" Dig, beneath the surface of,  life"..... Pope Leo, X1V.

        " The capacity to learn...Is a gift.     The ability to learn....Is a skill. 

            The willingness, to learn...... Is a,......CHOICE." (Anonymous" 

           " Come Holy Spirit and humanize, the hardened heart, of this complacent one"

     The prophet Amos, " Woe, to the complacent....they are not made ill, by the collapse of Joseph "

  The Prophet for our time, Pope Leo, is encouraging us,  "to dig the beneath the surface of life", to my present understanding, this means to, GO Deep, and be open to the revelations that will come from, soul work.  Honest, soul work, is an never ending process that we human beings are called, destined to participate in, as a life long challenge.  Souls work sinks roots, for a healthy growth of the trunk, branches, leaves and fruit. No roots, no fruits. The more we respond to this challenge, the deeper we will go. The journey into the depths results in us gradually discovery of a well.  From this well is springing all the nourishment, grace, we are in need of to make an, authentic,  human journey.The more we drink from this well the more we will be in touch with our unique, sparkling,  vivifying, true selves. This nourishes the spirit within,  so we can join The Dove, in spiritual flight. WOW !!! WOW !!!!

 Our ongoing, soul work, gradually reveals the, moment to moment battle, between, the true  self, which is The Gracious creation, and the false self which is our creation. The false self is created so we are able to endure, survive in a, dysfunctional world.  The false self, whose sole occupation is the possession of endless sources of " power, property, and prestige." (Rohr) We make, "power, property, and prestige" (Rohr), the barometer, the gauge for the judging , our intrinsic value and worthwhileness. Now we are going to add to these  real life destructive addictions, " control, comparisons, and contradictions, and we find ourselves in real life choking, life destructing, doodoo . 

How do we break free of these life destruction forces ? Sad to say there is no way into the freedom of the true self, except for, a real life reclaiming, conversion. I am really sad, really sad, to share with you   conversion only happens, at least to my present understanding (2025), trough these contradictory  statements, " Discover the powerlessness of, power, and the power, of, powerlessness"( Rohr) This power is the result of our Paschal Journey, being repeated and repeated. The Historical Rabbi Jesus, endured His Calvary experience just once. We make the journey through suffering, death, tomb time, Resurrection resulting in the experience of a new way of acting and a new way of thinking.

  This reminds me of this old  adage, " we cannot think our way into, a new way of acting, we have to act our way into, a new way of thinking." To be brutally honest, I wish I never was exposed to this life changing, life enhancing challenging reality. My false self, wanted,  no constantly demanded an easier softer way. That ended in my experience of deep alienation, isolation and life destructive practices, which lead to Joe  believing the lie of the false self,  this is really living. Living a common lie, not in The Truth.

       No, Joe now says , that  experience of Joe slowly realizing that he was dying, because of his life destructive addictions, and compulsions.  Through grace, I was blasted out of complacency. into the journey of discovering, the powerlessness of power and the power of powerlessness.Because I was so very selfish, wanting complacency   eventually lead to the change of heart, the conversion. This conversion that was ESSENTIAL, a conditio sine qua non,  for the discovery, and entrance into  a wonder-full, awe-full experience.  Real freedom, supplanting apparent freedom.  This new freedom was, experiencing the freedom of living the life of, the true self. I now know the existential meaning of, " I have come that you will have life, and have it to the fullest" By writing this, I pray in some mysterious way this will be your experience. Complacency will not get anyone anywhere on the harsh, and crooked trail that leads one into the experience of an authentic, healthy  spiritual reality. "  First blog ,as an, 86 year old. 

                                               The exhalation of The Holy Cross.

         " The denunciation of  injustice implies the rejection of the use of Christianity 

             to legitimize the established order."( As a result ) "so many of our sisters and brothers live in poverty......the lack of respect for one's human dignity, the unjust limitations placed on personal freedom in areas of self-expression, politics, and religion." Gustavo  Gutierrez. 

 " Christ Jesus...emptied Himself..Taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness, and found 

     human in appearance, He humbled Himself, He became subject to death, EVEN, death on the cross."

