Continuing where I left off in my little book, The Spirituality of Saint Faustina: The Road to Union with God, we have part of the answer to a question with these words, "In her life Sister Faustina came to know the mystery of Divine Mercy in the work of creation, redemption, and glory by very simple means, such as spiritual reading, daily meditation, listening to conferences, reflecting on the mysteries of the rosary and the stations of the way of the cross, participating in retreats, profoundly experiencing the holy sacraments, the solemnities of the Church throughout the liturgical year, as well as pondering and perceiving all the good that God had placed in the world and in her personal life" (p. 24-25).
The question is, "How do I draw close to God? You say that we are all called to be married to God, but how does one do that?" I will attempt to answer this question more and more as the days go by. I have been mostly concerned trying to show that we are called to such a state. I have put precious little time learning and trying to explain how one does it. The how has been much better answered by others, so I will do what I can to explain what these others have said.
My little book continues saying that Saint Faustina knew that she needed to "constantly work on herself, develop the attitude of continuous conversion, and strive for Christian perfection. Such a disposition of soul leads to the state of contemplation of God" (27). That is easy to say and demanding to put into practice. It can be simply put: it is a state where one continuously seeks to turn fully to Christ, imitating Him in all possible ways.
So do I need to enter a monastery or a convent to reach the state of the mystical marriage? No. That can be a great help, but it is not necessary. "Sister Faustina's life, while running its course behind convent walls, demonstrates that contemplation is possible anywhere, not only in the chapel or during prayer, but also at work and in all the circumstances of daily life. For its essence does not consist in being secluded from the world, but in consciously staying with God" (28, emphasis added).
Shortly after beginning her life as a religious sister, Saint Faustina wanted to leave it to go to a more contemplative order. It was God's will that she stay where she started, and by her staying there it showed "that is is possible to attain even the peaks of contemplative life in every vocation, in every circumstance, in the drab, everyday human life by carrying out the most mundane duties" (29). Of course, she lived a life of prayer and penance, and "She spent all her free time with the Divine Guest within her soul" (33).
This corresponds to what Father Dubay says when he says that union with God "cannot be produced by techniques, because it is above all a love matter before it is anything else--and precisely because interpersonal intimacy is its heart, it is suffocated, even killed, by selfishness in any form" (p. 81 of Fire Within). Also, if one is going to make any real progress in loving God more, it is essential, "as far as his state of life permits, to try to put aside all unnecessary affairs and business. For those who hope to reach the principal Mansion, this is so important that unless they begin in this way I do not believe they will ever be able to get there" (82).
Personally, that is my focus these days. Am I wasting any of my time? Am I keeping the presence of God throughout the day? Do I remember that Jesus lives within me and waits to spend time with me? Am I selflessly giving myself to others, especially my wife and my five children? Do I take pains to help make my home a secure and supportive environment where joy is palpable?
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
3.29.2008
3.23.2008
Universal Call: Mystical Marriage
Blessed Easter!
I picked up a little book a few weeks ago at church when two Divine Mercy sisters came to speak. The book I bought is called The Spirituality of Saint Faustina: The road to union with God. Years ago I bought her diary; that was before she was even beatified. I read some of it at the time; I figure I must have given it away at some point because I don't remember having seen it for years and years. I was going to buy it from the good sisters the other day, but they were sold out of her diary. I started reading my new little book today.
On page twenty-four I found this beautiful quote from her Diary #1523: "I can never help being amazed that the Lord would have such an intimate relationship with His creatures.... Every time I begin this meditation, I never finish it, because my spirit becomes entirely drowned in Him." That corresponds well with what I am trying to say. One of my main points is that we are all called to such an intimate relationship with God.
The Church teaches that all are called to holiness. Holiness comes through a deep prayer life. The well-known and very faithful spiritual guide and author, Father Thomas Dubay, S.M., has an entire chapter on this question in his classic, Fire Within: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel--on prayer. He says there is no true holiness without deep, mystical prayer: "Ss. Teresa of Jesus and John of the Cross are emphatic that without a deep rooting in a serious prayer life no one comes close to living the Gospel ideals with completeness" (199).
Father Dubay poses the question this way: "Is everyone called by God to infused contemplation and to the very fullness of it, the transforming union? Can a person attain to perfect holiness without this kind of prayer? Are there two ways of sanctity, an active, ascetic way and a passive, mystical way? Or is there only one way meant for all, active and ascetic in the beginning, but becoming passive and mystical in full development?" His answer is that in the Scriptures, Saints John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, and the constant teaching of the Church, there is only one way to holiness, and it is the transforming union.
This is what I am trying to say: all are called to mystical marriage with God. I am not saying that many get there; I am only saying that all are called. I am arguing it primarily from the Scriptures with an emphasis on the first few chapters of Genesis. Father Dubay says "...That most people, lay, religious and priestly, assume without study that they are not called to advanced prayer. They take it for granted that the prayer of which Ss. Teresa and John write could not be meant for them. They lose sight of the fact that both of these saints are presented by the Church as universal Doctors precisely because of their teaching about the lofty reaches of the spiritual life. So deeply engrained among us is the minimalistic view that the majority are surprised to hear it said that the heights of prayer are open also to them. Yet people who really want God are, I find, thrilled at the thought that they too can aspire to fullness" (200-201).
I am not a good guide for reaching the heights of prayer; others like Father Dubay are able to do that. My ability is to better enable others to understand the Scriptures; of course, understanding God's Word is helpful in loving Him more and drawing nearer to Him. First and foremost, my goal is to awaken in people the realization that God created us for a marvelous reality. He created us for Himself, to be His spouse. That is why He was willing to become a baby, live an obscure, poor life for thirty years, and die a horrible death as a man nailed naked to a tree. He did all that because He thirsts for you and me.
I'll end with one more quote from the good Father Dubay: "...Once we understand the universal call [to mystical marriage] we are more likely to be willing to pay the price to attain its object. Advancing in prayer is not the result of a mere velleity any more than the selfish loving of another human person issues from wishful thinging. Both demand great detachment from self-centeredness and a strenuous carrying of the cross. If we see that the summit is open to us, we find in the vision a fresh impulse to go sell all that we have and buy the pearl of great price" (201).
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
I picked up a little book a few weeks ago at church when two Divine Mercy sisters came to speak. The book I bought is called The Spirituality of Saint Faustina: The road to union with God. Years ago I bought her diary; that was before she was even beatified. I read some of it at the time; I figure I must have given it away at some point because I don't remember having seen it for years and years. I was going to buy it from the good sisters the other day, but they were sold out of her diary. I started reading my new little book today.
On page twenty-four I found this beautiful quote from her Diary #1523: "I can never help being amazed that the Lord would have such an intimate relationship with His creatures.... Every time I begin this meditation, I never finish it, because my spirit becomes entirely drowned in Him." That corresponds well with what I am trying to say. One of my main points is that we are all called to such an intimate relationship with God.
The Church teaches that all are called to holiness. Holiness comes through a deep prayer life. The well-known and very faithful spiritual guide and author, Father Thomas Dubay, S.M., has an entire chapter on this question in his classic, Fire Within: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel--on prayer. He says there is no true holiness without deep, mystical prayer: "Ss. Teresa of Jesus and John of the Cross are emphatic that without a deep rooting in a serious prayer life no one comes close to living the Gospel ideals with completeness" (199).
Father Dubay poses the question this way: "Is everyone called by God to infused contemplation and to the very fullness of it, the transforming union? Can a person attain to perfect holiness without this kind of prayer? Are there two ways of sanctity, an active, ascetic way and a passive, mystical way? Or is there only one way meant for all, active and ascetic in the beginning, but becoming passive and mystical in full development?" His answer is that in the Scriptures, Saints John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, and the constant teaching of the Church, there is only one way to holiness, and it is the transforming union.
This is what I am trying to say: all are called to mystical marriage with God. I am not saying that many get there; I am only saying that all are called. I am arguing it primarily from the Scriptures with an emphasis on the first few chapters of Genesis. Father Dubay says "...That most people, lay, religious and priestly, assume without study that they are not called to advanced prayer. They take it for granted that the prayer of which Ss. Teresa and John write could not be meant for them. They lose sight of the fact that both of these saints are presented by the Church as universal Doctors precisely because of their teaching about the lofty reaches of the spiritual life. So deeply engrained among us is the minimalistic view that the majority are surprised to hear it said that the heights of prayer are open also to them. Yet people who really want God are, I find, thrilled at the thought that they too can aspire to fullness" (200-201).
I am not a good guide for reaching the heights of prayer; others like Father Dubay are able to do that. My ability is to better enable others to understand the Scriptures; of course, understanding God's Word is helpful in loving Him more and drawing nearer to Him. First and foremost, my goal is to awaken in people the realization that God created us for a marvelous reality. He created us for Himself, to be His spouse. That is why He was willing to become a baby, live an obscure, poor life for thirty years, and die a horrible death as a man nailed naked to a tree. He did all that because He thirsts for you and me.
I'll end with one more quote from the good Father Dubay: "...Once we understand the universal call [to mystical marriage] we are more likely to be willing to pay the price to attain its object. Advancing in prayer is not the result of a mere velleity any more than the selfish loving of another human person issues from wishful thinging. Both demand great detachment from self-centeredness and a strenuous carrying of the cross. If we see that the summit is open to us, we find in the vision a fresh impulse to go sell all that we have and buy the pearl of great price" (201).
