the Blessed Mother Teresa,
And through her, He lived in the heart of that young sister,
And through her, He lived in the heart of the girl with black shoes
Who is telling you this story, so that He may live in yours.
Yesterday, a girl in black shoes walked through the grey streets of London on her way to church. This girl was not really a girl anymore, but she still felt like one inside. The sky above her was grey. So were the drab winter-coats of all the passers-by. The pavement beneath her black shoes was grey. The air was cold, and no one smiled. There were many human faces passing, but not one in whom she could find a sympathetic friend. The girl was sad inside. For a moment it seemed, the heart of the world had stopped beating.
Then, coming up the grey pavement, through the parade of drab winter-coats, the girl saw two sisters coming towards her. One sister was old, and one sister was young. This young sister was not a girl anymore, but she still felt like one inside. Her head was veiled in the same fashion as her older companion: with white cloth, striped with blue. They were Sisters of Charity, they belonged to the Order of the Blessed Mother Teresa.
And the girl in the white veil with the blue stripes passed the girl in the black shoes.
And the girl in the white veil with the blue stripes smiled at the girl in the black shoes.
And the heart of the world started beating again.
This is the way that God works:
Christ lived in the heart of the Blessed Mother Teresa,
And through her, He lived in the heart of that young sister,
And through her, He lived in the heart of the girl with black shoes
Who is telling you this story, so that He may live in yours.
Pass Him along please.
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Surfeit
So many empty spaces here,
Where candles could burn,
Prayers be heard,
The love of God diffused--
So many nameless faces
Passing everyday,
Cold and unhappy;
When a surfeit of love
Remains unspent---
if the love of God is the candle,
You are the light,
Burn brightly, diffuse Him in yourself,
And others will come
Warmed by Flame of Mercy,
The rays of red and white.
'The flames of My mercy are burning Me, clamouring to be spent.'
--The words of Jesus to Saint Faustina.
Where candles could burn,
Prayers be heard,
The love of God diffused--
So many nameless faces
Passing everyday,
Cold and unhappy;
When a surfeit of love
Remains unspent---
if the love of God is the candle,
You are the light,
Burn brightly, diffuse Him in yourself,
And others will come
Warmed by Flame of Mercy,
The rays of red and white.
'The flames of My mercy are burning Me, clamouring to be spent.'
--The words of Jesus to Saint Faustina.
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Imperfect & Perfect
St. Maximilian Kolbe died at Auschwitz.
When attempts to starve him failed, he was executed by lethal injection.
The false promise that looms above the gates of Auschwitz reads: Arbeit Macht Frei.
'Work will set you free.'
Unfortunately, work did not set Maximilian Kolbe free.
But the Truth did.
The Immaculate Conception According to Saint Maximilian Kolbe:
Truly, the Immaculate is the work of God and, like any work of God, she is less than Him, without comparison, and she depends completely on her Creator. However, she is God's most perfect, and simplest work.
According to Saint Bonaventure, God could have created a larger, more perfect world, but He could never have made anything worthier than Mary.
---Maximilian Kolbe, 1938.
Happy feastday of the Immaculate Conception to all, may the intercession of a loving Mother grace our world.
Please pray for the soul of Anthony E. Brierley, 1946-2007.
I couldn't have imagined a more perfect father-in-law.
When attempts to starve him failed, he was executed by lethal injection.
The false promise that looms above the gates of Auschwitz reads: Arbeit Macht Frei.
'Work will set you free.'
Unfortunately, work did not set Maximilian Kolbe free.
But the Truth did.
The Immaculate Conception According to Saint Maximilian Kolbe:
Truly, the Immaculate is the work of God and, like any work of God, she is less than Him, without comparison, and she depends completely on her Creator. However, she is God's most perfect, and simplest work.
According to Saint Bonaventure, God could have created a larger, more perfect world, but He could never have made anything worthier than Mary.
---Maximilian Kolbe, 1938.
Happy feastday of the Immaculate Conception to all, may the intercession of a loving Mother grace our world.
Please pray for the soul of Anthony E. Brierley, 1946-2007.
I couldn't have imagined a more perfect father-in-law.
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Saturday, 5 December 2009
Busy with Love
Good friends share many things with us in common.
In so many ways, God made us like Himself.
So that we could be good friends, and share
Many things in common.
But since we fell out of sympathy, it often seems
We have lost our old Friend--
Now that we feel the loss,
Now that we can tell,
There's an empty space inside of us,
We wonder how to fill it up?
Can we find new friends?
What was it we used to share in common?
Start with Love.
That's God's only motivation.
