Paschal Mystery...Never Ends...

The Paschal Mystery transforms, transfigures and leads us,always, into a new and different way of living. It bestows on us the great gift of hope, that death is not, “the final word on life or despair the final days of human beings”. [Boff] As we make our journey into the light of the resurrection, we will be led again and again to the understanding that out of all of our pain, sorrow, and brokenness, comes new life and wonderful gifts. We will be led to the belief that the “greater the wound, the greater the pain…the greater the gift”. That is why each year, we are “dipped and dyed” in the Paschal Mystery to be awakened and to celebrate the new life that has come to us from what we thought was death. Death is never the end, it is always the beginning.

The Paschal Mystery is first and foremost a mystery. This mystery teaches that with every beginning there is an ending and with every ending there is a new beginning. It is a mystery dealing with the deepest working of God's grace. A mystery dealing with death, burial and new life. A spiritual mystery such as this cannot be explained, it can only be entered into and treated with reverence. I would like to suggest this year, more than ever, we need to open ourselves up to what this week offers in the way of hope, consolation and the promise of radical new life. This will come to us through the power of honesty, honesty about our everyday experience. There can be no spiritual growth unless we are developing a progressive honesty which is about embracing what is real. Where there is no honesty, there is no reality. So, there is no God. When we want to get a grip on reality and the Pascal Mystery within us, here are a number of words you and I cannot have in our vocabulary, the following are many words which have no connection with reality:
could, would, should, what if, if, if only, when, ought, try, interesting, or any similar words used to deny our real feelings and our real emotions.

A number of years ago, I read a book by Fr. Ronald Holheiser which enabled me to enter into a new and better life-giving understanding of what the Paschal Mystery is all about. In his book, The Holy Longing, he explains the difference between terminal death and Pascal death. "Terminal death is a death that ends life and then possibility. Paschal death, like terminal death, is real, however, Pascal death is a death that, while ending one kind of life, opens a person undergoing it to receive a deeper and richer form of life. The image of the grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying so as to produce new life is an image of Pascal death. Then resurrected life...is the reception of a radically new life... The Pascal Mystery is about Paschal death and resurrected life."

Continuing on, in the same chapter entitled "The Spirituality of the Paschal Mystery", we read the following:

The Pascal Mystery might be diagrammed as follows:
1) Good Friday...The loss of life-real death
2) Easter Sunday..."the reception of new life"
3) The Forty Days..."a time for readjustment to the new, and grieving the old"
4) Ascension..."letting go of the old and letting it bless you, the refusal to claim"
5) Pentecost..."the reception of new spirit, for the new life that one is already living"

Put into a more colloquial language and stated as personal Pascal challenge for each one of us, one might recap this diagram this way:
1) "Name of your death"
2) "Claim your birth"
3) "Grieve what you have lost and adjust to the new reality"
4) "Do not cling to the old, let it ascend and give you its blessing"
5) "Accept the spirit of the life that you are in fact living"

This cycle is not something we must undergo just once...It is rather something we must undergo daily, in every aspect of our lives. Christ spoke of many deaths, of daily deaths and of many risings and various Pentecosts. The Paschal Mystery is the secret to life. Ultimately, our happiness depends upon properly undergoing it... Unless we die in infancy, we will have many deaths in our lives and within each one of these we must receive new life and new spirit. Daily we must undergo the Pascal Mystery.

In her book, Little Pieces of Light, Sister Joyce has this to say, "Being able to let go and let God take over one's life demands a tremendous amount of trust in this Divine Companion. Thomas Merton writes that, 'True love and prayer are really learned in the hour when prayer becomes impossible and your heart turns to stone'. It is in within the hour of our greatest darkness that we discovered that we are never really alone. It is a time when we learn to trust as Gods love is much more than we ever imagined." This gives us the great freedom to be able to sing our Hallelujahs with real gusto. Death has turned into life. Christ is risen and is alive within you and me.

"O happy fault of Adam that has revealed to us such a God."

Come one, come ALL!!!!

"The Unfolding of The Paschal Mystery" that is what we will be looking at this week at Mt.Claret. Tuesday at 7 p.m. This is FREE!!! Just show up at the center, North of Camelback on 54th St. Right turn and keep going. Wed.morning beginning at 9 a.m. - 11.30. The same theme, plus reconciliation,Mass, and catered lunch. Reservations are necessary - Phone 602-840-5066 Blessings, Fr.Joe

The...Lens...That...Confer...Hope...

On vacation, when I attend Mass, I am made privy to a very familiar, yet a very sacred encounter. This has become so familiar it has lost its deep meaning for us. That old saying "familiarity breeds contempt" has become an unfortunate reality in our present way of being. How often do we look for the sacred Mystery in the everydayness of life. I fear we have got used to, even addicted to, seeking out the next "Big Event", that we lose sight of the mysterious gift we are gifted within, the familiar present. What is most familiar contains what we are most in need of at that particular time. Does not our gracious Father. God meets us where we are at, not where we would like to be? God is always present in our reality. Sometimes hidden, but always present. We have to have the lenses to be able see the reality behind the reality we see. All that we see in creation is sacred, "charged with the wonder of God". (Hopkins) It is for us to develop the gift of wonder which is innate in all human beings. Are we not always looking beyond where we are to a distant horizon? Every blessing can also be a curse. I do not know how often Joe has got himself in trouble because he wanted to see what was around the next corner!!!! On the other hand, I am always safe in the "here and now". In this here and now moment, God is pouring all that He/She is. On our part we must ask for the present gift of wonder to be enhanced so we are able to see, "as God sees, not as human beings see". My apologies to Robbie Burns, but I want to be able to see myself, and so all reality, not as other humans see me, but as God sees me. God sees me through the eyes of His/Her infinite, unconditioned, unlimited love. A love that is infinitely more than we will ever be able to understand, or comprehend. It is a prodigal love we can neither earn, deserve, or qualify for. It is pure gift. It is grace. God's gaze is the gaze of unlimited and unrestricted love. The personification of that love is the gaze of a mother and her child. Yes I have been blessed to witness this such sacred encounter. This event which is so ordinary that we just allow it to become a ho- hum moment. Ever really look at the faces involved in this encounter. The little one begins with a serious searching look at this reality before him/her. The mother is gazing with a serious, wonder-full look. Is this what I have waited for, for not only nine months, but my whole life long. I am always thrilled to hear that spontaneous cry of delight that breaks forth from the child that is triggered from the depths of it's being. There is no holding back of the joy of some new discovery. Mother's face lights up. Does life get any better than this? Of course, there are those who go tut, tut, but thank God not all. Some who have verdant memories join in with reminiscent smiles. Remembering what was. In reality this is not about what waist is about what is. Those of memory must be reminded that they are still see looked upon, in The Gaze of Love. That love incarnate and revealed in mother and child encounter is just a reminder of The Love which is each persons beginning. That is our first love. (Nouwen) All other manifestations of love are only a reflection, not the reality, of our Original Lover. That is why there is always a dissatisfaction with all we will ever receive on our journey through, as of now, a fully unredeemed humanity. We are participators in the process. We are co-creators of a new and more perfect creation. For that, we were created. That is our true purpose. To fulfill our destiny we have to see as God sees. We have to let go of our little agendas, and put on the mind of Christ. Is that easy? This is a great challenge, as we have to experience a complete reorientation of self. We have to turn 180 degrees and seek our happiness, our serenity in a place, as of now, we do not know. We will be lead to that place by The ever gentle Spirit. As the scriptures reminds us "will be lead by ways unknown". We enter the place of raw, naked fear, before we can ever know real serenity, and a deep sense of peace. We will always have the comforting, soothing, but so tiny voice of The Good Shepherd always calling, ever directing us safely, through the dark valleys. On our part we must sharpen our ability to hear and see. We must allow the old ways of hearing, and see to gently fade, and ultimately die away. This has to happen FIRST, before the new, and better way of seeing, and hearing may be ours. Today, we call that conversion. This is not, unfortunately, an event, it is a process. This is a necessary process for spiritual growth. That is why it is a journey we do not choose on our own. This is the work of The Spirit. We do have a choice as regards the lenses we choose to look through. John O'Donoghue lists the different ways of seeing, the different lenses with which our everyday reality is viewed. The ideal lens to have is the lens of love. In his spiritual classic, "Anam Cara" you will read the following, "To the loving eye everything is real.....Kathleen Raine.."unless you see a thing in the light of love,you do not see it at all"...Love is the light in which we see each thing in it's true origin, nature, and destiny...Look at the world in a loving way, then the world would rise up before us full of invitation, possibility, and depth. The loving eye can even coax pain, hurt and violence towards transfiguration and renewal. It arises above the pathetic arithmetic of blame and judgment..(the loving eye) is creative and subversive." In another place he writes,"When love awakens in your life, in the night of the heart, it is like the dawn breaking within you. Where before the was anonymity, now there is intimacy; where before there was fear, now there is courage; where before in your life there was there was awkwardness, now there is rhythm of grace and gracefulness; where before you used to be jagged, now you are elegant and in rhythm with yourself. When love awakens in your life, it is like a rebirth, a new beginning. The human heart is never completely born. Though the human body is born complete in one moment, the birth of them human heart is an ongoing process. It is being birthed in every experience of your life." Birthing is a pain-full process. We must not make the mistake that we are on our own, or by ourselves as we constantly meet this life challenge. Because we are an Easter people we have been gifted with all that is necessary not only to meet the challenge, but to journey beyond, into a life way beyond our limited imagination. This is the ongoing miracle of birth, death and rebirth. Where is the miracle of Easter waiting to revealed anew, in this wonder-full journey we are on, as spiritual beings immersed in the human experience?