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
3.22.2008
Good Friday Office of Readings
From the Catecheses by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop (click on this entry's title to go to the entire office of readings)
The power of Christ's blood
If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. “Sacrifice a lamb without blemish”, commanded Moses, “and sprinkle its blood on your doors”. If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself, but in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord’s blood. In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, the doors of the temple of Christ.
If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood, of the holy eucharist. The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it.
“There flowed from his side water and blood”. Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolised baptism and the holy eucharist. From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, “the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit”, and from the holy eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the Eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim: “Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh!” As God then took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the Church. God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and the water after his own death.
Do you understand, then, how Christ has united his bride to himself and what food he gives us all to eat? By one and the same food we are both brought into being and nourished. As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with his own blood those to whom he himself has given life.
That is the end of this passage from Saint John Chrysostom taken from the Liturgy of the Hours for Good Friday.
Jesus is the Passover Lamb who gives birth to the Church from the blood and water which flowed from His side and Sacred Heart after He died on the cross. The water symbolizes baptism and the blood symbolizes the Holy Eucharist, and these two sacraments give birth to the Catholic Church. Eve, the bride of Adam, was formed from our first father's side as he lay asleep; in like manner, the Catholic Church, the Bride of Christ, was formed from Jesus' side when He was in the sleep of death. As a mother feeds her baby with her own blood before birth and her milk after birth, so Jesus feeds His Church with the shedding of His own blood before her birth and His blood and water at her birth and daily after in Holy Communion. The Church is Christ's child, and it is also His bride; so we are made Children of God in the Church and we are called to complete union with Him in mystical marriage. As a husband provides for his bride and fills her with life so that she gives birth, so Jesus provides for you and me and fills us with His body and blood so that we have life and give birth to faith, hope and love in our hearts and deeds.
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
The power of Christ's blood
If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. “Sacrifice a lamb without blemish”, commanded Moses, “and sprinkle its blood on your doors”. If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself, but in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord’s blood. In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, the doors of the temple of Christ.
If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood, of the holy eucharist. The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it.
“There flowed from his side water and blood”. Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolised baptism and the holy eucharist. From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, “the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit”, and from the holy eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the Eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim: “Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh!” As God then took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the Church. God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and the water after his own death.
Do you understand, then, how Christ has united his bride to himself and what food he gives us all to eat? By one and the same food we are both brought into being and nourished. As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with his own blood those to whom he himself has given life.
That is the end of this passage from Saint John Chrysostom taken from the Liturgy of the Hours for Good Friday.
Jesus is the Passover Lamb who gives birth to the Church from the blood and water which flowed from His side and Sacred Heart after He died on the cross. The water symbolizes baptism and the blood symbolizes the Holy Eucharist, and these two sacraments give birth to the Catholic Church. Eve, the bride of Adam, was formed from our first father's side as he lay asleep; in like manner, the Catholic Church, the Bride of Christ, was formed from Jesus' side when He was in the sleep of death. As a mother feeds her baby with her own blood before birth and her milk after birth, so Jesus feeds His Church with the shedding of His own blood before her birth and His blood and water at her birth and daily after in Holy Communion. The Church is Christ's child, and it is also His bride; so we are made Children of God in the Church and we are called to complete union with Him in mystical marriage. As a husband provides for his bride and fills her with life so that she gives birth, so Jesus provides for you and me and fills us with His body and blood so that we have life and give birth to faith, hope and love in our hearts and deeds.
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
Benedict XVI: Reflections after the Way of the Cross
The full text of the Holy Father's talk is found by clicking on the title of this entry. Below is the section that I want to highlight:
"Jesus Christ died to liberate the humanity of old of their ignorance of God, of the circle of hate and violence, of the slavery to sin. The cross makes us brothers and sisters.
But let us ask ourselves, in this moment, what have we done with this gift, what have we done with the revelation of the face of God in Christ, with the revelation of the love of God that conquers hate. Many, in our age as well, do not know God and cannot encounter him in Christ crucified. Many are in search of a love or a liberty that excludes God. Many believe they have no need of God.
Dear friends: After having lived together the passion of Jesus, let us this night allow his sacrifice on the cross to question us. Let us permit him to challenge our human certainties. Let us open our hearts. Jesus is the truth that makes us free to love. Let us not be afraid: upon dying, the Lord destroyed sin and saved sinners, that is, all of us. The Apostle Peter writes: "He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness" (1 Peter 2:24). This is the truth of Good Friday: On the cross, the Redeemer has made us adoptive sons of God who he created in his image and likeness. Let us remain, then, in adoration before the cross.
Christ, give us the peace we seek, the happiness we desire, the love the fills our heart thirsty for the infinite. This is our prayer for this night, Jesus, Son of God, who died for us on the cross and was resurrected on the third day."
How often we ignore God's love for us. How seldom do we look in the direction of the One who is calling us to friendship and union. How hard it is to truly walk the way of the cross with Him. My wife and I watched "The Passion of the Christ" last night as has become our tradition on Good Friday. We didn't want to watch it. We wanted to go to bed early. But we both knew that we needed to watch it. It never gets old. It is always horrible. Jesus became the Passover Lamb to set me free from the slavery of sin and death. He was slaughtered in a most horrible manner. How could I ever sin again after seeing what it cost Him? What won't I do to draw close to Him after all He did to draw close to me?
God invites us draw near to Him. He invites us to open our hearts to Him. We seek complete and total peace, happiness and love forever, and this is what God alone is able to give us. He died to give us what we desire. What are we doing with this gift? God asks us: Will you marry me? How do we respond to this invitation? It is all a matter of the heart. Do we close our heart and refuse Him? Or worse, do we simply ignore His invitation and greet it with indifference? True life is found only in our opening our heart to the One who loves us and died for us. "Let us remain, then, in adoration before the cross."
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
"Jesus Christ died to liberate the humanity of old of their ignorance of God, of the circle of hate and violence, of the slavery to sin. The cross makes us brothers and sisters.
But let us ask ourselves, in this moment, what have we done with this gift, what have we done with the revelation of the face of God in Christ, with the revelation of the love of God that conquers hate. Many, in our age as well, do not know God and cannot encounter him in Christ crucified. Many are in search of a love or a liberty that excludes God. Many believe they have no need of God.
Dear friends: After having lived together the passion of Jesus, let us this night allow his sacrifice on the cross to question us. Let us permit him to challenge our human certainties. Let us open our hearts. Jesus is the truth that makes us free to love. Let us not be afraid: upon dying, the Lord destroyed sin and saved sinners, that is, all of us. The Apostle Peter writes: "He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness" (1 Peter 2:24). This is the truth of Good Friday: On the cross, the Redeemer has made us adoptive sons of God who he created in his image and likeness. Let us remain, then, in adoration before the cross.
Christ, give us the peace we seek, the happiness we desire, the love the fills our heart thirsty for the infinite. This is our prayer for this night, Jesus, Son of God, who died for us on the cross and was resurrected on the third day."
How often we ignore God's love for us. How seldom do we look in the direction of the One who is calling us to friendship and union. How hard it is to truly walk the way of the cross with Him. My wife and I watched "The Passion of the Christ" last night as has become our tradition on Good Friday. We didn't want to watch it. We wanted to go to bed early. But we both knew that we needed to watch it. It never gets old. It is always horrible. Jesus became the Passover Lamb to set me free from the slavery of sin and death. He was slaughtered in a most horrible manner. How could I ever sin again after seeing what it cost Him? What won't I do to draw close to Him after all He did to draw close to me?
God invites us draw near to Him. He invites us to open our hearts to Him. We seek complete and total peace, happiness and love forever, and this is what God alone is able to give us. He died to give us what we desire. What are we doing with this gift? God asks us: Will you marry me? How do we respond to this invitation? It is all a matter of the heart. Do we close our heart and refuse Him? Or worse, do we simply ignore His invitation and greet it with indifference? True life is found only in our opening our heart to the One who loves us and died for us. "Let us remain, then, in adoration before the cross."
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
3.20.2008
Benedict XVI: Explanation of the Easter Triduum
"Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Easter Triduum, which the Church now prepares to celebrate, invites us to share in the mystery of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. These days are the heart of the liturgical year. On Holy Thursday the Church recalls the Last Supper. At the Chrism Mass, the Bishop and his priests renew their priestly promises and the sacramental oils are blessed. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper commemorates Jesus’ institution of the sacrament of his Body and Blood and his commandment that we should love one another. On Good Friday, we ponder the mystery of sin as we listen to the account of the Lord’s passion and venerate the wood of his Cross. Holy Saturday, a day of silence and prayer, prepares for the joy of the Easter Vigil, when the light of Christ dispels all darkness, and the saving power of his Paschal Mystery is communicated in the sacrament of Baptism. May our sharing in these solemn celebrations deepen our conversion to Christ, particularly through the sacrament of Reconciliation, and our communion, in the hope of the resurrection, with all our suffering brothers and sisters throughout the world."
