Wherever... thou shalt be, pray secretly within thyself. If thou shalt be far from a house of prayer, give not thyself trouble to seek for one, for thou thyself art a sanctuary designed for prayer. If thou shalt be in bed, or in any other place, pray there; thy temple is there.
- Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153) ("Thy temple is . . ." wherever you happen to be, for God is
there.) |
- Ascension of Christ Acts 1:1-11; Ps
47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9; Eph 1:17-23 Mt 28:16-20 The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached
and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Reflection on the Scriptures
This Gospel is brief but packs quite a punch. The preparation for Jesus’ lesson is
short, and the lesson comparatively long. I felt myself longing for a more detailed introduction to the lesson, when the word “doubted” stood out to me. I often find myself wishing a divine instruction sheet would float down from
heaven. Since God knows all, wouldn’t it be so nice if He just told me what to do? Through the prayer and discernment, it still seems so hard to be sure. I find myself doubting my connection to God’s will. Am I interpreting this right? What if I’m wrong? And yet, when I look at this Gospel, it gives me peace. If the disciples, who lived and walked with Jesus had doubts about Him, how could I NOT? The doubt is healthy, and I would even argue it is good. It is right to ask questions and seek the
answers- using our uncertainty to draw closer to God. It is when we allow our doubt to separate us from Him that we have failed. Next time I find myself doubting, I am going to remind myself that it is part of being a disciple of Christ. Aside from doubting, we have other responsibilities as disciples of the Lord. This Gospel focuses on spreading the word of God to all nations. What he doesn’t tell us, is how. That divine instruction sheet is sounding pretty good again… Proselytization is a tricky subject, but it lights a fire in my soul. Few people in this world are going to convert if we hit them over the head with the proverbial hammer of religion. What I wholly believe changes hearts and souls, is
the love of Christ. Being that love and showing it to others. That is how we baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as this passage instructs us to do.
-by Mirielle Mason
Proverbs for Perspective and Spiritual Living by Philip St. Romain, M.S., D. Min. From Pathways to Serenity, 1989, Liguori Publications; reprinted by Contemplative Ministries, Inc., 2013 (Minor editing applied.)
- https://shalomplace.com/view/pathview.html Included in Light for the Christian Journey, 2020: Contemplative Ministries, Inc.
https://shalomplace.com/view/light-journey.html
III. Identity
10. The nature and business of the Christ-self shall always remain hidden from those who still retain a sense of sufficiency and
entitlement.
11. If you strive to live constantly in God’s presence, you will not get lost as you go from one project to the next; for God will be your home and the integrity of your identity.
12. Apart from the life of the body, a toe is only a decaying piece of flesh. Attached to the body, it attains its true toe-ness by doing what a toe is supposed to do.
- So it is with a self open to God; it is what God intends it to be at all
times.
13. You have no authentic self outside of God. The self which you create and nurture apart from God is merely an illusion.
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