         " May you know the urgency, with which God longs for, you". ( John O'Donoghue )

 Life, in all of it's formations, is, a sacrament. In all realities, both hidden and revealed,  are revelations of The Real, and Ultimate Reality.  After I first read the following of the following I found it's ubiquitous  presence, in so many of the homilies of the preaching years: " Life is not a problem to be solved, it is a mystery to be lived." I am being lead into  accepting that, all the mysteries we are drawn into, is   preparing us for an ever deepening understanding and as  consequence an evolving relationship with, The Ultimate  Reality. In all that is, we have been chosen to experience. The Immanence of The Divine. St. Paul reminds us, this gift is  "NOT for ourselves, alone. but is to be used for the building up of the community, the common good". To  exist in aloneness in not our destiny. We are called , as social  beings to live in relationship. To live a life within community.   As a result of  being immersed in this, "life within" our existence is inextricably linked to all of the lived experiences of said, community. What a challenge lies within that, "lived relationship", and all relationships. We are, now, adding the word cosmic to better explain the gift and resulting challenge.

        All that I am sharing, is not something I left, St.Patrick's Seminary in Carlow city with. I was ordained with 30 others on, June 8th, 1963. (Added a necessary exciting, Celtic, dimension to our six years, we were  blessed with a Scott. A rabid Glasgow Celtic supporter, to booth. He was also a veteran.) Those six years were like living in a holiday camp compared to what was, to follow. Beginning with being deliberately locked out of the rectory, that  I was to call home, and in the twilight of my years the understanding of, The sacramentality of The Cross, has been, and is, in every nanosecond, being taught to me. 

   This "teaching" did not, and is not taking place in visions, or earth shattering revelations. I was not aware of what was happening in, the every here and now moment, the existential. What I have come to understand, and that process of moment to moment teaching, can be summed up in one of my often used quotes, " We live life looking forward, but we only understand it looking, backwards". What is happening right now ? More and more clarity is, very slowly, Oh !! so very slowly,  breaking through. That is why this process of writing has become, in hindsight,  is in reality, sacramental.  The place, The Unknown, is being revealed. I desperately hope and pray, this leads, each  of  you beloved ones, to embrace  the sacramentality of your EVERY, lived experience. Blessings, on the Now moments, that you are to live.

       " The life of the Historical Jesus, is no longer a human life, submerged in history, but a theological life, an icon." Way back, the following blew me away, on my first reading : " Jesus's story, is our story today" (John O'Shea)  What I read, or we read, in the gospels are given to us as lenses to see beyond, the ordinary, into the mysterious reality within.That which I see is NOT my deepest reality. All that bubbles up to consciousness is how we see ourselves as we really are. The raw naked truth !!!! As we live, so, we write. We by our "living life to the fullest", write own personal, contemporary Gospel.  This Gospel,Your Gospel may be the only gospel some people will EVER get to read !!!!!! Awe-full ???? 

      This is really getting, very verbose. Hands up, all those, in agreement !!!!! So I will end, really, with this. The cross, our daily encounters with, "failure rejection and nakedness." (Rohr) will not be the end, but the beginning, of our lived encounter with the faith-full-ness of ,Mercy.  Being in the embrace of Mercy-full  Love, we are being: healed, soothed, comforted, strengthened, and protected by a Power greater than ourselves, also named The Unknown. In Lamentations we are gifted with this  amazing truth: " Because of The Lord's steadfast love we are not consumed, ( by guilt, fear, and shame. jh) for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faith-full-ness...His mercies never come to an end". So then Pope Francis encouraged us, "to never stop asking for mercy". "So at the end of the day, we give thanks for being betrothed, to The Unknown." (John O'Donoghue)  May the gifts of peace, joy, and love, permeate you whole being. Be, the cosmic gift ,you have been called to be. GGPJ.

    

   

         

      

"The Father of orphans and the Defender of widows is God, in His  holy dwelling. God gives a home to the forsaken." Psalm 68.

"Come, O Holy Spirit, come, strengthen, and inspire the heart of this faithless one." (hij)

"The pivotal shift in spirituality's meaning for the twentieth century is the birth of a worldview of interdependence or relationality. In the broadest sense,... spirituality is the relational component of lived experience." Katherine Zappone.