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
The Easter Triduum, which the Church now prepares to celebrate, invites us to share in the mystery of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. These days are the heart of the liturgical year. On Holy Thursday the Church recalls the Last Supper. At the Chrism Mass, the Bishop and his priests renew their priestly promises and the sacramental oils are blessed. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper commemorates Jesus’ institution of the sacrament of his Body and Blood and his commandment that we should love one another. On Good Friday, we ponder the mystery of sin as we listen to the account of the Lord’s passion and venerate the wood of his Cross. Holy Saturday, a day of silence and prayer, prepares for the joy of the Easter Vigil, when the light of Christ dispels all darkness, and the saving power of his Paschal Mystery is communicated in the sacrament of Baptism. May our sharing in these solemn celebrations deepen our conversion to Christ, particularly through the sacrament of Reconciliation, and our communion, in the hope of the resurrection, with all our suffering brothers and sisters throughout the world."
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
Benedict XVI: "We must see with heart."
Pope Benedict XVI's homily last Sunday for Palm Sunday ended with these words:
" Jesus shows God as the One who loves and his power as the power of love. Thus, he tells us what will always be part of the correct worship of God: healing, serving and the goodness that cures.
And then there are children who pay homage to Jesus as the Son of David and acclaim him the Hosanna. Jesus had said to his disciples that to enter the Kingdom of God it was essential to become once again like children. He himself, who embraces the whole world, made himself little in order to come to our aid, to draw us to God. In order to recognize God, we must give up the pride that dazzles us, that wants to drive us away from God as though God were our rival. To encounter God it is necessary to be able to see with the heart. We must learn to see with a child's heart, with a youthful heart not hampered by prejudices or blinded by interests. Thus, it is in the lowly who have such free and open hearts and recognize Jesus, that the Church sees her own image, the image of believers of all ages.
Dear friends, let us join at this moment the procession of the young people of that time - a procession that winds through the whole of history. Together with young people across the world let us go forth to meet Jesus. Let us allow ourselves to be guided toward God by him, to learn from God himself the right way to be human beings. Let us thank God with him because with Jesus, Son of David, he has given us a space of peace and reconciliation that embraces the world with the Holy Eucharist. Let us pray to him that we too may become, with him and starting from him, messengers of his peace, adorers in spirit and truth, so that his Kingdom may increase in us and around us. Amen."
That was the end of the Holy Father's homily. He said that Jesus shows us the power of love and that to see that power of love that Jesus shows we need to see with our hearts. The children cheered Jesus as He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and the Pope invites us to join them in their jubilation. To join them and to be able to see Jesus, we must become like them; it is not too much for you and me to become like children if God Himself was able to do it in Bethlehem. We must flee from pride and see with a child's heart unencumbered by prejudice or selfish interests; becoming humble and lowly, our hearts will become free and open like a child, and we will be able to recognize Jesus. Jesus, in Himself, gives the world a space for peace and reconciliation, for healing and goodness, for worship and love, and we encounter Jesus as He seeks us out and embraces the world in the Holy Eucharist. It is in our encounter with Christ in the Holy Eucharist that we worship in spirit and truth and that the Kingdom of God increases in us and spills out of us to all those around us.
This Holy Thursday, the commemoration of the Last Supper and the institution of the Holy Eucharist, let us encounter Jesus anew with the eyes of faith, with the heart of a simple, trusting child, and entrust our whole selves to Him as He gives Himself to us. This is why Jesus came and became a man. He wanted to give Himself to us and become one with you and me. He says: "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you." Let's earnestly desire to receive Him in every Holy Communion, and hold Him dearly within our hearts throughout each day.
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
" Jesus shows God as the One who loves and his power as the power of love. Thus, he tells us what will always be part of the correct worship of God: healing, serving and the goodness that cures.
And then there are children who pay homage to Jesus as the Son of David and acclaim him the Hosanna. Jesus had said to his disciples that to enter the Kingdom of God it was essential to become once again like children. He himself, who embraces the whole world, made himself little in order to come to our aid, to draw us to God. In order to recognize God, we must give up the pride that dazzles us, that wants to drive us away from God as though God were our rival. To encounter God it is necessary to be able to see with the heart. We must learn to see with a child's heart, with a youthful heart not hampered by prejudices or blinded by interests. Thus, it is in the lowly who have such free and open hearts and recognize Jesus, that the Church sees her own image, the image of believers of all ages.
Dear friends, let us join at this moment the procession of the young people of that time - a procession that winds through the whole of history. Together with young people across the world let us go forth to meet Jesus. Let us allow ourselves to be guided toward God by him, to learn from God himself the right way to be human beings. Let us thank God with him because with Jesus, Son of David, he has given us a space of peace and reconciliation that embraces the world with the Holy Eucharist. Let us pray to him that we too may become, with him and starting from him, messengers of his peace, adorers in spirit and truth, so that his Kingdom may increase in us and around us. Amen."
That was the end of the Holy Father's homily. He said that Jesus shows us the power of love and that to see that power of love that Jesus shows we need to see with our hearts. The children cheered Jesus as He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and the Pope invites us to join them in their jubilation. To join them and to be able to see Jesus, we must become like them; it is not too much for you and me to become like children if God Himself was able to do it in Bethlehem. We must flee from pride and see with a child's heart unencumbered by prejudice or selfish interests; becoming humble and lowly, our hearts will become free and open like a child, and we will be able to recognize Jesus. Jesus, in Himself, gives the world a space for peace and reconciliation, for healing and goodness, for worship and love, and we encounter Jesus as He seeks us out and embraces the world in the Holy Eucharist. It is in our encounter with Christ in the Holy Eucharist that we worship in spirit and truth and that the Kingdom of God increases in us and spills out of us to all those around us.
This Holy Thursday, the commemoration of the Last Supper and the institution of the Holy Eucharist, let us encounter Jesus anew with the eyes of faith, with the heart of a simple, trusting child, and entrust our whole selves to Him as He gives Himself to us. This is why Jesus came and became a man. He wanted to give Himself to us and become one with you and me. He says: "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you." Let's earnestly desire to receive Him in every Holy Communion, and hold Him dearly within our hearts throughout each day.
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
3.19.2008
The Three Passovers and the Meaning of Life
Tomorrow is Holy Thursday and the celebration of the Lord's Supper when He perfects and completes and fulfills the Passover by Himself becoming the Lamb of God to give us His Flesh and Blood to drink to save us from the angel of death and nourish us with His heavenly food on our journey to the Promised Land, heaven. Almost three months ago I wrote about the Last Supper in two entries. Here is the first one published on December 24, 2007 and entitled "The Three Passovers":
Most everyone is familiar with the Passover which is explained in Exodus 12; it was the last and most powerful plague that was the impetus for the Egyptians freeing their Israelite slaves. The plague attacked all the Egyptian firstborn; for the Israelite firstborn to be passed over, they had to slaughter an unblemished year-old male lamb, put its blood on their doorpost using a hyssop branch, and eat the lamb.
The Last Supper is a re-presentation of the Passover; Jesus is re-making and fulfilling this ancient and liberating sacrifice and meal. A very important difference in the Last Supper is that Jesus did not finish the Passover as usual; there were four cups of wine in the Passover, but Jesus stopped after the third. He finished the Passover as He was crucified on the cross and drank the vinegar (cheap wine) from the sponge on the hyssop branch: “After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the scripture), ‘I thirst.’ A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, ‘It is finished’; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:28-30). What Jesus finished is the re-making of the Passover.
The Last Supper and the Crucifixion are of one piece “For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed” (1Cor.5:7). Jesus takes on the role that the lamb plays in the Passover. He is sacrificed, and we are passed over. As the Israelites had to sprinkle the lamb’s blood on the doorpost and eat the lamb to be passed over, so we need to be baptized and receive Holy Communion. Baptism is the lamb’s blood on the doorpost because the “doorway” into our “house” is our eyes and face; therefore, the doorpost is our forehead. The water of baptism is the blood of Christ since we are baptized into Jesus’ death. Through these two essential sacraments, we are given the grace to be passed over by the angel of death.
The one Passover that is usually forgotten is Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac back in Genesis 22. I talked about this momentous event a few days ago on 12/19/07, and it is this event and the faithfulness of both Abraham and Isaac that brings about God’s saving actions with his ancestors, the Israelites. The foundation for the Passover is Isaac’s self offering for it is the only time God explicitly swears an oath. The Crucifixion is mostly a re-presentation and fulfillment of Isaac’s sacrifice, and the Last Supper is mostly a re-presentation and fulfillment of the Passover. Thus, there is a parallel structure of events that forms one piece, one reality:
A Isaac’s Sacrifice
B Passover
B’ Last Supper
A’ Jesus’ Sacrifice
One of the common themes here in these three Passovers is the first-born son. In the Passover, not only were the first born Egyptians killed and the first-born Israelites passed over, all of Israel was passed over for they are God’s first-born son: “And you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my first-born son, and I say to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve me’; if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your first-born son’” (Exodus 4:22-23).
The other common theme in all of these is the symbolism of baptism and the Eucharist. Even after the Passover, the Israelites had not completed their escape from their enemies. The Egyptians pursued Israel and had them trapped up against the Red Sea with no where to escape. God opened up a way of escape through the water which gave new life to Israel and destroyed their enemies in the process. Once they were out in the wilderness, they grew hungry, and God provided food from heaven. After leaving Egypt, the Israelites again were saved through the water and fed by the heavenly bread. A further structure could look like this:
A Isaac’s Sacrifice
B Passover
C Through the Red Sea (symbolic of Baptism)
C' Manna in the Wilderness (symbolic of the Eucharist)
B’ Last Supper
A’ Jesus’ Sacrifice
One thing we can learn from all this is the immense importance of the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist. If we receive baptism and Holy Communion, we are given the grace to pick up our cross and follow Jesus; we are given the new heart, the new tree of life, so that we can lay down our life in our everyday activity, so that we can be a person for others, so that we can love God with all our heart, mind and soul; we are given the grace to lay down our life for our friends and to be crucified alongside our Savior Jesus.
