Jesus
reveals to us the human face of God, a God who, in the foolishness of life, 'empties himself' so that I may accept in him all freedom and that I may find room for my freedom in him.
- Olivier Clement, The Roots of Christian Mysticism - (How are you being called to "empty yourself" in love these days?) _____ Christianity and Spirituality monthly forum
January 4, 2023 is still on: 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. CST Open Forum: books that have made a difference in your life. Free sign up for Zoom link
|
Is
41:13-20; Ps 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab Mt 11:11-15 Jesus said to the crowds:
"Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force.
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of
John.
And if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear."
Reflection on the Scriptures
I was raised in one of the Protestant traditions that did not focus on Advent much. Sunday services in December often included many of the Old Testament readings, and the birth of Christ was certainly recognized as a
fulfillment of promises and prophecies. Many of the themes of Advent were present in worship. However, there was no Advent wreath with candles representing Hope, Peace, Joy and Love, nor was there a distinction between the season of preparation and the season of celebration. In short, my awareness and appreciation of the Advent season did not come until I married someone with an Advent tradition. I enjoy, intellectually and especially spiritually, using this time to
prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ.
The recurring question, often voiced in homilies, sermons, Bible studies and so on, is: How do we make ready our hearts in a world filled with violence and chaos? How can we fix the many problems screaming for solutions? It can be easy to feel
overwhelmed and depressed by the world around us, even more so when many of us are suffering personal stress, pain and grief. Our first reading, from Isaiah, offers some words of consolation. Written to God’s people at a time of desolation, God promises restoration. “I will help you, says the Lord; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.” “I, the God of Israel, will not forsake” the afflicted and the needy; and in meeting their needs, will do miraculous
things. That centuries-old message resonates today. God is still merciful, good, mighty and miraculous. God still cares for you, individually, and for the world He made. As we make ready our hearts, I offer a prayer that draws from today’s Alleluia verse and from my favorite Christmas
song.* Lord, let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior. Bring your peace into our violence, bid our hungry souls be filled. Wrap our injured flesh around You. Heal us and save us. Amen. -by David Crawford
St. John of the Cross and the Beginning of Contemplation
by James Arraj From St. John of the Cross and Dr. C. J. Jung, Part II, Chapter 3. Inner Growth Books, 1986.
From Meditation to Contemplation
In order to perceive this new reality, the soul must abandon all its discursive activity and become like that which it is to receive. "Since God, then, as the giver communes with him through a simple, loving knowledge, the individual also, as the receiver, communes with God, through a simple and loving knowledge or attention, so that knowledge is thus joined with knowledge and love with love. The receiver should act according to the mode of what is received, and not otherwise, in order to receive and keep it in the way it is
given."(18) The beginner must overcome his feelings of anxiety he is doing nothing because he is not working with the natural faculties. His work, rather, is receiving. "They
must be content simply with a loving and peaceful attentiveness to God, and live without the concern, without the effort, and without the desire to taste or feet Him. All these desires disquiet the soul and distract it from the peaceful quiet and sweet idleness of the contemplation which is being communicated to it."(19) St. John's teaching can be summarized as follows: the beginner experiences a growing difficulty in meditation through no conscious neglect or unknown illness. This decrease in the ability to meditate goes hand-in-hand with a desire to remain still and at peace, resting in a new contemplative knowledge of God that is being given to it. Though this knowledge is very faint and sometimes imperceptible at the beginning, it soon grows more and more conscious when the person
learns what attitude to take up in regard to it; he then recognizes the presence of God within. The dark night of sense, instead of being an abandonment by God, is in reality the beginning of a deeper communion with Him. The darkness is not the result of privation but unaccustomed brightness, and if the soul
submits to it and takes up the proper attitude, it will soon perceive that this is so.
|
|
