" I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now"
Gospel of Matthew
This is a very curious remark that Jesus said to His apostles in the upper room. What does it mean? Could it mean that the apostles have been overloaded with information and they cannot absorb anything else. Could it mean that that if Jesus spoke in greater depth, it would just go over the apostles' heads.
I think the true meaning of what Jesus is saying can be found in the statement that follows: "When the Spirit of truth comes, He will lead you to the complete truth." In other words, before you can completely understand what I am all about, before you can attain that wisdom that comes from God, certain events must take place. And what has to happen is Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension to the Father. It is only after these events that the Holy Spirit will come to open their minds as to the truth of what Jesus is all about. In the meantime, they just have to wait.
What is true for the apostles is also true for us. We must wait on the Spirit. We are at an advantage over the apostles because we live in post resurrection times. We have the knowledge and understanding all these events leading up to the ascension and the formation of the early Christian church, but in many instances, we still have to wait.
I recall a time in my mid twenties after my baptism when I was really struggling with my faith. At that time, I could say that I knew Jesus was a person of history, and I believed He was God's son, yet a personal experience of Jesus in my life was absent. And because Jesus was not a part of my experience, there certainly was an absence of what my faith was all about. It was only after a time of waiting, a time of struggle, that I was able to personally surrender my life to the Lord, It was then that I experienced in a real way this encounter with Christ. And through this encounter, my inner eyes of understanding were opened. I began to experience the fullness of the Gospel. I saw the Holy Spirit as being present and active, not only in my life, but in the world. It was as if the lights came on.
It was this encounter with the living Christ that led to my confirmation and discernment of Diaconate ministry.
This waiting, this struggle with not knowing but wanting to understand, and eventual surrender to God's living presence is what this Gospel is all about. I would suspect that at the time when these words were shared by Jesus, the apostles were saying to themselves; What is He talking about? But at Pentecost, when they received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they would proclaim; "Ah, now I understand. Now I know."
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Experiencing God 211 Fan Into Flame
"Fan into a flame the gift that God has given you when I laid my hands on you"
Timothy
This past weekend many of us attended the Transmission Conference at St. Mary's University. This conference was the Archbishop's response to the further implementation of the New Evangelization process started two years ago. You might say that this conference is a fanning into flame the gifts that God has given us as a result of our Baptism and the commitment we have made to be sharers of the faith.
As with Timothy, we are reminded that God's gift is not a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, love and self-control, and we are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord.
The question that came to my mind during the conference is: What is the church's primary role when it comes to the New Evangelization, and as a result, what is my role in this process? If I am to "fan into flame" God's gift to me, then how am I to respond? I think this is a valid question that each of us can ask ourselves.
One thing became clear to me during this conference as I was listening to the Archbishop. He said that for every weekend church service we attend, we say the creed. The creed is an expression of our faith. We say: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty; I believe in Jesus Christ His only Son; I believe in the Holy Spirit", and so on. This word creed or "believe" in the original Greek text has a much deeper meaning then that used from an English context. Credo or believe in Greek is made up of two words: "to give" and "my heart". So it means "to give my heart". If we apply this to the creed, then we are saying: "I give my heart to God, the Father Almighty; I give my heart to Jesus Christ, His only Son; I give my heart to the Holy Spirit."
The Archbishop continues: "To give our hearts has a much stronger meaning than "I believe". It implies a surrender, a commitment, an intense love requiring a response of reverence and obedience. It is in this "giving of our hearts" that we experience God's Spirit of power in our lives.
Although believing implies that we accept, giving of our hearts implies that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit have become the very substance of our being. If we can make this transition from believing to the giving of our hearts, then this is probably the greatest response we can make to the New Evangelizaiton process. From that will flow a deep heart felt desire to share, in many different ways, the love that we have experienced from giving our hearts to the Lord.
With the giving of our hearts, we have at this moment the promise of salvation from Christ, and union with God for eternity."
This fanning into flame, or giving of our hearts implies that as church, we are to embark on radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk taking service, and extravagant generosity in order to make God visible in our somewhat darkened world. We do this, not in timidity or fear, but by cooperating with God's power and love.
Timothy
This past weekend many of us attended the Transmission Conference at St. Mary's University. This conference was the Archbishop's response to the further implementation of the New Evangelization process started two years ago. You might say that this conference is a fanning into flame the gifts that God has given us as a result of our Baptism and the commitment we have made to be sharers of the faith.
As with Timothy, we are reminded that God's gift is not a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, love and self-control, and we are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord.
The question that came to my mind during the conference is: What is the church's primary role when it comes to the New Evangelization, and as a result, what is my role in this process? If I am to "fan into flame" God's gift to me, then how am I to respond? I think this is a valid question that each of us can ask ourselves.