We, the baptized, are making our journey through the desert of this life on our way to the Promised Land, heaven. To make our way well, we need our daily bread which is daily prayer and Holy Communion. Many of the Israelites who ate the manna died along the way and did not make it to the Promised Land because of their faithless hearts. Likewise, just receiving the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist does not guarantee anything. We still have to step out in faith and follow our Lord wherever He leads and do whatever He asks. We still need to give ourselves entirely to Him. Thankfully, He provides even the grace to do that.
What I would like to examine next is the significance of the first-born in these key events and how it might possibly relate to the Fall of Adam and Eve.
This is where the first post ends.
The second post on the Passovers was published in the early morning of Christmas Eve, 2007, and it is entitled, "The Meaning of Life." Here it is:
I left off on Tuesday in my post on The Three Passovers introducing the idea of the importance of the first-born. The three Passovers, Isaac’s sacrifice, the Passover, and Jesus’ sacrifice all deal with the first-born. Isaac is the first-born, and he offers himself up as a sacrifice; he was passed over with a ram taking his place. Israel is God’s first-born, and they were passed over by the blood of the lamb on their doorposts and by eating the lamb. Jesus is the Father’s only-begotten Son: “He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation” (Colossians 1:15). Jesus, as pre-eminent first-born, sacrifices Himself in order for you and me to be passed over. We are united to Him in baptism and Holy Communion wherein we put His blood on our doorpost and eat the Lamb, respectively.
In the first two Passovers, the first-born was passed over; in the final one, the first-born is the sacrifice. Is there another first-born that was passed over in Jesus’ saving actions? -Perhaps it is you and me: “But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:14-16). Paul speaks of the Church as the Israel of God; therefore, since Israel is God’s first-born, and we are now the New Israel, we and all members of the Church are God’s first-born. So we are first-born who are passed over by the angel of death, and our Passover Lamb is Jesus at the Last Supper and on the Cross.
The question that arises in my mind is why is the first-born so important, and why does it hold such a pivotal place in these highly important events in Salvation History? As usual, I think the answer lies in the events at the beginning. The course the man and the woman set the human race upon is the answer to much of human history and to the questions we have today. According to my theory, the direct result of the Fall was the conception of Cain. They wanted him and were trying to get him; hence, his name means gotten. He was the first-born of the human race. He was a murderer and a son of the evil one. The first-born son of man belonged, in a certain respect, to satan, and Cain gave himself over to his ways and so slaughtered his righteous brother.
Cain imitated his fathers in killing his brother: humanity is like a brother to the angels, and satan wants to destroy us and has destroyed many of us; Adam’s fall resulted in the spiritual death of the human race. Both satan and Adam murdered their brothers so to speak, and Cain only imitated what they did. In one sense it is amazing just how bad the very first person born of man was, yet in another sense, Cain was merely a chip off the old block. Either way you look at it, humanity’s fruitfulness started off with a horrible beginning. And his name was Cain for he was gotten. He was gotten.
So why did the first-born need to be sacrificed or passed over? A clue resides in the three main sacrifices of the Old Testament: bulls, sheep and goats. Bulls needed to be sacrificed because people were worshipping bulls and the bull-god, Apis. The Golden Calf was part of this worship where people were seeking fertility and prosperity and so the men and women would imitate what bulls would do to female cattle. Seeking life, they had an orgy. The result, they hoped, would be a conception: thus, the golden calf. Here, too, they were seeking a child, and they sought this child in a way contrary to their dignity, to God’s plan, and to trusting in God. After the golden calf, bulls needed to be sacrificed as a financial penance and so that the people would no longer worship them.
After the Golden Calf, the people went after another false god symbolized by goats. It was another fertility cult, and the people were again seeking life and a child in their own way and by their own terms. “So they shall no more slay their sacrifices for satyrs, after whom they play the harlot” (Leviticus 17:7). The satyrs are the goat gods who are obsessed with continually having sex, and those who worship these false gods would imitate them. Since the people were involved with this evil practice, God had them sacrifice goats. Again, it was a financial difficulty to sacrifice one’s livestock, and one’s gods did not look kindly on being killed. It was a God-given help to avoid this near occasion of sin.
Sacrificing bulls and goats was mandated because they were worshipped. Sheep were never worshipped, so why would God have us sacrifice them? A sheep is the sacrifice of the Passover, and Jesus is the Lamb of God. They are the most important animal sacrifice, but why does God mandate this sacrifice? Was their any sin associated with sheep or lambs? I think there was. Sheep symbolize humanity. We are like sheep; we are incredibly stupid. So sheep need to be sacrificed because they symbolize us; we worshipped ourselves. When did we do this? We do it every time we sin, but we do it especially when we seek humans over God.
The man and the woman sought a child over and against God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God wanted them to have a child, but He wanted to give it to them virginally as He did with Mary. They sought a child, and they got him, and they named him gotten (Cain). So here the theme of the first-born and sheep come together. The Passovers all have to do with sheep and with first-borns because our first parents worshiped, as it were, their first-born son and even disobeyed God to get him. Their souls were sold to satan in order to get Gotten; that is why he and all of the human family needs to be bought back or redeemed from the prince of this world.
We all deserve death and are in bondage to sin and satan, and we are like lambs, so the solution is for a lamb to take our place that we may be passed over and live. That is why sheep were sacrificed in the Old Testament, but those “sacrifices are offered which cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper” (Hebrews 9:9). These Old Testament laws were good, but they were the symbol, not the reality. “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near” (Hebrews 10:1). Those sacrifices do not make perfect; however, Jesus’ sacrifice is capable of such a feat.
“For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God,’’ as it is written of me in the roll of the book” (Hebrews 10:4-7). We are given a body in order to have something to sacrifice, and with our bodily sacrifices we are praying with the body. We are given a will in order that we can sacrifice that, too, and by saying “Thy will be done,” we are praying the most important prayer. Prayer and sacrifice, the prayer of the heart and of prayer of the body, when they are combined are the most powerful. When we completely trust God and seek to do whatever He asks of us, especially what He asks us to do with our bodies, then we are far along the path to unity with Him. It is in this full faithfulness that we have abundant life and belong to Him, and that is the meaning of life.
That is the end of the second entry.
May you and yours be fully blessed by your losing yourself in the celebration of this most Holy Triduum of our Dear Savior's awesome saving deeds. Remember His words: "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you" and ask Him that you, too, may earnestly desire to eat this Passover which is Him.
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
Most everyone is familiar with the Passover which is explained in Exodus 12; it was the last and most powerful plague that was the impetus for the Egyptians freeing their Israelite slaves. The plague attacked all the Egyptian firstborn; for the Israelite firstborn to be passed over, they had to slaughter an unblemished year-old male lamb, put its blood on their doorpost using a hyssop branch, and eat the lamb.
The Last Supper is a re-presentation of the Passover; Jesus is re-making and fulfilling this ancient and liberating sacrifice and meal. A very important difference in the Last Supper is that Jesus did not finish the Passover as usual; there were four cups of wine in the Passover, but Jesus stopped after the third. He finished the Passover as He was crucified on the cross and drank the vinegar (cheap wine) from the sponge on the hyssop branch: “After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the scripture), ‘I thirst.’ A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, ‘It is finished’; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:28-30). What Jesus finished is the re-making of the Passover.
The Last Supper and the Crucifixion are of one piece “For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed” (1Cor.5:7). Jesus takes on the role that the lamb plays in the Passover. He is sacrificed, and we are passed over. As the Israelites had to sprinkle the lamb’s blood on the doorpost and eat the lamb to be passed over, so we need to be baptized and receive Holy Communion. Baptism is the lamb’s blood on the doorpost because the “doorway” into our “house” is our eyes and face; therefore, the doorpost is our forehead. The water of baptism is the blood of Christ since we are baptized into Jesus’ death. Through these two essential sacraments, we are given the grace to be passed over by the angel of death.
The one Passover that is usually forgotten is Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac back in Genesis 22. I talked about this momentous event a few days ago on 12/19/07, and it is this event and the faithfulness of both Abraham and Isaac that brings about God’s saving actions with his ancestors, the Israelites. The foundation for the Passover is Isaac’s self offering for it is the only time God explicitly swears an oath. The Crucifixion is mostly a re-presentation and fulfillment of Isaac’s sacrifice, and the Last Supper is mostly a re-presentation and fulfillment of the Passover. Thus, there is a parallel structure of events that forms one piece, one reality:
A Isaac’s Sacrifice
B Passover
B’ Last Supper
A’ Jesus’ Sacrifice
One of the common themes here in these three Passovers is the first-born son. In the Passover, not only were the first born Egyptians killed and the first-born Israelites passed over, all of Israel was passed over for they are God’s first-born son: “And you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my first-born son, and I say to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve me’; if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your first-born son’” (Exodus 4:22-23).