Join me this week at Mt Claret!!!

As we see so we are,as we are, so we see. We require the lens of a healthy spirituality to be able to see how God sees each one of us,as His/Her beloved daughter/son. What adjustments we must make to claim who we REALLY are in Our Beloved's eyes. To morrow night at Mt. Claret Retreat Center,on beautiful Camelback Mt,North of 54th.St,Scottsdale. Free on Tues. night. Reservations (602-840-5066) for Wed.morning 9-11-30 ish as lunch is involved. Mass and Reconciliation are part of the morning. Blessings.Papa J.

Join me at Mt Claret this week!

Next Tuesday night the focus will be on; "New lenses for a new focus for our ever evolving life." Begins at 7:00 p.m.and will END at 8:30. This evening, and all following evenings are FREE, and just turn up. The same theme for Wed.morning beginning at 9:00 with Mass at 11:30, followed by a catered lunch. There will also be time for Reconciliation. This costs and reservations are necessary. The cost is $30 per person,35 for groups of 5 or more. The presentations are all at Mt. Claret Center at the foot of Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale. Just East of The Phoenician, off of Camelback Rd 4633 n.54st,Scottsdale Number to call is 602-840-5066. Blessings on all.

Lent....Is....Our....Spring....Training

It is Spring training time here in the Arizona desert. Players, managers, coaches, owners, fans are making their annual trip into the desert. Well all, except our Diamondbacks, of course. They are a fixture. All are coming into the desert, into spring training with a sense of renewed hope. For last year’s winners there the great desire to build on last year’s successes and, hopefully, lay the foundation for a dynasty to be created. As for the rest, those who did not taste the sweet nectar of success, they come with a deep sense of renewed hope. These individuals cannot depend on hope alone, without hard work, nothing will happen. The latter teams cannot create a new energy, a new team spirit by just hanging around and doing nothing. A new winning team chemistry will only happen with a great deal of self sacrifice, and hard work. A turnaround is not going to happen unless there is a lot of letting go. Letting go of all that lead to loosing. The old bad habits, must be challenged, so too the lack of concentration must be addresses, again and again. The attitude that leads to sloppy play, and any disinterest in the building up of a healthy team spirit cannot be tolerated. "There is no I in team". A healthy team is not created overnight. A team is the reflection of the health of each individual. There are some players really gifted, but are not team players. Others may not be as gifted but know how to let go of their egos, and buy into the concept of the good of the team. Every Christian Community faces the same challenge. There is no place for egotistical ego, in a faith community. Why? Ego, can be broken "into, ease, God out". It takes many, many Lents, many journeys to Calvary before we are able to say we are Christian. To be able to say, with St. Paul, "I live, no, not I, it is Christ Who lives within me. "In the same way it will take many Spring trainings to mold a group of individuals into a smooth working machine. There is no secret in how a team becomes a team, and a community becomes a healthy community. It begins with reverence and respect. There must be a great sense of reverence and respect for each and every component of the community and organization. Each and every person must be seen as essential to the overall well being. There are no menial jobs. Each has a dignity that demands reverence and respect. Of course that is the ideal, none the less that must be our goal. We are dealing with human beings, not human doers. "As we see ourselves so we will see others". As we grow in the reverence of all that we see as "little", will all that we have seen, or thought to be "little" now takes on sacramental value. Our God comes to us mainly through the so called "little". That is why great managers, and great coaches pay extreme attention to little things. "Little things", that to the casual observer, or a player that is not properly focused, seem so mundane they have seemingly no obvious value. When confronted to perform the "little", they are overwhelmed by the pressure of the moment, and blow the play. Now they are teachable. So in Spring training managers, coaches, players there will be the challenge of how to meet the monotony of the daily grind. The grind that comes with the somewhat monotonous daily routine, as the fundamental plays are work on again, and again. Then they are repeated again, and again, ad infinitum. This repetition takes place until, both the simple plays, and difficult ones become automatic put outs for the team. These plays are not new, they have been part of their life's experience for many years. Over the years how often have they practiced the triple play, the double play, the relay from deep center field, the pick-off move? Yet they will repeat all these plays again and again. Why? It is because when the regular season begins these plays have become so automatic that at crunch time they do not have to stops and think what to do, it is automatic. When the game is on the line what looks to be so difficult, happens automatically. It has become second nature to them, as individuals, and as a team. A sense of confidence has been created. The individuals who are coming together, and are being molded into a team, now have a new spirit, a new attitude. The past is past. What is important is how I play each play. The veterans, and the rookies cannot make a double play happen by just looking at a video, or by just listening to the coach, it is all about practice, practice, and practice some more. One cannot just think their way into a smooth double play combination you have to act your way into the mindset necessary to make it happen. The best will in the world cannot make it happen, hard work is essential. Now you may say, we are in the season of Lent, and you are writing about Spring training what gives? Well do you know that another word for Spring is Lent. So, they are interchangeable. The Cubs, The Dodgers, The Giants, are here for what can really be called Lent Training. In the same way the season of Lent is the season of our training. Is there much of a difference between these two seasons? Not really. They are complementary. What is true for one, is also true for the other. Each has a basic physical, psychological, spiritual component. For us Christians the "triple play" we are asked to practice is prayer, fasting, and the practice of works of charity. We have been challenged by these three over the years, not as we are, THIS year. Just as Spring training is ever and always new, so our Lent/Spring training is ever new. Just as for the baseball players bad habits must be addressed, so for us we have the courage to face the unhealthy habits that have crept so insidiously into our lives. Each Lent, we are forced into the desert of the human condition to be confronted a new of this reality: "We are spiritual beings immersed in the human experience ", immersed in the human condition. A reality we journey ever deeper into. A journey we never embark on alone. All the "wild beasts" we encounter have already been encountered by Him in whose footsteps were following. Are we to be discouraged with the "wild beasts" that inhabit our present day desert? Of course not. When faced they are "just paper tigers." (Johnson) Our journey into the heart is a wonder-full, mysterious one. Full of risks and rewards. When we have the courage to face all that is in the depths of deserts of our hearts we come to the place Thomas Merton referred to, as le point verge, (the virgin point)---"the center of our nothingness where in apparent despair, one meets God,---and is found completely at HIs mercy......At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God...this little point...is the pure glory of God in us..It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody "That is what is awaiting us as we plunge into and penetrate the dark depths of who we are. Spring training for ONE team will end in the passing glory of a World Series. We who have been called blessed and broken, will nor receive that which is transitory. What awaits us is a new heaven and a new earth. The past is past, in its place is a new creation. Not made with human hands but brought into existence through the unseen workings of The Holy Spirit. The creative love of our Gracious Father/Mother God make all things new, not make new things. Is.43:18&19, "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? It is in the solitude, nothingness, loneliness, brokenness, and fear-full-ness of our human heart this is slowly revealed. Lent....... Is.....our.... Spring.."..Training.

The...New...Desert...???

I have now entered into my 50th Lenten journey (as a priest), that is to one way of thinking. To another, I am journeying into my FIRST Lenten experience. I have come to believe that all of past experiences lay the foundation for how I see and understand the present. All that has happened, both the good or what I viewed as bad, have been woven into who I am right now. This is a continuous, dynamic process. A process we have to admit to, and embrace, even when we do not know the details. The Spirit is always at work, forming us, and molding us in the contemporary, living presence of Jesus Christ. I have come to believe ,and not without serious difficulty, the scripture promises, "God makes ALL things work together for good ..for those who believe". Each Lent, I am challenged not only to meet the unacceptable, and as yet undeveloped parts of me, but to embrace them in a loving embrace. To use that great disconcerting challenge of St.Francis, "We are to kiss the leper within". In order to kiss the leper within we must encounter the "leper within". Is this easy? On the contrary, it is a very, very, fear-full, awe-full, yet wonder-full experience. An experience I do not consciously create, but a challenge that somehow seems to surface on its own. It brings home that awe-full reality that I am definitely a spiritual being immersed in the human experience. As I move on in years, well let me be honest, as I am getting older, those words of Metz, "We are born human, and we spend our whole lives discovering what human means" are becoming more and more both a comfort and a challenge. The desert journey of Lent brings me face to face with a newness. Some of this "newness", I hurry to embrace. There is a "newness" I would prefer to not only deny, but hide from. Then the great guides of the past warns that without the acceptance, the loving embrace, there will be no reconciliation, and as a result, no transforming action. Here I have to keep before me the image of the rebellious son being embraced by his prodigal father. In that moving, compassionate encounter, the rebellious one is welcomed home. He is welcomed back to the place where he can again bask in the reality of him being the beloved son (daughter). This is the choice only you and I can make. It is our own personal choice. A choice that we make within the limitations the human condition places on us. There has not been enough information been given on all those outside forces that prevent us from performing healthy human acts. (All of those last words are the focus of moral theology.) We find it so, so easy to condemn, without any effort made to understand. Without understanding there is no real forgiveness, only condemnation, and shaming. We are now sliding down the greased slope to self destruction. In the Gospel of Mark we read that on His desert journey Jesus encountered wild beasts. He also encountered the ministering of angels. As we make the journey of the heart into the heart of the desert within we need to keep before us written by a Greek Saint, “The heart is only a small vessel yet dragons are there and lions; there are poisonous and all the treasures of evil, there are rough and uneven roads, there are precipices ; there too, are God and the angels; life is there and the kingdom is there, there too is light...and treasures of grace. In it is death, in it is life. All things lie within that. Little space. The only journey is the one within. Go now and do the heart-work on the images imprisoned within you ". (Rilke) On this awe-full, and at times terrifying, Lenten desert journey, we will meet, and sometimes have an encounter with the wild beats that prowl within us. We are also guaranteed the ministering of angels who are the manifestation of a caring , compassionate, prodigal Father/Mother God. "Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.” We are also guaranteed that we will never, that is NEVER, be tested beyond our strength. Each time I hike the desert trails it is always for the first time. It is always new. I have had some health challenges of late so I was not able to hike. When I resumed, the familiar trails were somewhat the same, yet they were different. We have some real great storms here in the deserts of Arizona. Those rains, led to runoffs that have brought about change. There have been changes within which raises the questions of, “what is doable for me right not?”. I will have to journey into that answer through the action of hiking. The limitations of age is a "desert experience" all on its own. There are then lessons to be learned, realities that will have to be, not liked, but accepted. Acceptance is a pain-full process. It involves a death to the ego, and its expectations. The desert is offering me challenges, it is also being the source of revelation. Revelations that will have a deeper meaning when I seek out The Presence of The Good Shepherd who is waiting for me. That revelation will come not in the places, people, or events I have dared to preordain. His presence will be revealed in those places He/She chooses. God does have a great sense of humor, even in the desert He can bring a smile to the face. Other times even a belly laugh, as we look back at how little plans and planning are blown to the place we are working to avoid. So the desert is always telling a different story. Look at many books have been written on, and about the desert. Louis L’Amour, one of my very favorite authors, has written many desert stories. Each with new heroes and heroines, scoundrels and villains. We each have a desert story to write. We will have a hero, that is you and I. You are the hero of your own story. There will also be scoundrels, ruffians and shady characters. All these are part of who we are. Lent provides with the opportunity to allow all of the previous realities to become real. For what purpose? To kill, destroy, fix, no, rather to become reconciled with. Reconciliation is a process, not an event. The process begins with confession. Confessing my need to encountered The Prodigal Father-God in the parts of me I hate, recoil from the most. Confession in the event that begins the process of reconciliation, which leads to a deeper union with ourselves, one another, and with the Living God of Jesus, who became The Christ.