"The Father of orphans and the Defender of widows is God, in His holy dwelling." We are blessed (?) to be challenged by today's worldview; it reveals that our Prodigal Father God is not tucked away in His comfortable Heaven. She/He finds a permanent home in the tabernacle within our depths. It is NOT one person of the Holy Trinity who is present as our guest: all Three are making Their dwelling in that same tabernacle made of frail human flesh. A tabernacle that was created, fashioned in eternity, and now has found enfleshed presence in today's cosmic reality. There is never a moment that we are not bearing that tabernacle; as we go, where we go, so goes the tabernacle. We were created in eternity, and for eternity we will be bonded.

Just mere existence is not enough for us to fulfill the destiny that has been chosen for us. We have to come alive. "The glory of God is the human being fully alive" (St. Irenaeus). We must pray for the courage to embrace the mystical and cosmic paths that have been chosen for us. They have been created to be essential for the Divine Creative Plan to find perfect completion. Our constant prayer of surrender to The Plan is, "Not my will, but Your will be done." As we continue "to trudge the path," we are actually in the process of accepting those words. Process is not an event. "We do not think our way into a new way of acting; we ACT our way into a new way of thinking." So sad, but unfortunately, all too true.

I have serious problems with constantly attending to what is happening in my life and the challenges it presents. Here are some thoughts that are bubbling up. They are disjointed, unattached to what is being reflected on, but are real for frail, and becoming more frail, powerless Joe.  As a person advances along the calendar of finite time, one's ability to exercise self-will becomes less of a challenge. The desire to have one's own way, no matter the cost, remains strong and in some areas stronger. Thanks to the blessing of old age, we cannot carry on the fight for any length of time.

"Every blessing is a curse; every curse is a blessing." Acceptance of that reality sure eases the burden of the journey. The resulting anger and frustration are tough to own but necessary for our evolving relationships both with humanity and the cosmos. Let us pray that we will respond to the grace that will lead us through challenging, dark valleys and transforming mountaintop experiences always safely and gently. We are always ,beloved daughters/sons, who are always abiding in an unconditioned love that cannot  be earned, deserved,  or qualified  for. It is a pure gift. It is grace, also understood as The Prodigal Lover, in action.

This  Prodigal Cosmic Lover loves the littlest ant, the most alienated person, both within our perception, and society's prejudiced eyes. The existential challenge is how we are to work for change. Change within ourselves, which will then help change the lens of a dysfunctional current society. Change is always slow, and difficult. Well, that has been, and my past experience. My current experience. sad to say, is no different. That is why my mantra ,"Come Holy Spirit come and change  my hardened heart" is prayed, repeatedly Ever make an effort to change the mind of an older person ? well I am considered to be, a senior, senior, senior citizen. Welcome to my reality. By the way it is awaiting all who are privileged to reach, the so called, The Golden years !!!!!!

As you read the  first sentences, what struck you, What emerged from your depths, from your deepest reality? Is that not the quiet workings of The Holy Trinity, always existing and celebrating in the tabernacle of your uniqueness ?  How personal did you allow those enlightening and life giving to become ? Did the thought, hit you, despite the always slow reaction to, uncomfortable challenges,  of how personal that first quote from Scripture is?  The Father of orphans, The Defender of widows, IS presently at home.  His Holy dwelling, in today's reality, IS EACH ONE OF US.  We have been chosen, from eternity, to be the dwelling place of The Creative Spirit, and Family, Within our individual and collective depths lies the answer(s) to all the challenges provided ourselves, and  to the collective, the cosmic. The Creative Spirit always uses human instrumentality, to achieve the fulfillment of creation's destiny. Mary's place ???

         The above words, are to be, actually consciously encountered with deep reverence, not just glance at. As a result,  may todays "widows and orphans", the powerless, the disenfranchised, the marginalized, the rejects of polite society become the place where, acceptance and Samaritan care, is offered, by us, and others. The resulting, cost ?  That will be personal for each one. Prepared to pay ?

  " May your prayer of listening, be deepen enough to hear in the depths, the laughter of The Divine"

          The marrow in the skeleton bones of creation , the cosmos, is The Cosmic Christ.

           The Skeleton holds us fast, while the marrow of, The Cosmic Christ, fills us up.