The other common theme in all of these is the symbolism of baptism and the Eucharist. Even after the Passover, the Israelites had not completed their escape from their enemies. The Egyptians pursued Israel and had them trapped up against the Red Sea with no where to escape. God opened up a way of escape through the water which gave new life to Israel and destroyed their enemies in the process. Once they were out in the wilderness, they grew hungry, and God provided food from heaven. After leaving Egypt, the Israelites again were saved through the water and fed by the heavenly bread. A further structure could look like this:
A Isaac’s Sacrifice
B Passover
C Through the Red Sea (symbolic of Baptism)
C' Manna in the Wilderness (symbolic of the Eucharist)
B’ Last Supper
A’ Jesus’ Sacrifice
One thing we can learn from all this is the immense importance of the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist. If we receive baptism and Holy Communion, we are given the grace to pick up our cross and follow Jesus; we are given the new heart, the new tree of life, so that we can lay down our life in our everyday activity, so that we can be a person for others, so that we can love God with all our heart, mind and soul; we are given the grace to lay down our life for our friends and to be crucified alongside our Savior Jesus.
We, the baptized, are making our journey through the desert of this life on our way to the Promised Land, heaven. To make our way well, we need our daily bread which is daily prayer and Holy Communion. Many of the Israelites who ate the manna died along the way and did not make it to the Promised Land because of their faithless hearts. Likewise, just receiving the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist does not guarantee anything. We still have to step out in faith and follow our Lord wherever He leads and do whatever He asks. We still need to give ourselves entirely to Him. Thankfully, He provides even the grace to do that.
What I would like to examine next is the significance of the first-born in these key events and how it might possibly relate to the Fall of Adam and Eve.
This is where the first post ends.
The second post on the Passovers was published in the early morning of Christmas Eve, 2007, and it is entitled, "The Meaning of Life." Here it is:
I left off on Tuesday in my post on The Three Passovers introducing the idea of the importance of the first-born. The three Passovers, Isaac’s sacrifice, the Passover, and Jesus’ sacrifice all deal with the first-born. Isaac is the first-born, and he offers himself up as a sacrifice; he was passed over with a ram taking his place. Israel is God’s first-born, and they were passed over by the blood of the lamb on their doorposts and by eating the lamb. Jesus is the Father’s only-begotten Son: “He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation” (Colossians 1:15). Jesus, as pre-eminent first-born, sacrifices Himself in order for you and me to be passed over. We are united to Him in baptism and Holy Communion wherein we put His blood on our doorpost and eat the Lamb, respectively.
In the first two Passovers, the first-born was passed over; in the final one, the first-born is the sacrifice. Is there another first-born that was passed over in Jesus’ saving actions? -Perhaps it is you and me: “But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:14-16). Paul speaks of the Church as the Israel of God; therefore, since Israel is God’s first-born, and we are now the New Israel, we and all members of the Church are God’s first-born. So we are first-born who are passed over by the angel of death, and our Passover Lamb is Jesus at the Last Supper and on the Cross.
The question that arises in my mind is why is the first-born so important, and why does it hold such a pivotal place in these highly important events in Salvation History? As usual, I think the answer lies in the events at the beginning. The course the man and the woman set the human race upon is the answer to much of human history and to the questions we have today. According to my theory, the direct result of the Fall was the conception of Cain. They wanted him and were trying to get him; hence, his name means gotten. He was the first-born of the human race. He was a murderer and a son of the evil one. The first-born son of man belonged, in a certain respect, to satan, and Cain gave himself over to his ways and so slaughtered his righteous brother.
Cain imitated his fathers in killing his brother: humanity is like a brother to the angels, and satan wants to destroy us and has destroyed many of us; Adam’s fall resulted in the spiritual death of the human race. Both satan and Adam murdered their brothers so to speak, and Cain only imitated what they did. In one sense it is amazing just how bad the very first person born of man was, yet in another sense, Cain was merely a chip off the old block. Either way you look at it, humanity’s fruitfulness started off with a horrible beginning. And his name was Cain for he was gotten. He was gotten.
So why did the first-born need to be sacrificed or passed over? A clue resides in the three main sacrifices of the Old Testament: bulls, sheep and goats. Bulls needed to be sacrificed because people were worshipping bulls and the bull-god, Apis. The Golden Calf was part of this worship where people were seeking fertility and prosperity and so the men and women would imitate what bulls would do to female cattle. Seeking life, they had an orgy. The result, they hoped, would be a conception: thus, the golden calf. Here, too, they were seeking a child, and they sought this child in a way contrary to their dignity, to God’s plan, and to trusting in God. After the golden calf, bulls needed to be sacrificed as a financial penance and so that the people would no longer worship them.
After the Golden Calf, the people went after another false god symbolized by goats. It was another fertility cult, and the people were again seeking life and a child in their own way and by their own terms. “So they shall no more slay their sacrifices for satyrs, after whom they play the harlot” (Leviticus 17:7). The satyrs are the goat gods who are obsessed with continually having sex, and those who worship these false gods would imitate them. Since the people were involved with this evil practice, God had them sacrifice goats. Again, it was a financial difficulty to sacrifice one’s livestock, and one’s gods did not look kindly on being killed. It was a God-given help to avoid this near occasion of sin.
Sacrificing bulls and goats was mandated because they were worshipped. Sheep were never worshipped, so why would God have us sacrifice them? A sheep is the sacrifice of the Passover, and Jesus is the Lamb of God. They are the most important animal sacrifice, but why does God mandate this sacrifice? Was their any sin associated with sheep or lambs? I think there was. Sheep symbolize humanity. We are like sheep; we are incredibly stupid. So sheep need to be sacrificed because they symbolize us; we worshipped ourselves. When did we do this? We do it every time we sin, but we do it especially when we seek humans over God.
The man and the woman sought a child over and against God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God wanted them to have a child, but He wanted to give it to them virginally as He did with Mary. They sought a child, and they got him, and they named him gotten (Cain). So here the theme of the first-born and sheep come together. The Passovers all have to do with sheep and with first-borns because our first parents worshiped, as it were, their first-born son and even disobeyed God to get him. Their souls were sold to satan in order to get Gotten; that is why he and all of the human family needs to be bought back or redeemed from the prince of this world.
We all deserve death and are in bondage to sin and satan, and we are like lambs, so the solution is for a lamb to take our place that we may be passed over and live. That is why sheep were sacrificed in the Old Testament, but those “sacrifices are offered which cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper” (Hebrews 9:9). These Old Testament laws were good, but they were the symbol, not the reality. “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near” (Hebrews 10:1). Those sacrifices do not make perfect; however, Jesus’ sacrifice is capable of such a feat.
“For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God,’’ as it is written of me in the roll of the book” (Hebrews 10:4-7). We are given a body in order to have something to sacrifice, and with our bodily sacrifices we are praying with the body. We are given a will in order that we can sacrifice that, too, and by saying “Thy will be done,” we are praying the most important prayer. Prayer and sacrifice, the prayer of the heart and of prayer of the body, when they are combined are the most powerful. When we completely trust God and seek to do whatever He asks of us, especially what He asks us to do with our bodies, then we are far along the path to unity with Him. It is in this full faithfulness that we have abundant life and belong to Him, and that is the meaning of life.
That is the end of the second entry.
May you and yours be fully blessed by your losing yourself in the celebration of this most Holy Triduum of our Dear Savior's awesome saving deeds. Remember His words: "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you" and ask Him that you, too, may earnestly desire to eat this Passover which is Him.
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
3.15.2008
Blessed Solemnity of Saint Joseph
In honor of the great Saint Joseph, I want to direct you to the posts wherein I talk about him. The articles may be found here, here, here, here and here and indirectly here.
Most of us do not realize the grandeur of Saint Joseph and the intensity of his faith and trust in God. If my theory is correct and God originally planned that we conceived children virginally as Mary and Joseph did, and if the test of virginity was the test of our first parents, then Joseph is more than the foster father of Jesus. If God had originally planned that parenthood was to be obtained via a deep union with Him and a profound trust in His provision, then Joseph would be a true father of Jesus. We usually don't say Joseph was the true father of Jesus because that implies, in the common way we use that word 'true,' that Jesus was conceived in the normal manner. Mary conceived from the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowing her, not from the generative powers of Joseph.
Fatherhood is more than physical generation. There are plenty of men walking around today that have physically generated children who have little or no resemblance to being a father. And on the other side of that reality, there are a great number of wonderful men and women who could not have children, and yet they sacrificed and brought children into their life through adoption; they are mothers and fathers in the full sense of the word. Parenthood has more to do with the care of children than with their generation.
In their trial of faith, Mary and Joseph trusted in God immensely; they desired children more than anyone has, and yet God asked them to remain virgins forever. That doesn't make sense, and yet they trusted in God's unintelligible request. The reward for crucifying their greatest earthly desire? They are entrusted with the Son of God as their very own child. In addition to that unimaginable gift, Mary is the mother of us all, and Joseph as the patron of the universal Church is the father of all. Trusting in God, they let the seed of children fall into the ground to die, and it has become the greatest of all plants bearing overabundant fruit. Their sacrifice has become their reward.