Hard...To....Believe....To....Accept?

"What is God's will for me? " or "I wish I knew what God's will for me is.” How often we have heard those questions asked? Have we not asked those questions ourselves? The answer comes to us, through Him, Who is the living, personification of our God's will. A Presence, that is hidden and revealed within the same humanity you and I share. We have just completed the liturgical season that celebrates that mysterious reality. A reality that cannot be confined to time and space. Whenever we want to confine God, Mystery, to metrics, we are comfortable with, then we have created for ourselves, a false God, an idol. Idols are not life-givers, rather they sap us of our vitality, and leave us life-less and shriveled up. The more time we spend worshiping at their altars, the more we lose connection with the life-giving God, Jesus, the Prophet, came to reveal to us. As we grow in relationship with the revelation of The Living God, Who is Jesus The Christ, the more we will become aware of who we are, and Who we have been called to be as well as what we have been called to do. By our Baptism, we are confirmed in time that which has been our destiny since before the beginning of time. When we look at who we are, we must always keep before us, the eternal element. The Eternal Presence is our Beginning Point, our source of origin. We are not then to be confined by the language of time and space. We are beyond all of that. Since we are created in the image and likeness of God, and God cannot be fully understood by our finite mind, so we will never understand the mystery of who we are. We are however, again by our Baptism, being drawn into the Great Mystery. As a consequence, we are drawn ever deeper into the mystery of who we are. It is a journey into an answer. An answer that will never be complete, or satisfactory. We will have to wait for our return to our Origin when "we will know as we ourselves are known". In the meantime, we have to use our God given gift of common sense to flesh out what God's will is for us. We must constantly remind ourselves that In Baptism we were consecrated, set aside, to be the "contemporary Christ". Who is this Christ we are asked to be the living presence of? For what purpose did He come? What is the mission, the ministry that has been entrusted to us for continuation? This is how Jesus describes His, and now, our, God given mission: "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." While He walked among us in the flesh that was His Mission. His mission must now take flesh within us. As He was, so we are called to be, today. The following are the famous words penned by St.Theresa of Avila: “Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet but yours, yours are the eyes with which He looks with compassion on this world, yours are the feet with which He walks to do good, yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world, yours are the hands, yours are the feet, you are the eyes, you are His body. Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth on earth but yours, yours are the eyes with which He looks with compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours." WOW isn’t that something else? Is it not really difficult to get our little, finite minds around the mystery of God's will for us. It is a mystery that seems to be revealed, slowly, as we live a life that is sometimes mistakenly called an ordinary. How far from ordinary each life is. What mystery is hidden and revealed in each and every person, event and action. As we develop a reverence for the Christ dwelling within ourselves, we will become more ready to embrace the many disguises Christ now appears in. As we encounter and, through grace, embrace the living Christ in our own evolving poverty, we will become more ready to embrace His Presence in our many and varied encounters with poverty. What great transformation needs to take place in every level of church, and state so that the poor, the needy, the homeless, the alienated, may be comforted and consoled with the living, loving, enfleshed presence of the Risen Christ. In this Year of Faith each of us must accept the responsibility of throwing away all that is now acceptable, familiar, and secure. Let us dare to embrace the uncertainty of a real faith journey, knowing that when are embracing our deepest truth we will never have to journey, in fear, into the darkest of valleys. The presence of The Shepherding Christ will reach us, but in the way we expect that presence to appear. There is the covenant love, the unbreakable, personally committed commitment of Our Lover who will not, nor cannot lose sight of us. As it is with He/She and us, so it is for us to live lives that reflect that lived reality. "Life is not a problem to be solved, it is a mystery to be lived." We, then, are mysteries being drawn into a living spiritual unity.

After Christmas Epiphany....What?

The following is the letter I have recently sent to my friends. I would like to share it with you, my blog friends, as well…... January 2013 Dear Friends, With this wonder-full Feast of the Baptism of The Lord the curtain has been lowered on yet another Christmas-Epiphany Season. We can now put away all the decorations. As we closet those decorations, do we also lose sight of the great gifts that are to be celebrated every day, not just once a year? What is the new gift that has been gifted to you, because you have again journeyed, in faith, to Bethlehem. There was that old song, "Why can't Every day be Christmas Day?" Our enlightened and enlivened faith tells us that it is. Yep! You heard right, or need I say, you have read it right. Every day is not only Christmas Day, it is also Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving and on and on. This mystery of the life we are called to live has such depth, we have to break it down into manageable bite sizes. It must be broken down and fed to us so we are slowly and ever so gently drawn into the mystery of who we are. We are being called in every moment of every day to delve ever deeper into the mystery of who we are called to be, and who has done this calling. These questions slowly reveal to us that the Mystery of The Incarnation is alive and well as it makes its dwelling within us. As the mystery of who we are is entered into, so also is the mystery of The Living God is being explored. One cannot exist without the other. "We are not human beings in search of a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings IMMERSED in the human experience" (A new translation I just came across, neat?) Now we remind ourselves of what Metz wrote "We are born human, and we spend our whole lives discovering what human means," We have to journey through the sacrament of our humanity so as to encounter The Divine life within. That in itself is a wonder-full gift, but there is more. With Our God the gifts never stop. It is of the essence of Our Gracious God to be constantly giving. His creative love is operative in every aspect of our lives, that is, in each and moment in every moment of every day. Hence we have what is called the sacrament of the present moment. My prayer must be, "Lord grant that I might see Who You are, and who I am in your love." Jesus, Who became The Christ, hears, at His Baptism, these awe-full, wonder-full words: "You are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased." These words are directed to you and I as well. Each and every one of us is "the beloved" daughter/son. As beloved, we are loved without condition, restriction, or reservation. We have the great burden of never being able to earn, deserve, or qualify for the gifts bestowed on us as beloved. Unfortunately we do not hear enough, or reflect enough on who we are, as seen through the lens of God's, gracious love. This is the love in which we find our origin. This is the love that is our destiny, This is the love we seek, and unfortunately never find on our journey through this "vale of tears." The place where The Incarnation continues is within. Yes! in some Mysterious way the Divine is perfectly, hidden and revealed in our broken humanity. Not in our perfectionism is the Divinity revealed, it is in our powerlessness, and our brokenness that this miracle takes place. This is a description of our personal Bethlehem. (This takes tremendous honesty.) Our Savior is revealed, again and again in our weakness, not in our strength. This the great gift of the spiritual journey. On this mysterious journey, that at times makes no sense, we are in the daily process of discovering the powerlessness of power and the power of powerlessness(Rohr). The prophet Jesus came that we would have life and have it to the fullest. To have that fullness we must make sure we do not get caught up in the dis-ease that comes with perfectionism. Which is the denial of the Authentic Identity into which we have been immersed. "In order to go on living, one must ..escape the death involved in perfectionism.(Arendt.) The latter negates the need for a savior and our journey to enter Bethlehem. We must claim our belovedness in every moment of the life we are given to lead. As we are the beloved so is each and every person we meet, or encounter. Hidden behind what is seen is The Unseen, and Unseeable. Are we open to the many, many epiphanies that are part and parcel of this so called "human journey." Are we selective where we will look for the revelation of The Presence? WE are to "be alert" as our God breaks into our lives through the most unlikely people, and the most embarrassing of circumstances. We have to discover that in spite of what many may say God does have a sense of humor. As I get older I am becoming more aware of This Trickster. This is The Year of Faith. We are encouraged to rediscover the wonder-full gifts that come to us through the lens of a life giving faith in order to accomplish this we must take the risk of letting go the familiar. This is why this letter is coming at this time. Also to learn it is by reflection, our deepest truth is always being revealed to us. I like that idea we live our life looking forward, but we understand looking backwards. Looking back at the recent, Advent-Christmas-Epiphany Season, what new understanding leads you to a more lively and enlivened life of faith? Has the gift given a new meaning to the liturgies you celebrate? Thank you for your kind remembrances during this past season of mystery. It feels great to be remembered. I thank you for being part of my life, and for allowing me to be a part of yours. You have been a source of nourishment and encouragement in the difficult, challenging times. There are more ahead as I am faced with the challenge of my aging body. That get up and go, has pretty much got up and disappeared over the horizon. So a new way of living is being adjusted to. I do not have to like this new reality, I just have to learn acceptance, acceptance is a process. Thank God this is a process that is directed by grace. "I believe, help my disbelief" is a daily prayer. Also Merton's, "God I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead. Nor do I really know myself ...." This past summer, I only drove 7600 miles but I did hike many more miles than usual. I was able to check off a number of my bucket list items. However, my summer plans for this year are in flux because of health challenges. This year I will, hopefully celebrate my 50th anniversary of ordination on June 8th. At times I am shocked by this reality, isn't grace wonderful. The blog, is now bi-weekly, mostly. I was truly shocked recently, when I googled my name to see what appeared!!! I am now on Google News. How I got there I do not know!!!!! I have a book of the blogs, "Soul Searching" almost ready to go to print. It will also be an e-book. Say a prayer. May the richness of the past season be a lived reality for you. May it deepen the mystery of who you are, and the mystery hidden within the people, places, and events of your Incarnational living. May your presence be an epiphany for those blessed with an encounter with your deepest reality. (I'm sorry this demands great honesty) May the Gentle Presence of The Christ Child be the gentle transforming power in your life. May all who share your life, be led to desire the fullness of Life through you. What a mystery what a sacrament you are called to be. Blessings, to and on all. Fr. Joe. P.S. Do you like this idea? Or need it be one, and done?