That's what's behind the animation
Of every living thing:
Creating, extending, perpetuating Love.
Children are born,
and people will marry,
We want homes that are fuller,
Busy with love.
Water, air,
Spirit, Light,
Space and time
Day and Night;
The earth below,
And the Heaven above,
Are the Home God wanted
To fill with Love.
In so many ways, God made us like Himself.
So that we could be good friends, and share
Many things in common.
But since we fell out of sympathy, it often seems
We have lost our old Friend--
Now that we feel the loss,
Now that we can tell,
There's an empty space inside of us,
We wonder how to fill it up?
Can we find new friends?
What was it we used to share in common?
Start with Love.
That's God's only motivation.
That's what's behind the animation
Of every living thing:
Creating, extending, perpetuating Love.
Children are born,
and people will marry,
We want homes that are fuller,
Busy with love.
Water, air,
Spirit, Light,
Space and time
Day and Night;
The earth below,
And the Heaven above,
Are the Home God wanted
To fill with Love.
Friday, 4 December 2009
Pack Away the Old Ways
'Now, then, clear out all the thoughts that take up your attention, and pack away all the old ways of looking at things that keep deceiving you. You must become like a new man from the beginning, since, as you yourself admit, you are going to listen to a really new message...'
--'Epistle to Diognetus'
What is essential to our Catholic faith is that it is unchanging. Our Church is an acorn grown into a tree. This 2,000-year-old oak spreads its branches inch by inch, weathering storms and dry spells. But just as a child who grows into a man is still the same person, with the same soul, we would not argue that the acorn is substantially or essentially distinct from the tree: they are one and the same.
Our faith remains the same, the essential Gospel truth fed by scripture and tradition. What is evolving is our understanding of this Faith, and what is deepening is our ability to apply this understanding to our ever changing reality, in the light of Gospel truth.
In spite of this, there are very few new questions to ask or novel challenges to face. We are inquiring the same things of God, and He is demanding the same trust from us, as He has for the past two thousand years, or rather, for time innumerable.
This excerpt was recommended by a friend. You may think it is a new Catholic editorial presenting a basic description of the challenges we face as Christians living in the modern secular world. But you will actually find that this excerpt from the 'Epistle to Diognetus' was written in the context of the emerging Early Church. This is the story of what it then meant to be a Christian, and what it means to be a Christian now:
"For Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by country or language or customs. 2They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life. 3This doctrine of theirs has not been discovered by the ingenuity or deep thought of inquisitive men, nor do they put forward a merely human teaching, as some people do. 4Yet, although they live in Greek and barbarian cities alike, as each man's lot has been cast, and follow the customs of the country in clothing and food and other matters of daily living, at the same time they give proof of the remarkable and admittedly extraordinary constitution of their own commonwealth. 5They live in their own countries, but only as aliens. They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their fatherland, and yet for them every fatherland is a foreign land. 6They marry, like everyone else, and they beget children, but they do not cast out their offspring. 7They share their board with each other, but not their marriage bed. 8It is true that they are "in the flesh," but they do not live "according to the flesh." They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. 10They obey the established laws, but in their own lives they go far beyond what the laws require. 11They love all men, and by all men are persecuted. 12They are unknown, and still they are condemned; they are put to death, and yet they are brought to life. 13They are poor, and yet they make many rich; they are completely destitute, and yet they enjoy complete abundance. 14They are dishonored, and in their very dishonor are glorified; they are defamed, and are vindicated. 15They are reviled, and yet they bless; when they are affronted, they still pay due respect. 16When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; undergoing punishment, they rejoice because they are brought to life. 17They are treated by the Jews as foreigners and enemies, and are hunted down by the Greeks; and all the time those who hate them find it impossible to justify their enmity.
To put it simply: What the soul is in the body, that Christians are in the world. 2The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. 3The soul dwells in the body, but does not belong to the body, and Christians dwell in the world, but do not belong to the world. 4The soul, which is invisible, is kept under guard in the visible body; in the same way, Christians are recognised when they are in the world, but their religion remains unseen. 5The flesh hates the soul and treats it as an enemy, even though it has suffered no wrong, because it is prevented from enjoying its pleasures; so too the world hates Christians, even though it suffers no wrong at their hands, because they range themselves against its pleasures. 6The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and its members; in the same way, Christians love those who hate them. 7The soul is shut up in the body, and yet itself holds the body together; while Christians are restrained in the world as in a prison, and yet themselves hold the world together. 8The soul, which is immortal, is housed in a mortal dwelling; while Christians are settled among corruptible things, to wait for the incorruptibility that will be theirs in heaven. 9The soul, when faring badly as to food and drink, grows better; so too Christians, when punished, day by day increase more and more. 10It is to no less a post than this that God has ordered them, and they must not try to evade it."