With all that being said, I think it can be said that in the true and full sense of fatherhood, Joseph is the human father of Jesus. Since Jesus was conceived through Mary and Joseph's unity as spouses and their unity to God in their trust of Him, they passed the original test of our first parents. They did what Adam and Eve did not, and as such, they did what God had originally intended man to do to become a parent. Fatherhood has to do with caring for children in that unique fatherly way together with union with God, and in that regard, no one has been more a father than Joseph was to Jesus.
On a side note, this is partly why priests are called father. They are united to God and have passed the test of virginity as Joseph did, and they care for God's flock, the children of God. Priests truly are fathers who daily lay down their life for the protection and care of their children. Priests also participate in the spiritual birth to the children of God when they baptize, and they cooperate in bringing the dead children back to life through the sacrament of Confession. It is commonly said that priests take the Church as their spouse, and some saints have said that they take Mary as their spouse. I think that is true. To priests: take Mary as your spouse and give your whole self to her as Saint Joseph did so that together in your complete trust in God you may bear abundant fruit, giving birth to Christ Himself once again and bearing Him to the world.
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
Most of us do not realize the grandeur of Saint Joseph and the intensity of his faith and trust in God. If my theory is correct and God originally planned that we conceived children virginally as Mary and Joseph did, and if the test of virginity was the test of our first parents, then Joseph is more than the foster father of Jesus. If God had originally planned that parenthood was to be obtained via a deep union with Him and a profound trust in His provision, then Joseph would be a true father of Jesus. We usually don't say Joseph was the true father of Jesus because that implies, in the common way we use that word 'true,' that Jesus was conceived in the normal manner. Mary conceived from the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowing her, not from the generative powers of Joseph.
Fatherhood is more than physical generation. There are plenty of men walking around today that have physically generated children who have little or no resemblance to being a father. And on the other side of that reality, there are a great number of wonderful men and women who could not have children, and yet they sacrificed and brought children into their life through adoption; they are mothers and fathers in the full sense of the word. Parenthood has more to do with the care of children than with their generation.
In their trial of faith, Mary and Joseph trusted in God immensely; they desired children more than anyone has, and yet God asked them to remain virgins forever. That doesn't make sense, and yet they trusted in God's unintelligible request. The reward for crucifying their greatest earthly desire? They are entrusted with the Son of God as their very own child. In addition to that unimaginable gift, Mary is the mother of us all, and Joseph as the patron of the universal Church is the father of all. Trusting in God, they let the seed of children fall into the ground to die, and it has become the greatest of all plants bearing overabundant fruit. Their sacrifice has become their reward.
With all that being said, I think it can be said that in the true and full sense of fatherhood, Joseph is the human father of Jesus. Since Jesus was conceived through Mary and Joseph's unity as spouses and their unity to God in their trust of Him, they passed the original test of our first parents. They did what Adam and Eve did not, and as such, they did what God had originally intended man to do to become a parent. Fatherhood has to do with caring for children in that unique fatherly way together with union with God, and in that regard, no one has been more a father than Joseph was to Jesus.
On a side note, this is partly why priests are called father. They are united to God and have passed the test of virginity as Joseph did, and they care for God's flock, the children of God. Priests truly are fathers who daily lay down their life for the protection and care of their children. Priests also participate in the spiritual birth to the children of God when they baptize, and they cooperate in bringing the dead children back to life through the sacrament of Confession. It is commonly said that priests take the Church as their spouse, and some saints have said that they take Mary as their spouse. I think that is true. To priests: take Mary as your spouse and give your whole self to her as Saint Joseph did so that together in your complete trust in God you may bear abundant fruit, giving birth to Christ Himself once again and bearing Him to the world.
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
3.12.2008
"When You Lift Up the Son of Man"
In the first reading today from Numbers 21:4-9 there is the story of the Israelites complaining in the desert about their lack of food and water and accusing God that He brought them into the desert to kill them. God was taking care of them but not in the way that they wanted; their patience was worn out, and they called God a murderer, essentially. They accused God of being Satan. God responds by sending them seraph serpents to bite and kill them.
Since they called God Satan, He showed them what Satan would do to them. In the Garden of Eden, Satan came as a serpent and as the murderer of the human race; God sends images of the evil one to do what he does, and so they are bit and many die. The antidote to these venomous snakes is to look on a bronze serpent mounted on a pole. When they look at an image of what they called God and so repent of what they had done, they are healed.
In the gospel from John 8:21-30, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and says to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always to what is pleasing to him” (8:28-29). The communion antiphon comes from John 12:32: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself, says the Lord.”
Jesus is the fulfillment of the bronze serpent mounted on a pole that brought healing. Jesus’ skin was most likely bronze in color, and He was mounted on a tree for the healing of the nations. How does the bronze serpent help us to understand what Jesus did? The Israelites were hungry, thirsty, tired, bored and fed-up with all the ceaseless wandering in the desert. They accused God of seeking their destruction, and in so doing, they were essentially calling Him Satan.
In John 8:25 when the Pharisees asked Jesus who He was, He responded saying, “What I told you from the beginning.” The words “serpent” and “beginning” bring us back to the beginning of the Bible to Genesis 1-3. According to my theory, the man and the woman were hungry and thirsty for a child, the child God implicitly promised when He said to be fruitful and multiply. Since He commanded them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, i.e. not have sexual relations, they were in a metaphorical lifeless desert. They got fed up waiting for the promised child, much like Abraham and Sarah did with Isaac, and they listened and obeyed the voice of the serpent who promised them life. He promised them that they would be like God; they primarily knew God to be the Creator and giver of life, and so they, too, wanted to be like Him and give life by making a man.
By looking at the bronze serpent the Israelites could see what they had called God. What can you and I see when we look upon our crucified Lord? On the one hand, we can see that the man and the woman and you and I rely upon our own strength for our life instead of trusting in God. The man and the woman were tested to trust in God for their life and fruitfulness, but they chose to utilize the strength of their bodies, contrary to God’s singular command, in order to give life and have a baby. They were saying that it was by their bodies that they would have and give life. Looking at Jesus on the crucifix, we know that they who loose their life are given life, and they who let their bodies die who will rise again.
The man and the woman did not trust God’s command and did not believe that He would take care of them in their desert. They did not believe that He had their best interest at heart. It made no sense to them that they should be fruitful and multiply and yet not have sexual relations, so God must be playing a cruel trick on them and He was not to be trusted. The serpent was trustworthy, they thought, and by clinging to life and utilizing the generative powers of their bodies they would have life.
Jesus’ crucified body on the tree signals that it is in trusting God to the point of death that one has life. He gave birth to the Church when His heart was pierced and blood and water flowed out just like at a birth, and so He shows that life and birth come primarily through a circumcised and trusting heart. The heart, i.e. the tree of life, is that through which we trust in God and so have life.
In the passage quoted above Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man.” He does not say the Son of God but the Son of Man. Jesus is the Son of Man, i.e. the Son of Adam. Because of the man’s faithless, uncircumcised heart of stone, all humanity fell, and the actual result of the act which was the Fall was Cain. We are all sons of man, but we are made to be sons of God; that is why the Son of God became a Son of Man. On the crucifix we also see the Son of Man; we see the humanity that was the result of Adam’s sin (not that Jesus had original sin).
Gazing on the crucifix and meditating on the Passion of Our Lord, we learn to what extent God goes to redeem us. We see His boundless love. We learn that it is not by our strength that we have life but by obedience to every word which comes from God. We learn that it is the loving, trusting and obedient heart that is the tree of life. We learn that we need to get rid of our old faithless heart given to us by Adam, and that we need the new heart of Jesus which we receive when we are baptized into Jesus’ death and every time we receive Him in Holy Communion. We learn that God provides to the one who puts his trust in Him as we wander throughout this desert. The crucifix and the Passion are the antidote to everything, to every sin which ails us; the crucified and risen heart of Jesus which we receive in the Eucharist is the tree of life, our new trusting heart, and the healing for the nations from the bite of the serpent. With Jesus' heart within us, we can say with Him: "I always do what is pleasing to Him."
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
Since they called God Satan, He showed them what Satan would do to them. In the Garden of Eden, Satan came as a serpent and as the murderer of the human race; God sends images of the evil one to do what he does, and so they are bit and many die. The antidote to these venomous snakes is to look on a bronze serpent mounted on a pole. When they look at an image of what they called God and so repent of what they had done, they are healed.
In the gospel from John 8:21-30, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and says to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always to what is pleasing to him” (8:28-29). The communion antiphon comes from John 12:32: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself, says the Lord.”
Jesus is the fulfillment of the bronze serpent mounted on a pole that brought healing. Jesus’ skin was most likely bronze in color, and He was mounted on a tree for the healing of the nations. How does the bronze serpent help us to understand what Jesus did? The Israelites were hungry, thirsty, tired, bored and fed-up with all the ceaseless wandering in the desert. They accused God of seeking their destruction, and in so doing, they were essentially calling Him Satan.
In John 8:25 when the Pharisees asked Jesus who He was, He responded saying, “What I told you from the beginning.” The words “serpent” and “beginning” bring us back to the beginning of the Bible to Genesis 1-3. According to my theory, the man and the woman were hungry and thirsty for a child, the child God implicitly promised when He said to be fruitful and multiply. Since He commanded them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, i.e. not have sexual relations, they were in a metaphorical lifeless desert. They got fed up waiting for the promised child, much like Abraham and Sarah did with Isaac, and they listened and obeyed the voice of the serpent who promised them life. He promised them that they would be like God; they primarily knew God to be the Creator and giver of life, and so they, too, wanted to be like Him and give life by making a man.