This...Child...Is...Dangerous...Be Warned.

"By reason of creation,and still more by reason of The Incarnation there is nothing profane, for the one, who knows how to see." These are the profound words of deChardin. Then we can add these words of St.Francis, "Everything that is,is to be adored." G.M.Hopkins chimes in with, "All of creation is charged with the splendor of God." "In every winters heart lies a quivering spring,behind the veil of each night waits a smiling dawn" is Gibran's gift to us. Were it not for The Incarnation,and all those events that followed that mysterious event,such wisdom would not be ours. As we reflect, ever anew, on one of The Five Supernatural Mysteries of our faith, we are drawn into an ever newer,enlightened,enlivened faith. A faith that triggers awe, wonder, and excitement. As we allow ourselves to be gently guided by creative Spirit into a knowledge and acceptance of who we really are, because of The Incarnation. We must also be very aware, be very conscious of our everyday participation in this Mystery as well. The Incarnation continues to become real,in the reality of our ever so ordinary lives. God does not need great dramatic events through which He reveals to all creation, who He is. Through each and every real event of our daily lives God is continuing that which was began on that first Christmas night. Back then God used very ordinary people,and places to be the instruments of His revelation. As it was, so it is, and ever shall be. Without interruption through good times, and so-called bad times our God continuously reveals Himself. As each moment, we live, is a new moment, a virginal moment, so the revelation that is given to us is, ever new. Nothing is repeated in God's creation. Is it not something to be excited about, that we are always part of something new? No two moments are ever exactly the same. In this "ever newness" is both hidden and revealed our ongoing understanding of God becoming a human being. This continuation of The Incarnation happens in and through the everyday healthy human actions of our lives. We are Mary, male and female alike. God became a human being through the "Yes" of Mary. By our repeated "Yes" to the reality of the life we encounter, The Mystery Of The Incarnations continues. This is each and every persons dignity. I love the following words of Thomas Merton, "Make ready for The Christ whose smile like lightening sets free the song of everlasting glory that now sleeps in our paper flesh like dynamite". That gently,loving smile,must be claimed by us, as directed only to us. To Him who loves us ,we are His only beloved son/daughter. Never cease to embrace,to claim, again and again this fact, you are the beloved. That you are loved uniquely. There is no other love like the love relationship that has ALWAYS existed between you and your Beloved Father/Mother. From His womb you have sprung. Please believe this IS who you have been, are now, and ever shall be through all eternity. So it will by this radical action,you will triggering the "dynamite". The more radical the acceptance,the greater the power released to transfigure and transform. By this I mean, the more we have to struggle through the toxic trinity, guilt, fear, and shame, to the acceptance of being the beloved the greater the grace explosion. Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. These words of scripture become a lived experience. This truth ats us free,to become who are called to be,the "contemporary "Christ. Christ we know from the scriptures is The Beloved Son. Each and every one of us because of our participation in His divine nature through Baptism,we too are beloved daughter/son. This may help as we think about heaven and hell. We have made it so easy to go to hell, and so difficult to go to heaven. It is the other way round. It is so difficult to go to hell, and so easy to go to heaven.We are the beloved, or we are not. As the beloved, we too, hear those words, "You are my beloved Son,in you I am well pleased". We must not make the horrible mistake of thinking that our way of thinking in any way is a reflection of God's way of thinking,or judging. This is why God to share fully in the human condition to the point of suffering and death. He wanted to blow out of the water the idea that there is no similarity between the knowledge that comes from our unaided reason with the infinite length,depth, and breath of Him Who is our Beloved. Love had to become Incarnate,love had to become a human being,so that human beings could embrace the reality that they are loved with a merciful love. This merciful love that cannot be experienced in this life. The love of fellow humans just mirrors,gives us a taste,of the infinite love from which we came, and as a consequence is true home. We will never be at rest in this ,"our passing dwelling." Let us be agents of The Living God, in other words, angels, trumpeting the Good News. We must be the vices that proclaim there is a Savior in our world. He dwells among us. He dwells within us,and He is always with us. He is truly Emmanuel. He is,The Light, that darkness cannot overcome. We as individuals, couples, families, family of nations, need to be reminded again, and again of this reality. We are human and as such get discouraged. Did not Jesus, who became the Christ become discouraged, and more than once? So we are to drawn from His resolve never to give up but accompany Him on His journey, down the road,to Jerusalem. There The child Jesus, grown to manhood,through His suffering,death, and resurrection, became The Christ of God. In this way He fulfilled His destiny and accomplished His God given mission. For this He was born, for this He came into the world. It is no different for us, who follow Him. As it was,so it is, and ever shall be. My sincerest wish for you is that as you journey through this Christmas-Epiphany Season the awe-fullness, the wonder-fullness that is hidden and revealed in each and every moment,may explode on you like dynamite.

Thought....For....2012.

