In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only-begotten Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us . . . . (1 Jn 4:9-10)
Search as we will and try as we might, we cannot perfectly love God and find God. John is clear in this passage. God finds us. It is “not that we have loved God, but that God has loved us.” Stop the striving. Stop the searching. We have to let God find us. Continue reading
Mark tells us that Jesus preached in the synagogues, proclaiming the Kin-dom of God. Maybe this is a typical sermon Jesus would have preached. Jesus unrolled a scroll and began:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing. Continue reading
Beloved:
Who is the liar?
Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ.
Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist.
Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father,
but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well. (1 Jn 2:22-28)
Basil was the father of Eastern Monasticism and Gregory of Nanzianzen was a bishop affiliated with Basil. They lived in the 4th century when the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Jesus, was running rampant. The comment on Basil in www.americancatholic.org is quite telling and certainly makes Basil relevant to our times:
As the French say, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” Basil faced the same problems as modern Christians. Sainthood meant trying to preserve the spirit of Christ in such perplexing and painful problems as reform, organization, fighting for the poor, maintaining balance and peace in misunderstanding. Continue reading
Irish Pastoral Scene on the River Shannon
The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon
you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and
give you peace!
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand. Continue reading
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
Wisdom, Hagai Sophia, Holy wisdom.
The Wisdom Word was with God in the beginning–Wisdom dancing before Creation. Wisdom bringing forth all that is. Wisdom the inner unity of all that is. Wisdom the very life of the Godhead. Continue reading
Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus–God who became human. The incarnation is real. It is so real that we become Jesus. We grow in wisdom, age and grace and come into more complete union with Abba God just as Jesus did. The Eastern Fathers and Mothers believe that Jesus became human so that we might become divine. Wow! Powerful stuff!
During our Christmas Eucharistic celebration on Christmas Eve, our pastor, Father George Kloster, reminded us that Jesus was vulnerable at his birth and at his death. I might add throughout his life because the Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head. Continue reading
When my brothers and I got older, Christmas Eve was a special day. Dad would get home from work mid-afternoon. It was always a time of expectation because dad’s bosses gave generous Christmas bonuses to their employees. The first order of business was to find out how much was in the bonus check. The second order of business was to open our presents. The other kids in the neighborhood had to wait to open their gifts, except for our Jewish neighbor. We were jealous of him because he kept getting Hanukah gifts every day.
Christmas Eve was then a time of bonuses and gifts. When we were younger we thought about Santa, sugar plums and gifts. Continue reading
The Messenger who is coming will refine Levi like the refiner purifies silver. God is love, compassion and mercy; however, that does not mean that life is a bed of roses. As we grow in wisdom, age and grace, we have the opportunity to grow into closer union with God.
This is what contemplative living is all about. As we make our spiritual pilgrimage through life, we come to understand that it is not about will power. We can desire closer union with God and we should. Nevertheless, it is a gift from God. We cannot achieve it. We cannot earn it. We cannot buy it. It is gift. The most we can do is show up. The rest is up to God. Continue reading
Icon--Mary with Pomegranate (Bittersweet)
Let us sing with Mary:
Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
Rejoice in God. Again, I say rejoice in God
God is near. God is with us.
God dwells deep down within us.
My Son became human
So that you might become divine.
I have nothing on my own.
I am a lowly servant.
I am empty and naked before God.
God gifts my emptiness with joy-life.
God is within me.
God above me. God below me.
God all around me. Continue reading
Francis Thompson, a troubled heroin addict, described God as The Hound of Heaven:
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter;
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbed pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat — and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
“All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.”
God is the Hound in relentless pursuit of the hare. Merton has said that God finds us (not we find God). Continue reading