To read more, go to http://www.ccel.org/ccel/richardson/fathers.x.i.ii.html
Thursday, 3 December 2009
An Open Letter: Freedom & Sin
A friend's comment on my last post inspired me to explore further the notion of 'freedom' and the real nature of 'sin.' My initial response to his comment, which you will find at the bottom of the last post, became this open letter.
Dear friend,
I am really happy to hear from you about this! You have touched on so many things that we have recently been discussing among ourselves at home. I wrote this short 'meditation on freedom' after our last meeting with our spiritual father on Tuesday, at which he was describing the different kinds of ‘freedom’ that St. Augustine talked about.
It is interesting you say, ‘those who do not respect our Faith persist in despising this word---‘Sin.’' Recently, I met a woman from a Greek Orthodox background, who was surprised to find that I was a convert to Roman Catholicism. She asked, ‘don’t you find it too restrictive?’ I was kind of speechless. I was thinking: ‘Oh yes, I would love to be able to divorce my husband, lie, cheat, abort and be promiscuous!’ If our Church is too restrictive, then God is too restrictive!
I think this is the real reason people seem to ‘persist’ in despising the notion of sin—it’s very inconvenient for them! Many people who say ‘I don’t believe in God/the faith have not actually philosophically taken the time to truly come to this conclusion. It is just too inconvenient to believe in God, and too restrictive to follow the precepts of faith. Being a Catholic is just like marriage or being a parent---the most fulfilling thing you can experience, but also very hard work! You have to apply yourself to your faith every day, and many people just want to opt out because this is too daunting.
Also, you have brought up a very important point, what is the real source of sin, and the real meaning of freedom and life? We were studying our catechism last night, point 1458. Saint Augustine said:
‘God made man.
Man made the ‘sinner.’
Destroy what you have made, so that God may save what He has made.’
Basically, when God created us, He Himself had a choice. He could choose to free us totally from sin. But then, could we truly love Him and one another? He really wanted true love from us and for us. This is our share in the Divine Life. And in order to be able to truly love, we have to be free, free to choose Him, or free to reject Him. God knew this. He knew He Himself might have to pay the price for giving us the freedom of choice. BUT, He Who is Love, could only create us with the capacity for true love, whatever the consequences to Himself.
Many Christians, often those from fundamentalist Evangelical or Baptist backgrounds, treat human beings like puppets. God and the Devil are fighting over our puppet strings. If we do something wrong, it is because the Devil has gotten the strings. And when we are good, we know the strings are in the right hands again.
No, this is not the life God intends for us. He loves us so dearly, that like any good parent, He wants the very best for us---for us to fulfill our true potential. The Christian view of life is actually a positive one. When Saint Augustine talked about the freedom to be ourselves, what he really meant, is that God wants us to be free to fulfill our true potential. Our true potential lies in our natural capacity to share in the Divine nature by choosing love over sin, and God over ourselves.
So, did God create the Devil?
Yes, in a sense, he did. The Devil is a spiritual being, and all spiritual and material creation is the work of God. But the Devil is a spiritual being who actually stood in the Presence of God and rejected Him. Can you imagine doing that? Can you imagine standing in that omnipotent Presence, the loving eyes of Jesus upon you, the sheltering wings of the Holy Spirit enfolding you, and saying to all of this: 'I reject You, I don’t want You?'
The Devil said to God: I want MY way over Yours. The way of sin over the way of Love.
And this is how he became the Devil.
But if the Devil began as part of God’s creation, does that mean God created Evil?
No. The Devil didn’t create evil, either. We did. Evil is the product of our ability to choose: we can consent to love, or consent to sin. We can participate in God’s life, or we can be a partner with the devil. Either way, it is ultimately our choice. We so often say the word ‘sin,’ that we forget that in itself, sin is not an objective reality. What we really mean by 'sin,' is an act that separates us from God. Just like Hell is more a ‘state of being’ than a finite ‘place’-- meaning, of course, that hell constitutes our ultimate and everlasting separation from God-- sin is really a choice of ourselves over God.
I think God knew when He created us, that He was taking a gamble.
But He must have believed that this gamble was worth it. That we were worth it.
If we starved the Devil of the nourishment he receives from our sin, his powers would be dissolved. God could destroy the devil right now---but God is leaving the choice open for us: we’re open to choose, so we’re open to love.