"You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience, you are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience." In those words, deChardin, sums up for us, real succinctly, the reality, the inherent mystery, hidden and revealed in the moment we call, "The Eternal Now". Human and spiritual, two seemingly contradictory realities, are to be sought out, and embraced, lovingly, by each one of us. Both, are to be loved in all their pain, joy, light, darkness, until through grace they become a unity within each one of us. This is the only way to wholeness, holiness. This loving is not easy. If it were easy, and we could do it naturally, why does our God have to make it a commandment? This is not easy commandment to obey. It is no walk in the park. It is however, the path we are invited to trudge, the mountain trail we are challenged to ascend. Left to our own selfish way of living we would never choose such a challenge. Yet, there is something inherent within each of us that draws us to seek and to search, endlessly. As a consequence, we are all seekers. We are all searchers. We are all on a quest. For what? We are not certain. All we know is there is an attraction that we respond to. A silent call that beacons us to leave the comfort, and security of where we are, i.e. Abraham. Like Abraham, our Father in faith, we hear, and off we go. Is there immediate success? The answer is a definite, NO. Success is NOT what this climb/hike is about. It is all about perseverance. It is all about putting one foot in front of the other. Ever vigilant to all that is. Why? Because, in the moment we are making that step all the strength I need is being given to me. This strength, God's grace, is communicated, NOT in the way I expect, but in the way our Gracious Father God deems best at that particular time. God's love is always particular, passionate, and persistent. She/He is prodigal, that is reckless in the way He/She lavishes infinite love upon you, and I. We cannot earn. We cannot somehow do something by which we deserve this unconditioned love. It is pure gift. All we can do is be humble enough to accept. We are encouraged not to look for rewards. Success is not what we are to be concerned with. We have to battle with the human need to know we are on the right path. Doing the right thing, doing the next healthy thing is the right path. Our path is not the path of certainty, rather, we are journeying into uncertainty. Who wants that? The answer! Those who have been chosen . Do you somehow have to be a "good person", no. One author points out that God seems to choose habitual sinners to make this mysterious journey. We sinners are graced in a way that is not ours to know. As the scriptures reveal to us that the things of God no man/woman knows. Only the Spirit. (First Cor.2:4). On this quest are many starts, stops, falls, and restarts. Those are a necessary part of the reality we have to face. Each time we encounter a hiccup, we just start up again. From all of our hiccups we gain experience, and knowledge. When we bring all that we are encountering to prayer, then we are gifted, through grace, with wisdom. Unfortunately, that is the only way we can grow in the wisdom, that is life giving. There are, then, many and varied obstacles to be met and overcome. It is not for the faint of heart. It is not for those who are easily discouraged. It is for those who are prepared, or are willing to be readied, for a journey into realities that radically change their perception of reality. As a consequence their perception of themselves, others, the world and God will be radically changed. This change will not be measured by some accepted metric. The change will come slowly, and ever so gently. When does this happen, and how will we know it is happening. It is happening right now, "do you not perceive it"? It is happening in this now moment, and will continue in each and every, "right now" moments of your life. Each moment is complete, yet, at the same time incomplete. To each moment there is the present, and the "yet to come". In this "yet to come" God's creative love, and will be acting, just as it is, right now. This gentle creative love is bring to birth, not who I think I should be, or I am expected to be. God's love is recreating me into the one God knows and loves, without condition or restriction? Amazingly this leads discomfort and to discontent. The reality of who I am in God's infinite love is way beyond my limited thoughts, and ideas. So there is a struggle. It is more than a struggle, it is a war. What I want has to do with my comfort as a human being. I am, in my as yet unredeemed humanity, geared for power, property, and prestige. I am at "my" best when I am winning in the world of control, comparisons ,and competition. Loss, failure, disappointment, these are words not allowed to be part of my vocabulary. They are forbidden to be given the light of day. Darkness is their friend. When this is our reality we are subtly being lead away from our personal Bethlehem, and our encounter with The Real Light. We will have to ask for the deepening honesty that will free us for the encounter. The encounter that radically changes everything. How does this happen? I wish I knew. We must never lose sight of the fact that we are dealing with mystery. A mystery that is beyond our ability to understand, as we are right now. That is why each year we have the celebration of The Incarnation. Each year we are led deeper into the mystery of The Infinite God being revealed to us as a fully human being. Our God Came to be like us in every way, except sin, and what love He, in and through the person of Jesus lavished on sinners. As it was, so it is and ever shall be, until the end of time. The person of the historical Jesus comes to us, again and again, to draw us deeper into the Mystery of God made human. The reason? So, we will be led to discover that within us, in our deepest reality, that same God that once entered this world is fashioning a dwelling place. This dwelling place is to be found in the depths of who we are. We are chosen to be Mary. We have been blessed with an "inner pregnancy". As we struggle with the birthing of who we really, we are at the same time revealing in a new and unique way, the Child Jesus. In The Child, the divine and the human are perfectly revealed and hidden. We are invited to enter the mystery so as to seek out that which will empower us to be instruments of lasting peace. Him who came as The Prince of Peace now relies on us to be instruments of His peace, and confront the hell of war. All war finds it roots within the human heart. We are challenged to imitate the life of Him who was both totally human and divine. In this imitation slowly and ever so gently the split within our so human heart is healed. This is why we again, and again, trudge the road to the Bethlehem within, always for the first time. There is a Christmas song ,that no matter how often I hear it, it stops me. "So this is Christmas, and what have you done...? So this is Christmas 2012 and what am I doing to make this year's celebration a new and a more vital life enhancing experience? What am I doing to discover, in a new way, my personal Bethlehem and there have an encounter with the Mary, the Joseph, the shepherds, the angels, The Wise Men, who are present in my life right now? To complete the Christmas pageant within. I must also ask for the honesty to face the Herod within!!! Now that real courage. If I am not working to enhance the spiritual ten I will be a death dealer rather than a life giver. There is a Herod within our families, parishes, church, and society. A power for destruction that must be faced, and countered. The religious leaders of that time knew the answers, but did not get to Bethlehem. They had the answers, they had the knowledge, but the journey to The Vulnerable One was never made. I wonder that is why is was so easy for them to conspire, with the successor of Herod kill The Man, This Child matured into? The journey to Bethlehem, is a journey of the heart. We are told: if we do not find spirit of Christmas within our hearts, we will not find it under a tree. May you all be blessed with the strengthen, and courage to make that so difficult trudge to The Crib within. May you find there peace, and consolation. May you embrace, without any fear, The Vulnerable Child within. May that embrace release within you all that is necessary for you to come to the belief that the human and the divine are at peace in the depths of who you are. That is your right. That is your dignity. That is the essence of who you are, protect it as if you were defending The Christ Child, which in fact you are. Wonder-ffffuuuullllll.

To...Bethlehem...Or Not...To...Bethlehem...???

I recently met a very excited young couple. The reason for the excitement? They were thrilled to inform me that their expectant child is to be born on Christmas Eve. Wow!!! What a gift, for them and for all those who will be participate in that wonder-full event. Each and every birth are moments full of awe, full of mystery. Over these many years I have spoken with many of those special people whose vocation is to assist at births. They have spoken of how each birth is such a unique experience for them. There is a newness about each birth. Why and why not? Each new birth is the emergence of God in a new and different reality. Each child is a mystery. A mystery never to be solved, always to be revered. This new mysterious presence is, the incarnation of the love of mom and dad, and a new manifestation of the God, who is, Love. Each child then, and consequently each one of us, continues The Mystery of The Incarnation. The Mystery, whose reality we are preparing ourselves to celebrate. Preparation is a necessary prerequisite when dealing with the appearance of new life. As it was, so it is ,and ever shall be. The young couple, and their families, are making serious preparations for the coming birth. Their hard work, is a labor of love. Nothing will be left to chance. They have been blessed with the knowledge of the approximate time of this child's appearance. They will not be caught unaware. (Note I have said, "approximate time". New babies have no idea of what time is all about. That burden will be imposed on them at a later date. How blessed are those children not confined with the tyranny of time. How really free, they are. How blessed, their lives.) This begs the question, what form are our preparations taking, so that we will be prepared for The Birth, that is to come. Each year is a new birthing, so each year, we must be prepared anew. Preparation is essential, so that The Birth, which gives infinite meaning to all subsequent births, may not pass us by, unrecognized, and consequently, not celebrated. In the event we choose not to prepare to celebrate, we will slowly loose our reverence for the mystery our life is. We are being exposed to the callous way persons and their life are treated. Left to our own devices, we will slowly loose our connection with The Source, Who gives real meaning to all life. Because of the pain that we are in, we do not think in a healthy manner. All sorts of dysfunction appears. We will strike out at everyone, and everything. We will even go so far as to blame people, places, situations, and even God, for what our inaction brings on us. It is so much easier to blame others, rather than look inside and take responsibility for what is really our own doing. Real growth begins when we stop playing the blame game and grow up. This is a sign we are on the way to growing up, we are taking responsibility for our actions. I did not like to be confronted with that fact. I did not like being in the position where I had nobody to blame, only myself. I had to grow up, and take responsibility. This process of taking responsibility is a life-long challenge. I still like to play blame game, but I am not able to get away with it. Working on becoming healthy has its disadvantages. Honesty can be a real pain. Who really wants to grow up. It is so much fun in being the "puer aeternus". Becoming the "senex" is tough work. There is a lot of death, and resurrections. It takes one deep inside to face the darkness, and beyond that the life giving Light. This is the Year of Faith. A year we are asked to journey anew in the depths of our faith, so as to discover, hidden treasure. Hidden treasures that up to now have been stashed away in the darkness of our depths. It takes reckless courage, (Yeats), a gift of grace, to make that journey. What is discovered is not for ourselves, it is to be shared. It is to be shared so that others may be blessed with the desire to go deep as well. We, in one sense, become beacons of light. This light radiates from within the actions of our daily lives. These actions speak words of encouragement, peace, kindness, mercy, tenderness, compassion, and mutual respect to a world in deep need for such empowering gifts. These gifts empower us to grow in the acceptance of what it means to be human. It also awakens the desire that others may grow into that same gift. The more we become at home within our humanity, the more ready we are to accept the true dignity of who we have been chosen to be. We will more readily accept the dignity inherent of all human beings. This inherent dignity is that The Infinite God, has chosen each and every person to be an essential part of His continuous creation. The Incarnation, creation, continues through each and every so called ordinary, daily action. In our God's world, there is no ordinary. In God's creation, everything is an original. It may appear to be ordinary, but the x-ray eye of faith tells us different. Our inner dignity can only be discovered through inner reflection. In the process of reflection we will come face to face with not only that which brings us peace and joy. It also forces us to face the unacceptable, the unloveable, those parts we recoil from, as we would an enemy. We must not shy away from this so uncomfortable reality. Why? Simply put, but very disturbing, this is our Bethlehem in 2012. This is where the Savior of our deepest weaknesses will be revealed. The weaknesses and brokenness of this year are new and different, are they not? It stands to reason then that our conscious decision to embrace The Savior must be both new and different. We have never journeyed to this Bethlehem, so a new and different understanding of what it means to have a Savior awaits us. We have to make that journey. It cannot be done for us. We are responsible for the individual journey to, encounter. In the celebration of the encounter with The Mystery, we discover we are not alone. All our fellow human beings are on the same quest. May This Year of Faith encourage a deeper appreciation of the knowledge and wisdom that comes to us from the enfleshment of The Infinite One. May His humble, earthly beginnings lead us to a healthy, comforting ,real-life giving relationships. Beginning with ourselves, may we discover, through our reflection on who this Vulnerable newborn Child, a sense that our vulnerability is not to be shunned, but embraced. This embrace will allow us to discover this strange, stunning, and subversive truth. A truth The Incarnate God came to reveal. It is within the embrace of the un-embraceable, unacceptable an indescribable power, which up to now was, unknown is now released within us. Into the darkness of our night, Light has shone, and.........."

The...Human...Face...Of...God.