One thing became clear to me during this conference as I was listening to the Archbishop. He said that for every weekend church service we attend, we say the creed. The creed is an expression of our faith. We say: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty; I believe in Jesus Christ His only Son; I believe in the Holy Spirit", and so on. This word creed or "believe" in the original Greek text has a much deeper meaning then that used from an English context. Credo or believe in Greek is made up of two words: "to give" and "my heart". So it means "to give my heart". If we apply this to the creed, then we are saying: "I give my heart to God, the Father Almighty; I give my heart to Jesus Christ, His only Son; I give my heart to the Holy Spirit."
The Archbishop continues: "To give our hearts has a much stronger meaning than "I believe". It implies a surrender, a commitment, an intense love requiring a response of reverence and obedience. It is in this "giving of our hearts" that we experience God's Spirit of power in our lives.
Although believing implies that we accept, giving of our hearts implies that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit have become the very substance of our being. If we can make this transition from believing to the giving of our hearts, then this is probably the greatest response we can make to the New Evangelizaiton process. From that will flow a deep heart felt desire to share, in many different ways, the love that we have experienced from giving our hearts to the Lord.
With the giving of our hearts, we have at this moment the promise of salvation from Christ, and union with God for eternity."
This fanning into flame, or giving of our hearts implies that as church, we are to embark on radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk taking service, and extravagant generosity in order to make God visible in our somewhat darkened world. We do this, not in timidity or fear, but by cooperating with God's power and love.
Experiencing God 210 A Pure Heart
"Having purified your souls, love one another earnestly from a pure heart since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of the imperishable (through the living and abiding word of God)
First Peter
The above reading from Peter is echoing the words of Jesus when he spoke to Nicodemus in the Gospel of John. "I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born from above. What is born of flesh is flesh. What is born of the Spirit is Spirit." For Peter, this rebirth comes through the living and abiding word of God. And we know from the Gospel account that the living and abiding word is Jesus Himself. "For God so love the world that he gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life."
So our rebirth is a Spiritual reality, springing from an imperishable seed, Christ, who changes us from living only in the flesh to living by the Spirit. But this change must be reflected in our behavior. When we live by the Spirit, we live in unity with one another. We manifest the fruits of the Spirit which represent signs of that unity. When we live by the flesh, then factions and disagreements, bitterness and anger usually follow.
We are all familiar with the Gospel where two brothers James and John step forth with certain ambitions. They want to sit at Jesus' left and right in His new Kingdom. They want certain positions of prestige and importance. And what happens when the other disciples hear about it? They feel indignant, put out, maybe jealous; and divisions begin to arise among them. Is this of the Spirit? Of course not.
Jesus wants to make this quite clear. This interplay of ambition and desires that form part of our day-to-day culture most often gives rise to division and factions This is not how the fruits of the Spirit should be reflected in our behavior. And Jesus is quick to point this our.
"Anyone who wants to become great among you must be servant to all." To be Christian is to be servant. To be Christian is to manifest the fruits of the Spirit. To be Christian is to give one's life as a ransom for many. To be Christian is to love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
As long as we live in community, we are going to experience this tug and pull, this resistance and submission to the Spirit who desires to work among us. As with James and John, community is the place we learn to discern that which flows from the flesh (from ourselves) and that which flows from Spirit which brings patience and forgiveness. When we allow prayer to be the cornerstone of our day, then we create an enviroment where the Spirit is able to speak and we are able to listen.
First Peter
The above reading from Peter is echoing the words of Jesus when he spoke to Nicodemus in the Gospel of John. "I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born from above. What is born of flesh is flesh. What is born of the Spirit is Spirit." For Peter, this rebirth comes through the living and abiding word of God. And we know from the Gospel account that the living and abiding word is Jesus Himself. "For God so love the world that he gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life."
So our rebirth is a Spiritual reality, springing from an imperishable seed, Christ, who changes us from living only in the flesh to living by the Spirit. But this change must be reflected in our behavior. When we live by the Spirit, we live in unity with one another. We manifest the fruits of the Spirit which represent signs of that unity. When we live by the flesh, then factions and disagreements, bitterness and anger usually follow.
We are all familiar with the Gospel where two brothers James and John step forth with certain ambitions. They want to sit at Jesus' left and right in His new Kingdom. They want certain positions of prestige and importance. And what happens when the other disciples hear about it? They feel indignant, put out, maybe jealous; and divisions begin to arise among them. Is this of the Spirit? Of course not.
Jesus wants to make this quite clear. This interplay of ambition and desires that form part of our day-to-day culture most often gives rise to division and factions This is not how the fruits of the Spirit should be reflected in our behavior. And Jesus is quick to point this our.
