This was
the fullness of time, when Christ Jesus did come, that the Messiah should come. It was so to the Jews, and it was so to the Gentiles too… Christ hath excommunicated no nation, no shire, no house, no man; He gives none of His ministers leave to say to any man, thou art not redeemed; He gives no wounded or afflicted conscience leave to say to itself, I am not redeemed. -
John Donne (Nothing can separate us from the love of God poured out in Jesus Christ.) _____ 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.
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1 Jn 1:5—2:2; Ps 124:2-3, 4-5, 7cd-8 Mt 2:13-18 When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him."
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son. When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi,
he became furious.
He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity
two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more.
Reflection on the Scriptures
There is a certain paradox for those blessed by the Lord. Mary was given the blessedness of being the mother of the Son of God. That blessedness also would become a sword
which pierced her heart as her Son died upon the cross. She received both a crown of joy and a cross of sorrow. But her joy was not diminished by her sorrow because it was fueled by her faith, hope, and trust in God and his promises. Jesus promised his disciples that "no one will take your joy from you" (John 16:22). The Lord gives each of us a supernatural joy which enables us to bear any sorrow or pain and which neither life nor death can take way. Do you know the joy of a life fully given over to God with faith and trust? Lord Jesus, you gave your life for my sake, to redeem me from slavery
to sin and death. Help me to carry my cross with joy that I may willingly do your will and not shrink back out of fear or cowardice when trouble besets me.
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 4. Inner Growth Books, 1986.
Mysticism in the Time of St. John
Soon after a strong current of interest in things mystical appeared in Spain at the beginning of the 16th century and found certain affinities with the humanism of Erasmus and the
reform of Luther, it came to the attention of the Spanish Inquisition. This mystical current made up of many parts both sober and fantastic, orthodox and dubious, was counter-balanced by a growing thoroughness of the inquisitorial process. Along with a genuine awakening and development of the contemplative spirit there existed a whole spectrum of exaggeration and parody. Wandering holy women abounded with trances and swoons, and miraculous happenings were discerned in the most trivial events. It
was a time of excess and credulity. One strand of this complex tapestry was given the label Illuminism. In theory, the Illuminists believed in the primacy of interior prayer carried to the extreme of the suppression of mental acts and the fulfillment of all obligations by this prayer to the detriment of vocal prayer and other external acts of worship. They are said to have believed in personal inspiration which freed the inspired from outward observances and led to a belief in impeccability and
consequent immoral behavior. In practice it is difficult to tell who the Illuminists actually were and what they held. The inquisitorial practices of unnamed accusers and confessions produced by torture make the evidence and the convictions based upon it suspect. With the revolt of Luther the organized church of
Spain felt the need to impose its authority and crush any hint that seemed to suggest its external practices were in need of reform. This authoritarian temper distrusted mysticism in general and began to look upon these people as if they were at least potential heretics, if not actual ones. The rigidity of the Inquisition militated against its possession of a sensitivity by which it could distinguish the true from the false mystics. Its brutal methods created an atmosphere of poisonous mistrust
that surrounded the aspirations of those seeking inner experience.
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