Last week, I ended with facing the challenge that flows from our encounter with "the living person of Christ". On further reflection, this is where hiking comes in, it came to me that I left out a few very important words. It would have been more real, more true, if I had written "an encounter with the living person of the historical Jesus, Who became the Christ of God”. It has been many years since I was introduced to the following challenging reality. In so far as I have a healthy, spiritual understanding of the historical Jesus, will I be able to encounter the real, risen Christ. It is the historical Jesus having passed through His, suffering, death, burial and resurrection, who became, and is The Christ of God. Jesus, before He became the Christ, asked His disciples this question, "Who do you say that I am?". We, as the living disciples, have to answer that question as well. There is no getting around it. How we answer will have such a profound effect on our own lives, and as a consequence, the lives of so many more. This Jesus of history is, The Sacrament of God. He is the fullness of the revelation of The Eternal, The Infinite and The Ineffable One. Within His humanity and as consequence within our humanity as well, is both hidden and revealed the human qualities of The Transcendent God. From our study of The Gospels we will come to know the person whose life was spent, walking, talking, crying, being angry, scared, laughing and feasting. What a wonder-full face of God is revealed to us in the real life of the God made human. To add to His authenticity as a human being, He endured trial, failure, betrayal, abandonment, crucifixion and ultimately, like all us humans death. Yet, in and through, all these events He was The Beloved, just are we are. We will gradually grow in our understanding of the human qualities of our Father God through our ever-deepening knowledge of the Jesus of History. Remember His words to Thomas, "If you have seen me, you have seen The Father”. These qualities are essential for healthy and freeing, living out of the relationship that is ours with our Father God. There is so much unnecessary fear and anxiety when it comes to the relationship that exists between God and Human creation. A fear that is so often based on ignorance, not on the true reality. In order to allay our fears we are invited to enter, ever new, into the mystery off The Incarnation. That is the mystery of the enfleshing of God. When we choose not to enter the mystery of God entering the human condition there are serious consequences. As a result, we will always be settling for less than what our God has intended us to have. We will just eek out an existence, rather than live life and live it to the fullest. We are cheating. We are cheating ourselves, our God and all of His creation. I am not allowing my full potential to be realized. When that happens, I will a life of deep frustration and blame God for that which is. The longer I am around, the more I realize so much of what is said and taught about God is pure heresy. It is false, but it fits into someone's narrow thinking of who they are and as a consequence who their god is. We are always warned not to make God in our image and likeness. The reality is, we are made according to God's image and likeness. Big difference??? There is a whale of a difference between those two realities. As a consequence, so many live a life that God in no way intended any person to live. Yet, that life is embraced so often as "God's will", when indeed it is the very opposite. The sicker our thinking is the more outlandish is the false god that we create. There are so many idols being worshiped leading to a growing skepticism when it comes to religion. I have listened to so many stories spoken by those who have real trouble with God and religion. They open up about the god they do not believe in.. I do not know how many times I have said, "I do not believe in that god either", much to their amazement. Why do I agree? Well there are so many idols that need to be destroyed. This destruction is not a simple process. It demands great effort fortified with great grace. There is great fear in letting go of the familiar, no matter how destructive it is. No one that I know has found it easy to let go of old ideas. Especially when it comes to God and religion. We want certainty not uncertainty. In doing so, we are rejecting the possibility of having a real life of faith. A life that is full of highs and lows, success and failure, joys and sorrows, deaths and rebirths. All these were found in their fullness, in the life of the Jesus of History. He saw what was happening within His faith, and His society. He had to challenge the leaders of His faith. He confronted those in charge of the laws, teachings, and traditions with a new reality. Rather than accept this new truth, they conspired, with the secular powers, to destroy Him. Looking through the lenses of one reality they were successful. Their success in bringing about His so called destruction, only unleashed upon all of creation a new way of seeing, leading to a new way of being. In the death of the Jesus of history, the Christ of faith found life. So that He who was like unto us in all things except sin, has become the source of strength for us, sinners. He, because of His great loss, is now our Way, our Truth, our Life. We face the constant, daily struggle to reflect in our broken, and, as yet, not fully redeemed, humanity the fullness of His humanity. The more often we encounter The Risen Christ in the ritual sacraments the more we are becoming His contemporary reality and so we are fulfilling our unique destiny. This week, I propose the following imperative of Anthony Padavano, and this challenge still rings true for us today, "We must make Jesus human, and make ourselves as human as He was."( Dawn Without Darkness )

Real and Lasting...Happiness

In the last post, I referenced the Pope's resent letter in which he spoke about "the need to rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ". What we are being asked to do, is to become more aware of who we are by our Baptism. In This Sacrament of Initiation, we are anointed by the oil of chrism so as to become sharers in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. That same anointing also consecrates us, calls us forth, to be the ones who are to continue Prophetic Mission of same Jesus Christ. We are called to be, as He was, fearless prophets. We are to be prophets, messengers of hope. We are a resurrection people, are we not? As such, we are all, by our consecration, called to spear words of encouragement to a world that has lost sight of its original blessing. God saw all that He had made and indeed it was very good. That essential goodness was not lost in the fall. Humankind lost something in the fall. The essential goodness of all of the rest of creation was in no way diminished. As it was before the fall, so it was after the fall. Humankind was changed. Nature was not. Fallen humankind lost its vision of real truth. As a consequence, all the rest of creation was, and is, to the present day, in grave danger. All of creation is in danger of being destroyed by those who have lost sight of that which has real and lasting value. We are being called and challenged to look beyond what is seen, to the life that is unseen. We are asked to let go of the certainties, so as to embrace the challenge that is inherent in the new, as yet, unanswered questions. We are never alone on this real journey of faith. The Holy Spirit, the same Spirit Who hovered over the original chaos is with us, and will never desert us. We may, and do question the workings of the Spirit. This is healthy, and good. Prophets do not pay lip service. They question, because they really care. The truth has nothing to fear from questions. The truth is always the truth, and a sacrament of, The Truth, God. Jesus The Christ was sent to us as The Truth. The fullness of the revelation of God. That is why the Pope encourages us to encounter Christ. I may be so bold as to add the encounter is to be with the living Person Of Jesus Christ. You can only have an encounter with that which is alive. In the '60s there was a book called "Good old plastic Jesus”. I kept it close for many years until it fell apart. “Plastic” Jesus, it was pointed, was and is, a thing. We used to see him on the dashboards of cars, not the place for an encounter. An encounter is not just meeting a person. It demands more than a passing conversation. An encounter demands of us time, presence, attention, respect, honesty, mutual trust, leading to shared feelings. Implicit in the encounter is the willingness to continue the relationship even through the storms that will inevitably occur. Storms are part and parcel of every real relationship. Storms, challenges reveal to each of us, who we really are. At times we are not ready of the truth. Life is so much easier when we are in denial. Denial lasts for so long. Eventually we are forced to face our truth. The truth will set us free…..but first, it will tee off the ego, the false self. The result is out and out war. Our greatest ally is truth. From our experience, with encounters we will have what it takes to get gut honest with The Source of all strengths and healing. We will be led to a different, and deeper understanding, of the seven ritual sacraments. They are Sacraments spelled with a big "S". I like to think a Ritual Sacrament as :the opportunity to encounter the living person of Jesus Christ, the result of which change takes place in my life and that change is brought about by the power of The Holy Spirit. The result of each encounter is change. NOT the change we want, or we think is best for us. The Holy Spirit will transfigured and transform into the creation God intended us to be, not who we would like to be, or the person we think we should be, or ought to be. Being who God has created us to be is the source of real and lasting happiness. It will be the cause of great disquiet in our lives. In these tough times, we are to make an act of faith in the Real Presence of our Good Shepherd God. The valley of darkness lasts for only so long. We journey through the valley of questioning and rejection guided by the light of inner and lasting truth. This truth is slowly revealed. The beauty of this inner truth is revealed again, and again, in each mountain top, resurrection experience. With each encounter, we will be challenged to reflect, through a new set of lenses, who the living person of Jesus Christ really is. This will lead to what?