"Anyone who wants to become great among you must be servant to all." To be Christian is to be servant. To be Christian is to manifest the fruits of the Spirit. To be Christian is to give one's life as a ransom for many. To be Christian is to love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
As long as we live in community, we are going to experience this tug and pull, this resistance and submission to the Spirit who desires to work among us. As with James and John, community is the place we learn to discern that which flows from the flesh (from ourselves) and that which flows from Spirit which brings patience and forgiveness. When we allow prayer to be the cornerstone of our day, then we create an enviroment where the Spirit is able to speak and we are able to listen.
Experiencing God 209 Nearness of God's Kingdom
"Go and proclaim the Good News, the Kingdom of Heaven has come near."
Gospel of Matthew
Do you believe in the life-changing powers of the Gospel and experience its transforming effects in your life?
Throughout the Gospels, in fact, throughout the New Testament, there is this continuous mentioning of two realities: First there is the reality that we identify with our five outward senses, the world as we know it; what we physically see, hear, smell, taste and feel. And then there is the more obscure reality which Jesus calls the Kingdom of Heaven. Since it is somewhat blurred, unclear, less visible, many without faith question whether it really exists.
When Jesus was questioned by Pilate-- Are you the King of the Jews --; Jesus' response was: "My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over." Pilate knew Jesus was no threat and thought He was a dreamer.
Jesus says to Nicodemus: "No one can enter God's Kingdom without being born of water and the Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh. What is born of Spirit is Spirit." Nicodemus is confused by this. "How can anyone be reborn again?"
Jesus begins the beatitudes with: "Blessed are the poor of Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven", and Jesus reminds us continually that this more obscure reality of the Kingdom of Heaven is not based on the ways we express ourselves in the world which seek ambition, power, prestige, ownership, control etc. Jesus tells us that unless we change and become like little children, we will never enter this Kingdom of Heaven.
When describing this Kingdom, Jesus does not do so directly because it is beyond our ordinary vocabulary. He says: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it grows into a large tree where birds find comfort in its branches. It is like a treasure hidden in a field which someone finds, and hides, and then goes off and sells all he has in order to buy the field."
St. Paul approaches this Kingdom a little differently. He says: "Live by the Spirit, for what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit." Then he goes on and identified all the sufferings we inflict on ourselves by living entirely by the worldly reality versus the Spirit. With the Spirit we have love, joy, peace, patience, and so on. With the world we have jealousy, anger, quarrels, factions, envy etc.
If we want to change the world, then we must proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. The power of the Gospel with its supernatural qualities to transform lives can only happen through changed hearts that are open to God's abundant joy. The disciples were commissioned with that task as we are today.
Do you believe in the life-changing power of the Gospel and experience its transforming effects in your life?
Gospel of Matthew
Do you believe in the life-changing powers of the Gospel and experience its transforming effects in your life?
Throughout the Gospels, in fact, throughout the New Testament, there is this continuous mentioning of two realities: First there is the reality that we identify with our five outward senses, the world as we know it; what we physically see, hear, smell, taste and feel. And then there is the more obscure reality which Jesus calls the Kingdom of Heaven. Since it is somewhat blurred, unclear, less visible, many without faith question whether it really exists.
When Jesus was questioned by Pilate-- Are you the King of the Jews --; Jesus' response was: "My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over." Pilate knew Jesus was no threat and thought He was a dreamer.
Jesus says to Nicodemus: "No one can enter God's Kingdom without being born of water and the Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh. What is born of Spirit is Spirit." Nicodemus is confused by this. "How can anyone be reborn again?"
Jesus begins the beatitudes with: "Blessed are the poor of Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven", and Jesus reminds us continually that this more obscure reality of the Kingdom of Heaven is not based on the ways we express ourselves in the world which seek ambition, power, prestige, ownership, control etc. Jesus tells us that unless we change and become like little children, we will never enter this Kingdom of Heaven.
When describing this Kingdom, Jesus does not do so directly because it is beyond our ordinary vocabulary. He says: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it grows into a large tree where birds find comfort in its branches. It is like a treasure hidden in a field which someone finds, and hides, and then goes off and sells all he has in order to buy the field."
St. Paul approaches this Kingdom a little differently. He says: "Live by the Spirit, for what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit." Then he goes on and identified all the sufferings we inflict on ourselves by living entirely by the worldly reality versus the Spirit. With the Spirit we have love, joy, peace, patience, and so on. With the world we have jealousy, anger, quarrels, factions, envy etc.
If we want to change the world, then we must proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. The power of the Gospel with its supernatural qualities to transform lives can only happen through changed hearts that are open to God's abundant joy. The disciples were commissioned with that task as we are today.
Do you believe in the life-changing power of the Gospel and experience its transforming effects in your life?
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