By looking at the bronze serpent the Israelites could see what they had called God. What can you and I see when we look upon our crucified Lord? On the one hand, we can see that the man and the woman and you and I rely upon our own strength for our life instead of trusting in God. The man and the woman were tested to trust in God for their life and fruitfulness, but they chose to utilize the strength of their bodies, contrary to God’s singular command, in order to give life and have a baby. They were saying that it was by their bodies that they would have and give life. Looking at Jesus on the crucifix, we know that they who loose their life are given life, and they who let their bodies die who will rise again.
The man and the woman did not trust God’s command and did not believe that He would take care of them in their desert. They did not believe that He had their best interest at heart. It made no sense to them that they should be fruitful and multiply and yet not have sexual relations, so God must be playing a cruel trick on them and He was not to be trusted. The serpent was trustworthy, they thought, and by clinging to life and utilizing the generative powers of their bodies they would have life.
Jesus’ crucified body on the tree signals that it is in trusting God to the point of death that one has life. He gave birth to the Church when His heart was pierced and blood and water flowed out just like at a birth, and so He shows that life and birth come primarily through a circumcised and trusting heart. The heart, i.e. the tree of life, is that through which we trust in God and so have life.
In the passage quoted above Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man.” He does not say the Son of God but the Son of Man. Jesus is the Son of Man, i.e. the Son of Adam. Because of the man’s faithless, uncircumcised heart of stone, all humanity fell, and the actual result of the act which was the Fall was Cain. We are all sons of man, but we are made to be sons of God; that is why the Son of God became a Son of Man. On the crucifix we also see the Son of Man; we see the humanity that was the result of Adam’s sin (not that Jesus had original sin).
Gazing on the crucifix and meditating on the Passion of Our Lord, we learn to what extent God goes to redeem us. We see His boundless love. We learn that it is not by our strength that we have life but by obedience to every word which comes from God. We learn that it is the loving, trusting and obedient heart that is the tree of life. We learn that we need to get rid of our old faithless heart given to us by Adam, and that we need the new heart of Jesus which we receive when we are baptized into Jesus’ death and every time we receive Him in Holy Communion. We learn that God provides to the one who puts his trust in Him as we wander throughout this desert. The crucifix and the Passion are the antidote to everything, to every sin which ails us; the crucified and risen heart of Jesus which we receive in the Eucharist is the tree of life, our new trusting heart, and the healing for the nations from the bite of the serpent. With Jesus' heart within us, we can say with Him: "I always do what is pleasing to Him."
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
3.07.2008
John Paul II: God is our Spouse
Today in the meditation section of the Magnificat there is a passage from our beloved, late Pope John Paul II from the book Memory and Identity, Conversations at the Dawn of a Millennium, pp29-30. I will quote the passage that was given in the Magnificat here:
“With the passage of time, if we persevere in following Christ our Teacher, we feel less and less burdened by the struggle against sin, and we enjoy more and more the divine light which pervades all creation. This is important, because it allows us to escape from a situation of constant inner exposure to the risk of sin—even though, on this earth, the risk always remains present to some degree—so as to move with ever greater freedom within the whole of the created world. This same freedom and simplicity characterizes our relations with other human beings, including those of the opposite sex. Interior light illumines our actions and shows us all the good in the created world as coming from the hand of God. Thus the purgative way and then the illuminative way form the organic introduction to what is known as the unitive way. This is the final stage of the interior journey, when the soul experiences a special union with God. This union is realized in contemplation of the divine being and in the experience of love which flows from it with growing intensity. In this way we somehow anticipate what is destined to be ours in eternity, beyond death and the grave. Christ, supreme teacher of the spiritual life, together with all those who have been formed in his school, teaches that even in this life we can enter onto the path of union with God….
“If the kingly way, indicated by Christ, leads definitively to the state in which ‘God will be all in all,’ the union with God that can be experienced on earth is attained in just the same way. We can find God in everything, we can commune with him in and through all things. Created things cease to be a danger for us as once they were, particularly while we were still at the purgative stage of our journey. Creation, and other people in particular, not only regain their true light, given to them by God the Creator, but, so to speak, they lead us to God himself, in the way that he willed to reveal himself to us; as Father, Redeemer, and Spouse.”
John Paul II did his doctoral dissertation on Saint John of the Cross, a doctor of the Church and a master of the spiritual life. Saint John delineated these three levels of prayer: the purgative, illuminative, and the unitive. The endpoint of prayer is deep union with God also known as mystical marriage or the prayer of union. One of the main points that I am promoting in my writings here is that what God wants for all of us is to reach this highest level of prayer. He made us for Himself to be His spouse. I am not arguing from my own experience of deep mystical prayer as Saint John of the Cross did; rather, I am arguing it from the Bible, in particular from the first few chapters of Genesis.
When one reaches unitive prayer, he is not so easily tempted to sin and to be inordinately attached to any object other than God. This person is united to God and is daily being filled more and more with God’s love and life. All other attachments pale in comparison. Thus, not only is one less likely to sin, but one is also more likely to truly and fully appreciate all created realities, and those very realities, because they remind one of God, become a vehicle through which one draws even closer to God. This is why someone like Saint Francis of Assisi could have such a love of creation and animals without falling into the trap of a false worship of them; he saw them as a beacon which revealed God and His goodness and beauty. Creation leads us “to God himself, in the way that he willed to reveal himself to us: as Father, Redeemer, and Spouse.” God is meant to be our Spouse, and He asks you, “Will you marry me?”
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
“With the passage of time, if we persevere in following Christ our Teacher, we feel less and less burdened by the struggle against sin, and we enjoy more and more the divine light which pervades all creation. This is important, because it allows us to escape from a situation of constant inner exposure to the risk of sin—even though, on this earth, the risk always remains present to some degree—so as to move with ever greater freedom within the whole of the created world. This same freedom and simplicity characterizes our relations with other human beings, including those of the opposite sex. Interior light illumines our actions and shows us all the good in the created world as coming from the hand of God. Thus the purgative way and then the illuminative way form the organic introduction to what is known as the unitive way. This is the final stage of the interior journey, when the soul experiences a special union with God. This union is realized in contemplation of the divine being and in the experience of love which flows from it with growing intensity. In this way we somehow anticipate what is destined to be ours in eternity, beyond death and the grave. Christ, supreme teacher of the spiritual life, together with all those who have been formed in his school, teaches that even in this life we can enter onto the path of union with God….
“If the kingly way, indicated by Christ, leads definitively to the state in which ‘God will be all in all,’ the union with God that can be experienced on earth is attained in just the same way. We can find God in everything, we can commune with him in and through all things. Created things cease to be a danger for us as once they were, particularly while we were still at the purgative stage of our journey. Creation, and other people in particular, not only regain their true light, given to them by God the Creator, but, so to speak, they lead us to God himself, in the way that he willed to reveal himself to us; as Father, Redeemer, and Spouse.”
John Paul II did his doctoral dissertation on Saint John of the Cross, a doctor of the Church and a master of the spiritual life. Saint John delineated these three levels of prayer: the purgative, illuminative, and the unitive. The endpoint of prayer is deep union with God also known as mystical marriage or the prayer of union. One of the main points that I am promoting in my writings here is that what God wants for all of us is to reach this highest level of prayer. He made us for Himself to be His spouse. I am not arguing from my own experience of deep mystical prayer as Saint John of the Cross did; rather, I am arguing it from the Bible, in particular from the first few chapters of Genesis.
When one reaches unitive prayer, he is not so easily tempted to sin and to be inordinately attached to any object other than God. This person is united to God and is daily being filled more and more with God’s love and life. All other attachments pale in comparison. Thus, not only is one less likely to sin, but one is also more likely to truly and fully appreciate all created realities, and those very realities, because they remind one of God, become a vehicle through which one draws even closer to God. This is why someone like Saint Francis of Assisi could have such a love of creation and animals without falling into the trap of a false worship of them; he saw them as a beacon which revealed God and His goodness and beauty. Creation leads us “to God himself, in the way that he willed to reveal himself to us: as Father, Redeemer, and Spouse.” God is meant to be our Spouse, and He asks you, “Will you marry me?”
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
3.05.2008
Moses Wrote About Jesus & The Life-Receiving Heart
The Gospel for tomorrow’s Mass comes from John 5:31-47, and I would like to examine a sentence or two in the middle and at the end of this passage. Here are the two passages from 5:39-40 & 45-47: “You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. But you do not want to come to me to have life….Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
Jesus’ point here is that He is the source of eternal life, and that to obtain eternal life it is necessary to believe in Him. People search the Bible for life, but what the Bible points to and reveals is Jesus. The Scriptures in general testify on behalf of Jesus, and Moses in particular wrote about Jesus. If one rejects Moses’ writings, he will be deaf to Jesus’ words.
One of my assumptions is that the Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses or the Torah, go a long way in preparing the way and revealing who Jesus is and what He came to do. My theory revolves around the first three chapters of Genesis, in fact, and there are many more clues and much more evidence in support of my theory in the remainder of the Pentateuch. The better one understands the Pentateuch and its beginning in the first three chapters of Genesis, the better one is able to understand the person and mission of Jesus and His Church. It is also true that the better one understands the Old Testament as a whole, the more one is able to fully and truthfully understand the New Testament.