Year...Of...Faith...A...Challenge

I have returned from my wanderings and hope my wonder-rings will continue. I have left behind, but carry in precious memory, the wonder-full sights. The sights and sounds of the fountains created by spouting of whales. Those awe-full, mystery filled moments, as I was privileged to walk among the redwood giants. To be almost overwhelmed with the crackling silence that is part and parcel of that experience. How great it is to be able to be immersed in the rain forests, and be caught up in the hidden mysteries their existence communicates. Then there is the symphonic sounds of the surf. There is the gentle adagio of lapping waves which lulls one to sleep. Then there is the majestic, thundering sounds of the angry, crashing surf. Two sides of the same reality. As with nature, so it is with you and I. Reminds one of what it means to be a spiritual being having a spiritual experience. The more we are drawn to the reverence of nature, the more we drawn into an ever deepening reverence for life as we are privileged to live it. We will no longer find ourselves just existing, but having life and "having it to the fullest". So spoke The God-Man, Jesus Christ. In this way, we are entering the life our God has intended us to live, as revealed by His Beloved Son. I have returned to the familiar, yet mysterious desert landscapes. As I return, I find myself more open to their uniqueness, and the new lessons to be learned. Are we ever too old to drawn into mystery? I am now more ready to be taught new lessons in a place which is so ancient and so new. As I hike ancient trails, both here and away from Arizona, I get caught up in a wondering that goes as follows. Who was the first to blaze this particular trail? Was it man, or was an animal? So many of the highways and byways we travel were first travelled by animals. Humans came and followed the trail they had worn from their everyday, and every season wanderings. Did they realize that what was common, and so ordinary for them, was a beginning of something that would have lasting effects. Many of those trails which were so common are now ways that allow thousands upon thousands, to experience places of great awe, and deep wonder. Most of those who have gone before, The Ancients, The First People, remain largely unknown, and so many, are long forgotten. The results of their labors nourish us, as they have nourished all those who followed them. We are the beneficiaries of their efforts and sacrifices. This is, ever and always, the story of all of creation, and in particular, the human race. Into this story has entered The Divine God, and so we now view all history as salvation history. A history story that is "ever ancient and ever new". A story that tells of, the easy it was, the way it is, and the excitement of looking forward to the future with greater hope for ourselves and for all of creation. Not just have humanity, but for all creation. This will only happen on the condition that we are always having our lenses of faith adjusted, so we are able to see The Real, God, The Divinity, revealed in all that is. You and are being asked, no, not asked, challenged, to enter “The Year of Faith” so as to rediscover the hidden beauty, and the rich meanings that are hidden from ordinary sight. We are asked to enter that which is "ever ancient and ever new" so as to find the trigger that will release a torrent of good news. This torrent good news will of itself trigger a new evangelization. A new outpouring of good, revitalizing, revivifying news which will bring new hope and confer deeper meaning to our wounded, and troubled world. We are the inhabitants of world that has lost its sense of the sacred, and its reverence for mystery. We constantly hear the prophets of doom preach their self originating message of hopelessness, and helplessness. To counteract theses efforts we are, not only this year but always, to deepen our sense of the sacredness of all that is. The seen and the unseen has The Creator as their source of being. (Hence, their sacredness.) We are being challenged to sharpen our lenses so the presence of mystery becomes more and more part of all that we do, and are. Where you stand is ALWAYS a holy place. Our ancestors in faith were deeply aware of the presence of the sacred in all of the so called "ordinary' people, places, and actions, of their day. In the deepest sense they were a sacramental people. That is sacrament with a small "s". I like to think that sacrament with a small "s"; Is each and every person, place, event, action that brings us closer to the realities of life, and ultimately to Reality Itself. That Reality is called God. I have always treasured the following prayer of St. Augustine. I hope you will find it to be a direction prayer for this Year of Faith. I read it first back in 1957, just after entering the seminary. "Late have I loved Thee, O beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you. For behold You were within me, and I was outside; and I sought you outside in my ugliness fell upon those lovely things You made. You were with me but I was not with You. I was kept from you by those things….You called out and cried to me and broke upon my deafness, and sent forth Your light and shone upon me and chased away my blindness….I tasted You and now I hunger for You and thirst for You; You touched, and I burned for Your peace. "As it was with St. Augustine so it has been with so many over the centuries, and is true in our world today. Augustine had St. Monica for his journey. We are all called to be beacons of light, bearers of good news. We are asked to respond to the Pope as he encourages us, "to rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ”. (Porta Fidei)

Towards...A...New...Gospel..

"Climb the mountain and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The wind will blow their freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like falling leaves." John Muir one of the wildernesses greatest champion penned this many years ago. Today, more than ever we desperately need to take his advice. We as individuals, families and nation are in great need of a source of peace. A source that will touch our, hearts, souls and minds. A source that will be available to all and at a great price. Mother nature surrounds us with her many, many gifts. These vivifying, transforming gifts are offered to each of us free of charge. Are these gifts always accepted? Unfortunately, no, is the sad answer. As human beings we are endowed with the gift of free will. We for our part , have been given the freedom to enjoy, celebrate or ignore. Why is it that these gifts are so ignored? Very simple these wonder-full gifts have become so familiar, we have lost the ability and the desire to delve into the wonder, The Mystery both hidden and revealed in that which is real. We, as members of the human race ,of our essence, are religious. (Again, this is what I had to learn early on in the priesthood: "You do not put religion into humankind, you create that which will free that which is already within. As it was so it is, and ever shall be.) We all called to encounter The Mystery, The Real. Because of this encounter we are slowly led to an ever deepening awareness of the sacredness of, the real. We will be drawn into an ever deeper encounter with the mystery that lies deep within. If it lies deep within, then it only stands to reason we will have to go deep. Nothing of value will come to us unless the take that risk of plunging into the depths. We will also come to realize we are somehow hardwired, designed, programmed for this inner journey. It is our real destiny and the real source of our peace and happiness. Apart from this journey there is no lasting peace, there is no lasting happiness. I really enjoy the following words of Bishop Desmond Tutu, spoken in 1994. "We were made to enjoy music, to enjoy beautify sunsets, to enjoy beautiful sunsets, to enjoy looking at the billows of the sea and to be thrilled with a rose that is bedecked with dew…Human beings are actually created for the transcendent, for the sublime, for the beautiful, for the truth-full…and all of us are given the task of trying to make this world a little more hospitable to these beautiful things." Blessed Mother Theresa is quoted as saying; "We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature-trees, flowers, grow in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls." All of the above is good news. This is the good news that must be announced, broadcasted to our desperate world. This is one aspect of The New Evangelization we are now being introduced to. More on that in the weeks to come. Our world is desperate, just as we are, for that which will connect the reality of the human experience, with The Sacred, Who The Source of all reality. This connection will release a new sense of wholeness. A new sense of holiness, leading to celebrations that celebrate the presence of The Sacred in all that is. We then will no longer have liturgies, celebrations without soul. These community celebrations will speak to the depths of our being. We will become more and more at home with who we are, what is happening in our immediate universe. These celebrations will foster a faith, renewed belief in the goodness of all that is. We will begin to see our world, and all creation through a new set of lenses. We will accept our dignity, and responsibility to be so-creators, and co-perfectors on an ever evolving creation. This may sound like a dream, right? No this is not a dream. This is the reality that can be ours as when we let go of fear and trust the Holy Spirit as it blows ever new over what we may seem to be chaos. The Spirit, unfettered by the restrictions imposed by the fear-full, works wonders with, and within the chaos. The Spirit has been dealing with chaos since the beginning of time, right? Is it not until we accept, surrender to that terrible reality that we are powerlessness over the chaos of our lives will we ever enter into that place where the Spirit is free to make all things new. Not give us anything new. Our lives will be somewhat the same, only somehow different. It takes time to adjust to the newness, for ourselves, and those who sure our lives. If this process does not happen then that which comes to us from the Cree Nation will become our personal reality and the cosmic reality; "Only when the last river has been polluted, and the last tree has been cut, and the last fish has been caught, will we realize we cannot eat money."

Get....Lost....and Find

Into the winter of my memories, the thoughts that spring from the springtime of others, become that which brings about renewal, refreshment and revitalization. This is an experience that is so difficult to express in words. Why? Because words, at least the words I know, are so limited and limiting. All words are limited by definition. Definition springing from the finite mind of human beings. Fr. Rohr says at one time we had the language to communicate the deep reality within, but we lost that language. This is part of our present-day poverty. So for me to communicate, with confidence, that which is my depths I must rely on the thoughts and the wisdom of others. "The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferrable. From them comes silence and awe. It's not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift any vary under your eyes, no, they are not like ant trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time." That is the famous quote of John Steinbeck after his visit to the Redwoods. I followed in his footsteps this summer, as I have done a number of previous summers. I have taken a great number of photos of that place of mystery, awe and wonder. I was wounding why I was never satisfied with any of those pictures. Now I realize, after reading that quote, I was attempting to capture the timeless through an action in time. A fool’s errand. This summer I was privileged to wander through, and wonder at, the Redwoods near Eureka,California. The silence was truly amazing. It was, to build on Steinbeck, awe-full, wonder-full. I described it as “a silence that crackled". That is a contradiction in terms. That is a paradox. How often have we been told that paradoxes stretch us, and bring us to a place we otherwise would never go to. Now add mist and you are really taken to another reality. A reality we in the desert cannot relate to. There is no way to describe the feelings and emotions as one journeys along the trail that leads through the mist shrouded trees. You can only see a short distance ahead. You lose sight of the trail as it disappears into the mist. Look behind you and the trail is also lost as it too is lost in the mist. (A great paradigm for my life.) On each side shadowy, ageless sentinels appear to stand guard drawing attention to the fact this is a sacred place. As one begins to focus on where one is at and what one is doing, a special gift is given. A gift beyond the descriptive power of words. Words cannot describe, or explain mystery. Mystery cannot be explained, or described, it can only be entered into, again, again and again ad infinitum. The redwoods, for me and many others, are places of mist and mystery that keep calling on us to return. The result ,we are mysteriously led, so very gently, into an ever new, and an ever deepening sense of wonder. "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essentials of life, and see if I could learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived". That is the famous quote of H.D.Thoreau. Another great champion and defender of nature was John Muir. There is a wilderness named after him. He wrote the following, "Keep close to Nature's heart…and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. This one I really like. I have found it to be so true for me. “Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books." (John Lubbock) "I drank the silence of God from a spring in the woods" (George Traki). It is such a privilege to be able to experience that which I am able to experience at this stage in my life. It is a true gift. Because of this I am becoming more aware of The Sacred, The Mystery, in all that is. I am becoming more aware of my Celtic roots. I am now able to understand why ii was so easy for my ancestors to accept Christianity. Ireland was converted without anybody being martyred. It was such an easy step from the religion the Celts embraced and practice. That was a religion based on the sacredness of time, space ,and place. So it was an easy transition to accept and come to believe in the One God, and the many manifestations of His/Her presence. There was a religion in Ireland. It was what theologians call, natural religion Natural religion was practiced by our ancestors for 70.000 years. (O Muruchu) He also points out formal religion has only existed for about 5,000 years and counting. We, then, are part of the ongoing formation and evolution of which has it's origins in the mists of history. This evolution continues within the reality of our being, and within all of creation, wherever and whatever that reality may be. Hence all this is, is vivified with the Spirit, who is bringing all that is into a wholeness. We may not be able to see this new creation as it occurs, but it is happening. As it was in those days of old, so it is today and will be until the end of time. Nothing can prevent the emergence of this new reality. It is happening in and through all the realities of your everyday experience. We, then, must reverence the present. We must also have a deep reverence for that which is past, ancient. We have to again reclaim the reverence for the sacred presence in all of nature. Before it is too late, we have to accept our interdependent. Nobody acts alone. That adage, "What I do is nobody else's business", no longer holds water. It is a lie. We are so interconnected all our individual thoughts, and actions have a lasting effect on the whole of creation. We have the responsibility to nourish, and care for our hearts, souls and minds. We must not only acknowledge but grow in the acceptance of this fact, "As I am so is all of creation". Nature is our mother, our mother will feed us only that which will fulfill our mutual destiny, hers and ours. May you be blessed in all your wanderings and wonderings knowing when you stand will always be a holy place.

