Image this!

Creating man, God has given man a mind, a heart, a soul, a will to seek Him out, thereby knowing and loving Him.   He has granted man an image of himself in Jesus Christ whereby man may learn the way to God, His Father.

Humans, especially men and boys, seem to grasp the concept of image first in tools and their uses.  Their brains see the tool, watch it act and soon they are engrossed in discovering what they would like the tool to do for them.  Going from concrete into the mind, seeing the possibilities, the tool has been transformed into something unique for them.

Reading sacred scripture evokes imaging.  No one who reads “The angel showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming forth from the throne of God… ”(Rev22:1) cannot but see images- river, ever-flowing, always moving forward, life-giving,  clear, so one can see the object is love, mercy, grace, peace,- all supernatural gifts God gives to man.  The longer one images, more thoughts come forth, until prayerful meditation is granted.

There are ways ”imaging”  seem to occur; reading a passage, seeing a picture or photograph, listening to music, touching something with closed eyes, smelling flowers or perfume.  Our senses are attuned to memories, experiences, hopes, desires and are brought forth by imaging. 

Jesus used imaging as he taught; he goes from what is seen and understood into the thoughts of God; he goes from what is known to truth of God.   Faith in Jesus and his word is our basis in reading scripture.  Jesus wants to reach our hearts through his word and spirit.  His power of grace in directing our reading motivates one to dig deeper so that it becomes more than a story, or a history of a person.  Scripture is God’s way of speaking to us- judgement, focus, thoughts, are illuminated by His truth.

Image Jesus and his disciples on a boat with Jesus.  The image may remind a priest of his church with Jesus guiding it; to someone in the depths of suffering, the same image may speak to the peace and calmness Jesus brings in the midst of trials; to a young person wrestling with his vocation, it may bring to mind the adventure a journey with Christ brings.  Each one wants communion with the Trinity, a visualization of otherness, so the projection of an image each holds dear brings joy and hope in God’s eternal love.

The image from scripture I see for myself is “Feed my sheep.”  Each time I go to Mas and hear, ”Do this in remembrance of me”, my image is affirmed.  It is Jesus’ command to me-it speaks to me directly; it is my calling, my consecrated duty, the reason for my creation, the driving force I must follow for eternal salvation.  It is my work on this earth, to follow the work Jesus began, in order for me to become his disciple.  Stirring in my psyche, it has taken many forms, some of which I did not recognize until much later.  The journey has had many winding paths, yet my faith and trust in Jesus’ command to me has been unwavering because of the image, “Feed my sheep” Christ has imprinted on my mind and heart.

                               

Wonder, attentiveness, the Beginning of Contemplation

I am not a learned philosopher or thinker- just an ordinary human being who hopes for union with God.  Like a child I must begin with love and trust and move forward as God permits.  I begin with the things I see, the place where I am rooted, in my desire to please God.  I look around and see the beauty of creation; I see with eyes given by the Creator.  My human intelligence tells me it is good; my will acknowledges creation does not come forth from me, is to be used not for my personal benefit, but for the good of all.  Most days this is as far as I am able to go.

Yet I wonder.  Having a questing spirit, I move from the reality of sight and sound into the recesses of the intellect where I begin to “see” the reality of God and how He perceives people and thoughts.   Wonder explores faith and truth, not losing the reality of earth.  Wonder moves one closer to God and away from earthly places and thoughts.  It is like being in two places at one time- your hands and feet are in one place, your mind and heart in another place.  As the water washes away the thoughts drawn in the sand by a stick, I wonder,  “Is this how God washes away the sins I have committed?”

Simone Weil calls the next step attention-“concentrated attention” that leads one to truth and fulfillment. One has to long for truth and perpetually concentrate all his attention upon its attainment.  It is suspending our thoughts, relaxing our muscles laying all prejudices, distractions aside, “waiting with expectancy.”   That is easier said than done and requires one to focus only on Him, the Christ, the Teacher, the Beloved.  She says this is the heart of prayer.   Is this not what one does during Adoration?  Isn’t this our focus?  Is not adoration placing our entire being with Him and listening to Him with prayerful love?

Practice begins with our “active listening” (my concept) to another.  Really listening is an art that is learned.  It begins with children listening to parents with love and trust.  Only 20 percent of what we hear do we retain and absorb.  At Mills Institute in the 60’s experiments tried to see how this number could be increased.  Retention through listening alone is highest immediately after listening to instruction.  Children listen to instruction by a parent and immediately comply; yet soon forget. Instruction must be given again and yet again for full compliance.  As adults we listen to homilies by a priest whom we know is believable. Soon we forget and truths must be told again and yet again.  Only by practicing truths can our cognition be improved and retained.