       Come, Holy Spirit, come, and strengthen the  weakened mind of this, faithless one. (hij)                                   

                         This, mystifying reality, is beginning to take hold. When the oriental horizon is slowly being illuminated on, September 29 2025, I will be entering a moment,  I have never dared to imagine, the possibility of Joe entering that stratosphere of being, get this, 86 !!!!  May, The The Gracious Creative Spirit, Who has guided my journey to this mysterious ,NOW moment preserve, protect  me as, " Expectations, are planned resentments."  My, false self, is still very much, alive !!!!  My expectation that it would die because, of  the aging process was, laboring under, a misconception !!!. My reality is with the passing years it seems to have caught up more energy. 

    Please put in a good word for me, as you are celebrating your connectedness with your Higher Power. An evolving relationship with, The Prodigal Mother/Father, has been a blessing for me , and I wish the same for all you who read this effort. A person does not, nor cannot exist, cannot evolve, in, isolation. There is, in these mysterious, fruit-full now moments, a  tremendous evolving, developing  emphasis on humanities' relationship with, The Cosmic Christ. You are reading, and hearing the mention of The Cosmic Christ.  Here is a thumbnail nail sketch of how I have been lead to understand His Reality today.

" The Cosmic Christ is a theological and mystical interpretation of Jesus Christ that extends beyond the historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth. It views Christ not merely as a personal savior or religious teacher, but as a universal, Divine Presence, that permeates all of creation. This understanding draws from  Christian Scriptures, early Christian mysticism, and contemporary theological developments , especially within the realms of process theology, panentheism, and eco-theology." All things one in Christ, especially within the Body of The Cosmic Christ. " In Christ were created all things in heaven and on earth : everything visible and invisible...... Before anything was created, CHRIST EXISTED, and Christ holds all things in unity ". (Col 1,15-17) Efforts at disunity war against The Reality of The Cosmic Christ,

We are not islands, then, living a disconnected existence. Back in those days that are  now, lost in the mist of time, it took me some time to plunge the depths of this reality, " no women/man is an island". " Alone, we can do nothing"(Paul)   Ireland, was and is, an island, and was surrounded by many, many  islands. In school, their names and locations, had to be memorized.  Many of these were inhabited, and flourishing. So then, can we believe, "One can flourish as an island," ?That belief can, and will lead to dysfunctional behavior. Are we, not now living an existence that is, death dealing , rather than, as The Gracious Creator intended, be life giving.  We are called, destined from eternity to be co-creators of new life, not co-destructors of that same fruit bearing, life!! 

Back then, and in some  vapid teachings, and preachings of  today, our god was presented, communicated  to be of the transcendent ,variety, " God was in heaven and all was right with the world". The evolution of scriptural scholarship  understanding, and dynamic fruit bearing  revolution of The Second Vatican Council, lead to the revelation that Our Infinite Creator is in reality, Emmanuel. Emmanuel brings with it the transforming reality, that, THE DIVINE GOD,  Is,WITH US, what is more awe-full, The Creative Presence is ever and always within us. What is even more boggling  to the mind is  the Mercy-full, The All powerful cannot leave us. WE are bound together in a covenant of love. Now we celebrate That Loving Transforming  Presence "  in Whom ,we live, and move, and have our being."There is no moment that we are in presence of  Creative, Transforming Prodigal Lover. " "Christ is present, in all things that, are" Gregory of Nazianus. Add " Christ holds things in, unity." That statement is certintly 

       Wow !! how we struggle to make that mystifying reality, the ground of our reality. We are thereby gifted with the Foundational Rock, with Whom we can exist, live, grow, and be a creative life giving and life enhancing power of love. " The logos of God has become human so that you might learn from a human being how a human being may become Divine." Clement of Alexandria  Another quote that got me  having to dig deep, when at that moment in time, I only wanted EASY solutions, in my troubled life. This was the time of deep searching, as it was then, so it is now, and ever shall be until, my last breath.
" God became man, so that man could become God".Wherever there is The Logos, Love  is in the process of creation.  Yes ! there is a new creation breaking, through into existence.  Creation is  being being continued, anew, renewed, transfigured, and transformed , through the mystery of grace in action,

   A hard fact I have only recently begun to accept, wherever there is death, there ,new life is, mysteriously birthed. Life and death are the two sides of the same coin. From the moment we are birthed we are beginning to, live. As we are living our daily lives, we are closer each lived day, to the day of our death. Then begins a new life in a deathless resurrected reality  " Death, is, no more". Love, great  grandpa Joe.