As Catholics, our aim is not simply to ‘get to Heaven’ or avoid the punishment of Hell. Our aim is to fulfill our true potential. We love God so much, we don’t want to just ‘get to Heaven,’ but we want to live as close to God as possible, through all the continuum of eternity. We are longing for His presence, we are longing to share in that ultimate communion. We are longing to be as we were created to be: dwellers with God, the sons and daughters of Love.
It is interesting you say, ‘those who do not respect our Faith persist in despising this word---‘Sin.’' Recently, I met a woman from a Greek Orthodox background, who was surprised to find that I was a convert to Roman Catholicism. She asked, ‘don’t you find it too restrictive?’ I was kind of speechless. I was thinking: ‘Oh yes, I would love to be able to divorce my husband, lie, cheat, abort and be promiscuous!’ If our Church is too restrictive, then God is too restrictive!
I think this is the real reason people seem to ‘persist’ in despising the notion of sin—it’s very inconvenient for them! Many people who say ‘I don’t believe in God/the faith have not actually philosophically taken the time to truly come to this conclusion. It is just too inconvenient to believe in God, and too restrictive to follow the precepts of faith. Being a Catholic is just like marriage or being a parent---the most fulfilling thing you can experience, but also very hard work! You have to apply yourself to your faith every day, and many people just want to opt out because this is too daunting.
Also, you have brought up a very important point, what is the real source of sin, and the real meaning of freedom and life? We were studying our catechism last night, point 1458. Saint Augustine said:
‘God made man.
Man made the ‘sinner.’
Destroy what you have made, so that God may save what He has made.’
Basically, when God created us, He Himself had a choice. He could choose to free us totally from sin. But then, could we truly love Him and one another? He really wanted true love from us and for us. This is our share in the Divine Life. And in order to be able to truly love, we have to be free, free to choose Him, or free to reject Him. God knew this. He knew He Himself might have to pay the price for giving us the freedom of choice. BUT, He Who is Love, could only create us with the capacity for true love, whatever the consequences to Himself.
Many Christians, often those from fundamentalist Evangelical or Baptist backgrounds, treat human beings like puppets. God and the Devil are fighting over our puppet strings. If we do something wrong, it is because the Devil has gotten the strings. And when we are good, we know the strings are in the right hands again.
No, this is not the life God intends for us. He loves us so dearly, that like any good parent, He wants the very best for us---for us to fulfill our true potential. The Christian view of life is actually a positive one. When Saint Augustine talked about the freedom to be ourselves, what he really meant, is that God wants us to be free to fulfill our true potential. Our true potential lies in our natural capacity to share in the Divine nature by choosing love over sin, and God over ourselves.
So, did God create the Devil?
Yes, in a sense, he did. The Devil is a spiritual being, and all spiritual and material creation is the work of God. But the Devil is a spiritual being who actually stood in the Presence of God and rejected Him. Can you imagine doing that? Can you imagine standing in that omnipotent Presence, the loving eyes of Jesus upon you, the sheltering wings of the Holy Spirit enfolding you, and saying to all of this: 'I reject You, I don’t want You?'
The Devil said to God: I want MY way over Yours. The way of sin over the way of Love.
And this is how he became the Devil.
But if the Devil began as part of God’s creation, does that mean God created Evil?
No. The Devil didn’t create evil, either. We did. Evil is the product of our ability to choose: we can consent to love, or consent to sin. We can participate in God’s life, or we can be a partner with the devil. Either way, it is ultimately our choice. We so often say the word ‘sin,’ that we forget that in itself, sin is not an objective reality. What we really mean by 'sin,' is an act that separates us from God. Just like Hell is more a ‘state of being’ than a finite ‘place’-- meaning, of course, that hell constitutes our ultimate and everlasting separation from God-- sin is really a choice of ourselves over God.
I think God knew when He created us, that He was taking a gamble.
But He must have believed that this gamble was worth it. That we were worth it.
If we starved the Devil of the nourishment he receives from our sin, his powers would be dissolved. God could destroy the devil right now---but God is leaving the choice open for us: we’re open to choose, so we’re open to love.
As Catholics, our aim is not simply to ‘get to Heaven’ or avoid the punishment of Hell. Our aim is to fulfill our true potential. We love God so much, we don’t want to just ‘get to Heaven,’ but we want to live as close to God as possible, through all the continuum of eternity. We are longing for His presence, we are longing to share in that ultimate communion. We are longing to be as we were created to be: dwellers with God, the sons and daughters of Love.
Thanks friend, for the inspiration you have given me, with the help of the Holy Spirit in your heart!
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