Another technique is touch-like writing on sand which has texture, especially against sensitive areas of fingertips.  Pencil on paper does not have the same effect. When we touch, meditate on rosary beads in a quiet setting, we find we understand the mysteries of the rosary.

Active listening applies to our relationship with others.  Simone Weil expands; she says one must give full attention to each one’s unique personality.  By spending time understanding where the other person is coming from, one is able to fully and truly hear the other.  It is speaking to someone without “ourself” being seen.  Most talk to each other as if there is a mirror between them, reflecting back my thoughts, my prejudices.   Truly listening to another-this is true charity, truly a miracle, as it is seldom done.

Contemplation is the fulfillment of all the prep work which has gone on in one’s life; it is a glimpse of something ethereal; it lasts only momentarily, though one wishes it would last longer. It cannot be recaptured by my will; it is a gift.  It is a journey with a happy ending.

Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed d Trinity

Holy Spirit, the Anointer of Jesus Christ, the Advocate of man to ask; the Revealer of Wisdom, Truth to all, the Consoler, the Finger of God, the Breath of Heaven, the Fire of God’s love. 

 So many titles, yet sometimes called the forgotten person of the Trinity.

Teens receive a year of study before being confirmed; congregations wear red along with the presider on Pentecost; bonfires are lit to announce His coming; readings are read in different languages, yet most Catholics seldom pray to Him. 

To the disciples, Jesus tells them, ”I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” (Jn 16:12) What before was incomprehensible, now the Spirit gives understanding- understanding of Jesus and the Father’s truth- the truth that Jesus is the Son of God and the Spirit reveals only the truth which he receives from the Father.  Love makes one reveal his secrets of invisible things. ( Aquinas)

Fear, visible within the minds and hearts of the disciples is changed into joy, hope, unity with all who believe in Jesus.  Indeed fire has burned away all former prejudices, misunderstandings, mistrust, division, hatred and a river of living water from the Spirit consecrate the disciples with grace to begin anew the work of Christ through the Church,  forgiving sins, distributing sacraments to the one Body of Christ, spreading His message of love. It is a gift of new life, new hope, new promise, even a new language of love.

All men today are also anointed, consecrated, given a role to continue the kingdom of God.   Is man unwilling to participate with the graces given in Confirmation?  This is the love and glory we give back to God as we grow in wisdom and grace- God the creator of man and of the seas and earth.  Man makes himself the prime recipient of Jesus’ sacrifice of love though we pray, ”Renew the face of the earth.”   Is the earth man’s private bounty- reaping the goods of the earth for his own personal profit?  Is not the earth part of God’s created plan?  Does not the earth have intended ways of action that man is to foster?

Jesus says, ”Rise, let us be on our way.”(Mark14:42)  Man, on his way to carry out the intended work for which he was created, must pray to the Holy Spirit to strengthen man’s resolve to follow where He leads, to love what He loves, to become true children of God.

The Sin-Eater

Along the banks of the Great Lakes are historical sites attesting to immigrants who settled here. Immigrants brought from their homeland customs, culture, and religious practices.  Scandinavians, Germans, French, English, Czechs believed they were entering their own Promised Land.  Isolated by long cold winters and back breaking labor to grow crops for survival, religious practices from long ago came about as many had no ministers or priests for liturgy.

One custom from Scotland and Wales caught my attention.  It was the sin-eater, one chosen by lots to be set aside to receive the transgressions of the dead.  He was called by bell ringing to come back into the community and led to the dead body where food and drink were laid on the chest of the departed.  The sin-eater was obligated to eat the food and drink thereby ingesting the sins of the person who died.  The burial could go forward and the loved one was able to come before the judge of heaven with an unblemished spirit.   Someone had to be the living sacrifice; it was important work ensuring safety for one to welcome the family of mourners at their appointed time of judgement.  Grief and sorrow could be washed away like a river flowing over rocks in a creek bed.  Joy and hope came forth into the community.

Missionaries arrived explaining Jesus Christ himself could be the only one to wash away the sins of man by his death on the cross.   Only Christ was without sin; only he was the unblemished lamb.  Only Christ could carry man’s transgressions on his merciful shoulders.  Christ was not forced to carry man’s sins as was the sin-eater; he chose to do it.  The burden of sin could be carried by love- the love of Christ for man and through him alone could man be saved.  A relief, a joy, a hope resounded throughout the community as they listened and responded to the word of life and love.

We too need someone from above to watch over us; someone who pours out refreshing water of living life; someone who recognizes our sinfulness, yet  still loves us and will welcome us into eternal life.  That someone is Jesus Christ who raises us up into his arms of forgiving, merciful love so we may enter  ”into the praise of his glory.” (Ep1:14) We too breathe a sigh of relief, joy, and hope as we drink the streams of living water springing from his eternal love.