     

          

  " Go out to all the world, and tell the good news" Mark 16:15

" Unwavering is His kindness towards us, and the faith-full-ness of the Lord, endures forever" Psalm 117  

" Come Holy Spirit come, and fill the heart of this, faithless one." (jih)

  "Preach the Gospel wherever you may go, and, when necessary, use, words" St.Francis of Assisi 

    

        Well, as you work through your daily slog, what is the Gospel, that you are gifting your cosmic home with?  What is the song you are singing, as you supply words to through your actions ? To those who are companions on this challenging journey, what is the life giving gospel message, the life enhancing  bread

  that  they  are receiving, from your song of action? The life story they are reading, and being educated by, may be the only Bible they will ever have the privilege of reading.

 They will be taught from you wordless preaching the depth of mystery ,that is coming to consciousness through your lived encounters with The Paschal Mystery. Yes !! all of your life tells a story, which is the revelation of Infinite Truth.That story is told ,under the guidance ,of The Holy Spirit.  Where The Spirit is there also is, living out an infinite story of love with Beloved Son, and  The Prodigal Father. There is NEVER a moment that we are not caught up in the embrace of, The Holy Trinity.Can we get the message across that we are not journeying into hellish suffering, alone. We are following in the footsteps of Him Who is, God, enfleshed within the confines of our, fleshiness. 

       We are being strengthened by Him,  who is in  all, reality, otherwise it is not real. our strength finds its originThe Suffering Servant of His Father,  whose reality we exude. As we grow in our suffering surrendering, gifts are gifted way beyond anything we could ever imagine. This  life giving strength  has Its  origins in our depths. For, this life-giving strength, to come to consciousness a life of in depth prayer, is asked, NO, demanded of us. We have to look, through  our Gospel lenses, at the lived experienced, of our abused,  again crucified , suffering Christ.

          Where did that first horrendous abuse and crucifixion take place ? "The name of the place was Golgotha". We do not have Alligator Alcatraz, we have, GOLGOTHA, YES, Golgotha, presented, this time ,in living color.  It is mind boggling, as these acts of abuse and can be presented to the nation, a supposedly Christian  one, as something to be publicized, admired, and now, unfortunately imitated.  What deranged minds could ever condone, not to mind imitate, such places of horrendous abuse, dehumanization and  barbarity of the beloved daughters and sons of  our common Father.  We a have ICE detention centers, whose real names must be recognized, for what they really are, Golgotha !!! Where Jesus our brother was originally abused, ridiculed, tortured, and ultimately, crucified. The ignominious death reserved only for runaway slaves. Golgotha, Calvary is front of us. "Let those who have eyes, let them see. Let those who have ears, let them hear." Let those who have hands, and feet, let them become the contemporary Simon and Veronica for todays reality, of Suffering Reality.

         A realistic picture from todays dysfunctional country, world of the Body of The Crucified One, can it be replaced with the face of a child, returning to it's empty  home. Mom and dad have been carted away, to be deported ?  Is it possible for us to stop, and honestly imagine the feelings of abandonment these our sisters and brothers are forced to endure ? The many  myself included, who have to deal with abandonment issues, can more than just empathize, they are blessed to be  able to be a, compassionate  presence. Veronica and Simon will leave the Gospel pages and become, living presences for todays suffering and abused, Jesus Christ. Each follower of  Christ must allow themselves to be challenged, ever anew, by these existential treats to our, Gospel values. 

              

       To add to the insanity of the reality we are asked to survive,  and  live in, we have the shooting of school children, gathered in the school's community, Eucharistic celebration.  They were in celebratory prayer honoring the Essential Mystery of our faith. With the flash of a gun, these Innocents  became Its horrendous reality. Here is a question, is there any distinction to be made, between the children's blood on the floor, and The Precious Blood, in the chalice ?? Are they not both , The Blood of Christ ??  Where does this encounter with rawboned  Reality lead you to?

                                            Let us take whatever constructive we can to bring about.The Kingdom, of real peace, equal justice, for all, and real transforming love. This IS ON its way, let us give it a boost, so the reality may be hurried along.    A stunned, and mystified great grandpa Joe. Why did I have so long that The Crucifixion has become so enfleshed in my reality ??? Love, prayers, blessings.