The Sacred...The Holy...All...In Nature.

"The natural world is the material source of our being….(it) is the larger sacred community to which we belong. To be alienated from this community is to become destitute in all that makes us human." So wrote Thomas Berry. Edward Abbey has written, "Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit." I do not understand a great deal of what Albert Einstein has written,but the following I like: "Look! loo! deep into nature and you will understand everything". Forty nines years ago, I know these quotes would not appear on my radar. Today they speak to me. They speak and a part of me can see,understand, and give assent to the truth they so wonder-fully express. So, then, one could rightly say there have been serious changes in the way I viewed, and now view, the world of nature. There has been an ongoing evolution over these many years. It all began when I had to give up golf. Golf was great, but there was something missing from the experience. Yes, one was out in nature, but you were not deeply connected. I was, as if it was by accident, you were surprised by the beauty of your surroundings. It happened now and then. I would be caught up with a ‘wow, that is neat” statement, and then go back to see what had to be done to par the hole. The one golf hole that really caused me to slow down and enjoy the experience of walking the fairway, was the fourth hole, on the south course, in Torrey Pines, San Diego. Even though I have not played golf for many years, I still have fond memories of walking that fairway, which in reality is a bluff overlooking the sea. It was great to have the warm sun in my face, cool sea breeze gently blowing, and a good cigar in my mouth, all was right with the world. It was good to be alive. The cares were all concentrated on hitting a shot that would enable me to get on that tough green up ahead. It is one of the better 400 yard holes I have ever played. Looking back, it was not what I shot on the hole, but the experience of the walk, that has stayed with me over these many years. " Every blessing is curse, and every curse is a blessing." (You see that a lot here. !!! ) When I was no longer able to play golf, like i used to, I was lost. Golf was a great part of my life. It was something that, sad to say, helped to define me. (Even to this day, some people will ask me, "how is your golf game?" ) I started to walk. Had to, my cardiologist demanded it. I was not in good shape, so he asked for an hour a day. Well that “heart challenge" opened a whole new way of living for me. That new way of acting opened me up to a whole new way of thinking. I no longer had golfing holidays. I now had stories from hiking holidays to share. I now belong to the hiking community. This community numbers 60,000,000 here in Americans alone. That is a very large community indeed, and so very diverse. When you begin a hike there is no one looking to see if you are of the right race, the right income bracket, sexual orientation, religion, political party, etc.etc. On the trail, we are all one. Each one is on our own hike, each hiking according to our own unique, God given abilities. On the trail there are no judgements, but there is a lot of concern. On the trail individuality and community have an encounter. That encounter celebrates a certain Presence, in the awe inspiring, wonder-full cathedral, of the great outdoors. There, we become aware of a Presence, that eludes us in so many other places. In the silence of this cathedral something happens that touches, renews, and refreshes us. That is why we can call all of nature a great sacrament. The place where we meet God. There is the danger, however, this can and is, taken a little too far. I saw a bumper sticker this week that stated, "Nature is God". No nature is not God, but because He/She is the creating force, God is IN nature. Nature is a great healer. It is another way God reaches out to each one, as an individual, drawing us all in one great holy, sacred community. I have found out that Joe, like everybody else, does not have to do anything. This is a very big blow to Joe's ego. Just place one foot in front of the other, for as long as you can or want, and don't be a busybody, wanting to know what is happening. There will, in time but not in our time (darn it) come a new of understanding, leading to a new way of acting. We will see changes in our relationships. We will begin to treat ourselves differently, and as a consequence we will have a change in our relationships with others. You gain confidence in your abilities, as well as becoming aware of your limitations. On the trail ,if you are smart ,healthy, you will ask for help and directions. As it is on the trail, so it is with life, all life, wherever we may live and experience it . Our religious celebrations will be affected with this new spiritual awareness. The prayers, readings (especially The Psalms) will speak to us in a new and more vibrant, and life giving way. This will demand more of priests, ministers, and leaders of community prayer. There has to be a better job done of connecting the indoor celebration of the sacred, with the outdoor encounter, with that same Reality. Liturgy is "the work of the people", we will make their work so much easier when we connect their encounter with the sacred in their everydayness. As we demonstrate our reverence for sacredness, their reality, hopefully they will become more open to Sacred's Presence in the reality of word, sacrifice, and sacrament.

A...Wandering...Wondering...In...Mist/Mystery

We Irish are, or at least were, introduced to the existence of another world at a very early, early age. I cannot remember exactly when I was first became aware of the existence of a world beyond the world I lived in. I was told stories about the "little people”, "the pooka', leprechauns, the fairies, the banshee, "sacred circles" (seen in fields), haunting ghost stories, stories of haunted places houses and castles, wells, bushes in the middle of fields that will not be cut down. (There was a haunted room in the national seminary, Maynooth.) I was reading about the great legendary, mythological figures of Ireland and their great adventures in the world, beyond. I was enthralled, captured, fascinated with their many, many journeys into the world that is normally unseen. I found myself lost in the world of mist and mystery. I was fascinated with the struggles that took place in those lands that existed before time began. As it was, so it is today. I am have become more and more aware of what I was taught a long, long time ago that "the boy becomes the father of the man”. The knowledge garnered in youth, finds its validity in the living of life. "Myth never was, but always is”. How I have wrestled with that !!!!!!!. Throughout Ireland there are places called "thin places”. These are the places where that which divides the seen world and the world of mystery seem to disappear. There is a great blurring that takes place. These are sacred places and spaces. In those “thin places” one becomes aware there is more here than meets the eye. Here many, not all, become aware of a presence that cannot be explained, only experienced. You can say the world of mystery, is a world that is readily inhabited by the Irish, and that is ever before we have something to drink. Ad poteen (Irish home brew), and you really have a recipe for a real great adventure into the unknown. With that background I was well prepared for the change in sacramental theology that took place. When I was in the seminary there were the seven Sacraments. There were seven and no more. These are the guaranteed presence of our God. Then I heard the word sacrament applied to married couples. After some seeking and searching I became aware of the fact that there were still seven Sacraments, that is Sacrament with a big "S". There were millions of sacraments spelled with a small "s". Each and every person, place, event is a sacrament. Sacrament with a small "s" allows for the POSSIBILITY of the presence of God. There is no guarantee. As you read this you, as a sacrament, are doing sacramental work. All reality is sacramental. All that is real finds it's source of being in Being Itself. St.Francis said,"everything that is, is to be adored". Chardin, “There is nothing profane for him/her who knows how to see." We are always meeting the challenge of dealing with the reality that is unseen. We come to realize there is a world beyond what we see, hear, taste, and touch. I am faced with the whole world that exists in mystery. You and I live a life of mystery, as does the whole of creation. All of creation is seeking, searching, and aching for some sense of certitude. A certitude that will make this journey, as spiritual seeking having this human experience, a meaning-full experience. We have to look beyond what we have come to know to The One who exists in the world of mystery. This is The One, who is not confined to the human, to the finite. He is The Infinite One. We profess, in every mass, our belief in the One Who is "The creator of all things visible and invisible”. He is The One, The Creator who maintains all things in existence (this includes you and I) so "that not even the tensions and tragedies of sin, cannot frustrate His loving plans." We need to keep those hope-full words ever before us. Why? Because we, in our human experience, are constantly being bombarded with the limitations of our humanity. We need, and are provided with an antidote to this sometime toxic existence. That is why we need to be continuously “dipped and dyed” in the celebration of the great mystery that is the source of our strengthening and renewal. This great mystery is The Paschal Mystery. This is the mystery we have been baptized into, live every day, and celebrate in the mystery that is every Mass. In this celebration earth is united with heaven. We are in a “thin place”. In this sacred place where there is a union between who we are, as spiritual beings, and The Source of all that is seen and unseen. In this "union-ing", that, because of the nature of the reality, can only be achieved through the workings of The Spirit, we are nourished, refreshed, and renewed. The process of transfiguration, and transformation continues though, unseen. So then, deep within our lands of mist and mystery there is a living Reality. A Reality that exists, but is never completely known, or understood. This is The Presence that makes the place where you stand a sacred, a holy place. A place where another can encounter the One Who keeps both of you in existence. May you, as the hero/heroine, of your story come to an ever deepening appreciation of the dignity and the sacredness of the mystery you are, and the unseen world of mystery that surrounds you.