Loving the Person of Jesus Christ

Shuffling along the Green  Cabrini Projects of Chicago travels one of  the unseen, the one avoided, the one unclean, the one unloved.

He/she, glimpsed from the train window, is passed by every day by you and me on our way to self-important work.

  He/she reads the streets for pennies, drugs, leftovers from the night before.

We continue to peruse our Tribune, perhaps even a Magnificat meditation.

And we have passed Him by.

A miracle, we fantasize, would strengthen our faith.

Yet the wonder our hands, our hearts could render lies just outside.

Separated from each other by a solid pane of glass we have constructed for protection against “such people”.

We have missed the person of Jesus Christ,

The miracle of His precious body has called us

And we have not answered His call.

                                                                                                Mary Rivers

                                                                INTEGRITY

Seeing the wholeness of God’s words of truth

The summation of the fruits of the Holy Spirit implanted within us at Confirmation

The fullness of the relationship between God and man

Expressive action of man’s gifts for which he was to live, for which he was created

Ultimate example of oneness with God

Visible sign of unity of man and God’s words of truth and life

Integrity is like mercy, requiring a process of prayer, meditation, dialogue, reading God’s words in order to incorporate integrity into one’s life.  Some call the process intuition, a process of seeking not through reason, but acquiring a sense of what God intended man to become after Christ’s Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  Some call it becoming fully human and some call it following the will of God for man.

I first encountered integrity from a CFO of a multi-conglomerate food processing company. Integrity was what he was called at his retirement party; he had the ability to lead many different divisions because he could see the intent of the whole entire company- to feed the world with healthy, nutritious, sustainable food. 

I first knew this man as a man of prayer; he would ask me for what could he pray for me that day or he would ask me to pray for him on a decision he had to make for the company.  At 6:30 am on a snowy Mn winter-asking for prayer- that stayed in my mind and heart.

Years later I hear integrity spoken in regard to the late Cardinal George, “ a man with authority to speak for the church and get his fellow bishops to bracket their differences and act as one for the good of the church.  He could do it because of who he is; his character and insight made him the reference point when things were very serious.”  (George Weigel)

One who follows God’s plan for his life in humble, thoughtful ways; one who knows the truth which is Christ; one who seeks oneness in all to become whole, complete with God; this is one whom man can say, “he has integrity.”

“I am the gate; I am the Good Shepherd. I am the way, the truth, the life” (Jn6:9, 10, Jn14:6)

Before Jesus, the Son of God, entered the world as man who was also God, the world, its inhabitants, its resources, its very life was dead in sin. Sin brought about by man thinking he was God, brought by the false reasoning of Adam, committed man to a life of darkness and error.

Jesus Christ came, putting man back into right relationship with God by His loving forgiveness. Mankind through Christ's message, actions, grace, was now able to become fully human as God had intended.

Before Jesus, man put up barriers (fences) designed by reason and self-seeking interests to keep the sheep (man) aloof from other men-men who were not like the other sheep (men). The hired man and the wolf cared not for all the sheep; therefore they disrupted the sheep (man) from their intended purpose, which God had intended. Man was prevented from truly understanding God and the purpose for which man had been created. God's plan for man, His intended purpose for man was unable to unfold. Jesus is the gate; He is the Good Shepherd which opens the gate for man to return (repent) and follow the Father's intended purpose for man. Old prejudices, old ways of thought, old barriers to an open heart to hear the Good Shepherd with His message from God His Father must die, be forgotten, to attain for man new life, new hearts full of God's love and His words of attaining eternal life.

Christ says turn away from your past misconceptions; listen carefully to my words and see my acts of love for you. If you love and believe in me, you know I want you to follow my Father's will on this earth- I want you to begin here on this earth to eternalize life, to begin to have eternal life here on earth and join me and the Father in eternal life. If you love me your life will be open to receiving my love and you will open your hearts to loving one another in all your actions. Your love for me will then be extended to all you meet and by this love all will come together in loving and eternal life. You will understand your role in my plan and by your love surrender animosity, hatred, anger, malice. (Ep4:31-32) Our lives replace darkness with compassion, forgiveness, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. (Col3:12) There will be no rest because when one does all things in love, ”He rests in me and I in Him.”

”The Good Shepherd recognizes us by name as individuals; He gives everything one needs to fulfill the work He has given ;He gives us grace and sacraments; He gives one peace and strength to continue Christ’s mission on earth- so that all men may know the Lord and His will and be one flock in mind and heart.