My theory makes much progress in understanding the Old Testament, and, as such, it helps to better and more fully understand what Jesus did, why He did it, and how we need to respond to His saving actions and death on the cross. I spend a good bit of my time writing, you may have noticed, commenting on the readings of the day for Mass since the basic outline of my theory can be applied to just about anywhere in the Bible to much good effect. That is part of the reason I have been skipping around and commenting on the readings of the day; one of the other reasons I do this is because I don’t think my theory could be proved in an absolute, syllogistically logical manner; if it is going to be proved, it will be largely through thousands of other passages which connect to the beginning of Genesis and which both illuminate Genesis and are illuminated by it.
Another point from today’s Gospel comes when Jesus says, “you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he has sent” (John 5:38). God’s word abides in us when we believe in Jesus. Believing in Jesus results in God’s word abiding within us. Believing in Jesus is how we are saved and have eternal life. Believing in Jesus means coming to Him for our life. Believing in Moses opens us to believe in Jesus. Belief is a matter of the heart, and, as such, the heart is the conduit for being saved, having eternal life, being a home for God’s Word, and coming to Jesus for life. In other words, the believing heart is the life-receiving heart; the heart is the tree of life.
What I was just saying reminded me of part of today’s Gospel which comes from the passage right before tomorrow’s passage in John. The segment I want to highlight is:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life. Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself. And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5: 25-29).
Hearing and believing in the Father through Jesus is what gives eternal life; the Father and Jesus have life in themselves, and those who do good deeds, that is, obey, will be connected to their life and so have the resurrection of life. As I have said many times, our salvation and eternal life, that is the tree of life, is the loving, trusting, and obedient heart. The heart that loves, trusts and obeys God is the vehicle through which God imparts to us life here on earth and life everlasting in heaven.
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
Jesus’ point here is that He is the source of eternal life, and that to obtain eternal life it is necessary to believe in Him. People search the Bible for life, but what the Bible points to and reveals is Jesus. The Scriptures in general testify on behalf of Jesus, and Moses in particular wrote about Jesus. If one rejects Moses’ writings, he will be deaf to Jesus’ words.
One of my assumptions is that the Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses or the Torah, go a long way in preparing the way and revealing who Jesus is and what He came to do. My theory revolves around the first three chapters of Genesis, in fact, and there are many more clues and much more evidence in support of my theory in the remainder of the Pentateuch. The better one understands the Pentateuch and its beginning in the first three chapters of Genesis, the better one is able to understand the person and mission of Jesus and His Church. It is also true that the better one understands the Old Testament as a whole, the more one is able to fully and truthfully understand the New Testament.
My theory makes much progress in understanding the Old Testament, and, as such, it helps to better and more fully understand what Jesus did, why He did it, and how we need to respond to His saving actions and death on the cross. I spend a good bit of my time writing, you may have noticed, commenting on the readings of the day for Mass since the basic outline of my theory can be applied to just about anywhere in the Bible to much good effect. That is part of the reason I have been skipping around and commenting on the readings of the day; one of the other reasons I do this is because I don’t think my theory could be proved in an absolute, syllogistically logical manner; if it is going to be proved, it will be largely through thousands of other passages which connect to the beginning of Genesis and which both illuminate Genesis and are illuminated by it.
Another point from today’s Gospel comes when Jesus says, “you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he has sent” (John 5:38). God’s word abides in us when we believe in Jesus. Believing in Jesus results in God’s word abiding within us. Believing in Jesus is how we are saved and have eternal life. Believing in Jesus means coming to Him for our life. Believing in Moses opens us to believe in Jesus. Belief is a matter of the heart, and, as such, the heart is the conduit for being saved, having eternal life, being a home for God’s Word, and coming to Jesus for life. In other words, the believing heart is the life-receiving heart; the heart is the tree of life.
What I was just saying reminded me of part of today’s Gospel which comes from the passage right before tomorrow’s passage in John. The segment I want to highlight is:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life. Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself. And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5: 25-29).
Hearing and believing in the Father through Jesus is what gives eternal life; the Father and Jesus have life in themselves, and those who do good deeds, that is, obey, will be connected to their life and so have the resurrection of life. As I have said many times, our salvation and eternal life, that is the tree of life, is the loving, trusting, and obedient heart. The heart that loves, trusts and obeys God is the vehicle through which God imparts to us life here on earth and life everlasting in heaven.
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
3.03.2008
Why The Trees Aren't Reversed
I received a comment containing a question from 2.29.08. Here is the question: "I am not familiar with your theory (although I'd like to be) but I'm curious to know why the trees' representations aren't reversed -- The tree of life being our power and ability to conceive children and the tree of knowledge being the heart that loves, trusts and obeys God."
God put us on this earth, but He made us for heaven. We spend a very short time here on earth; it is but a brief stop on the journey to our true and everlasting homeland. We have eternal life only through our love, trust and obedience of God; we begin our eternal life here on earth by our union with Him; if we don't, then there is no eternal life in heaven for us when we die. Life, in the fullest sense of the word, is only given to us insofar as we are united to God, and our unity with God only happens via a heart that loves, trusts and obeys God. The heart is the channel through which we receive God's life. God's life is the life of our soul, and we have nothing, we are nothing, we have no life if we don't have God dwelling within us.
Having children is a wonderful reality and a marvelous gift from God. Raising children is one of the best God-given ways that He shows us and provides the arena for us to learn how to love, to learn how to be a self-sacrificing lover. One of the best adult educations is raising children; I remember Scott Hahn having a plaque in his office saying: "The best adult education--children." As much a blessing as having children is, it is not what gives us supernatural or everlasting life. The children we do have need to be born again in baptism for they are born spiritually dead without sanctifying grace. What really matters in the end is God's life in our soul, and that life only comes from the tree of life: the heart that loves, trusts and obeys God. Marriage and children are a God-given calling to lead us and help us on our way to heaven, but there is no help in them if our heart is separated from God.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is our ability to have children because this is what served as the test of faith that God established for our first parents. Why it is given this name I haven't fully digested yet. I think there are a number of viable possibilities for why it has this name. For now, I am not going to get into this question.
Mary fulfilled the test of faith that the woman (after the Fall named Eve, mother) failed. Mary ate fully of her tree of life and trusted in God when it did not make sense. I have discussed Mary's test in a few other places. Because she ate of her tree of life, God provided her with a Son. He is no ordinary son, and God also gives all humanity to Mary as her children. Mary trusted God to provide her with children virginally, and God made her the greatest mother of all time. So Mary did have children through her tree of life, but only after she passed her crucifixion of her greatest earthly desire. Mary does not rely on her own abilities to provide life; rather, she trusts wholly in God, and He satisfies her greatest desires and infinitely more so. God is such a good God who wants us to be fully alive and our deepest desires abundantly fulfilled to overflowing. If we place ourselves entirely in His hands, we will be blessed beyond measure.
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
God put us on this earth, but He made us for heaven. We spend a very short time here on earth; it is but a brief stop on the journey to our true and everlasting homeland. We have eternal life only through our love, trust and obedience of God; we begin our eternal life here on earth by our union with Him; if we don't, then there is no eternal life in heaven for us when we die. Life, in the fullest sense of the word, is only given to us insofar as we are united to God, and our unity with God only happens via a heart that loves, trusts and obeys God. The heart is the channel through which we receive God's life. God's life is the life of our soul, and we have nothing, we are nothing, we have no life if we don't have God dwelling within us.
Having children is a wonderful reality and a marvelous gift from God. Raising children is one of the best God-given ways that He shows us and provides the arena for us to learn how to love, to learn how to be a self-sacrificing lover. One of the best adult educations is raising children; I remember Scott Hahn having a plaque in his office saying: "The best adult education--children." As much a blessing as having children is, it is not what gives us supernatural or everlasting life. The children we do have need to be born again in baptism for they are born spiritually dead without sanctifying grace. What really matters in the end is God's life in our soul, and that life only comes from the tree of life: the heart that loves, trusts and obeys God. Marriage and children are a God-given calling to lead us and help us on our way to heaven, but there is no help in them if our heart is separated from God.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is our ability to have children because this is what served as the test of faith that God established for our first parents. Why it is given this name I haven't fully digested yet. I think there are a number of viable possibilities for why it has this name. For now, I am not going to get into this question.
Mary fulfilled the test of faith that the woman (after the Fall named Eve, mother) failed. Mary ate fully of her tree of life and trusted in God when it did not make sense. I have discussed Mary's test in a few other places. Because she ate of her tree of life, God provided her with a Son. He is no ordinary son, and God also gives all humanity to Mary as her children. Mary trusted God to provide her with children virginally, and God made her the greatest mother of all time. So Mary did have children through her tree of life, but only after she passed her crucifixion of her greatest earthly desire. Mary does not rely on her own abilities to provide life; rather, she trusts wholly in God, and He satisfies her greatest desires and infinitely more so. God is such a good God who wants us to be fully alive and our deepest desires abundantly fulfilled to overflowing. If we place ourselves entirely in His hands, we will be blessed beyond measure.
Thanks for reading and your prayers.
Copyright 2007.
All rights reserved.
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