The...Healing...All...That...Is...Mercy

"Mercy..." "...Mercy…" and still more "Mercy," is the word we are hearing again and again from Pope Francis. Our, Pastor of Pastors, is in reality just reminding us, and I am in the need of being constantly reminded of a gift that is always being offered. We must also be cognizant of the fact that 75% of the parables of Rabbi Jesus were about the mercy and compassion of God.  Jesus, Who became The Christ, is seen as the enfleshment of the mercy of God. We are  all in the constant need of "the medicine of mercy." Thanks to our Prodigal Father-God it is always made available to us. All that needs to be done is ask for mercy, and forgiveness, and it is ours.  We can use the words put into the mouth of the publican by Jesus," Lord, God be merciful to me a sinner."  We also have in our spiritual heritage, The Jesus prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, be merciful to me, a sinner." Our Pope encourages us to keep asking for forgiveness. Why is he so encouraging us?  Simply  because our Prodigal loves to forgive. So then let God do what God does best. The "best of God," meets the worst of us and in this encounter a new reality is created through the action of creative love. We are required to reverence this new reality that has resulted from the encounter  of opposites. We can never understand the miracle of grace, only gaze in awe-full wonder as we are drawn into a new, and unimaginable reality. This is God's deepest wish: "I will, not the death of the sinner,  rather that he be converted and live." Let us then, just have the desire for this miracle of grace to happen and in the depths of our being, a new creation will take root. It is only in Kairos time, God's time, will we become aware, ever so slowly of this new life now breaking through. The image of a wondrous flower breaking through the brown earth, in a very out of the way place, comes to mind. It will not have much of an impact on the world but to our world an inexhaustible source of joy has entered.

          That word "converted,"  from which we have, "conversion," is a great word.  It means to turn around and go in the opposite direction. It also involves a new way of seeing. To be converted then is to admit, to own the fact that we are going in the wrong direction and seeing in a spiritual unhealthy manner. We need then a new way of seeing, leading to a new way of being. This is not easy. It is tough to go through a conversion. Yet on this hike/ journey we have to be converted again and again. Always changing, always seeing anew, and never ending. This can only happen under the guidance of The Creative Loving Spirit. Since the spirit is invisible, we will not be able, with the naked eye, to actually see the process that is taking place. May I be so bold as to suggest a new understanding of mercy is essential for an ever evolving healthy spirituality. This will lead to the freedom envisioned by God for you and I.

      What then is the life enriching understanding of that word mercy which is so much part of our Pope's vocabulary, as in the following.  "A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold, and more just." What warmth, what compassion, what understanding, what acceptance, has exuded from our Pope. He speaks to us of the God of mercy and he encourages us to administer "the medicine of mercy." Mercy as medicine? New to us in the Latin church but not in Orthodox spirituality. One writer has suggested that The Pope has borrowed the Orthodox understanding of mercy. The Orthodox understanding really expands that old narrow understanding of mercy as just  being about the forgiveness of our sins. I have found, over the years, that mercy as understood in other languages has really broadened its meaning for me. The following has brought about about a great personal conversion, which has resulted in a new freedom. The following is being offered for your personal reflection, and spiritual nourishment: "The word mercy in English is the translation of the Greek word eleos. The word has the same ultimate root as the old Greek word for oil, olive oil: a substance which was used exclusively as a soothing agent for bruises and minor wounds. The oil was poured into the wound and gently massaged in, thus soothing, comforting and making whole the injured part. The Hebrew word which is also translated as eleos and mercy is hesed, and means steadfast love. The Greek words for "Lord, have mercy are "kyrie, eleison" that is to say, "Lord soothe, comfort me, take away my pain, show me your steadfast love. Thus mercy does not refer so much to justice or acquittal a very western interpretation but to the infinite loving-likedness of God, and His compassion for his suffering children!"(Orthodox Worship)

             So we can see what the Pope is driving at. Mercy is that which sooth the pain that sin brings into our reality. Mercy is there to comfort those who are in some way victimized by acts contrary to the universal law of love.  It brings healing to the beaten, broken, betrayed, exploited of our sisters and brothers. Healing Sin, as I think of it now is:  a non loving act which in some way  makes it  now more difficult for me or another to freely respond to the offer of God's love. Sin is that action or non- action by which the loving, creative action of God is opposed or hindered. I have to face sin in relationship to myself, my neighbor, God, and all of creation. Wounds can happen so suddenly, but it takes time, sometimes, a long, long time for the healing to take place. Healing cannot be rushed, darn it, how often have I wished it were otherwise!!  This is getting too long, right?? Will continue next blog D.V.

 

Introduction...To...Mercy

"Have mercy on me, O God, in accord with Your mercifulness; in abundant compassion blot out my transgressions. Thoroughly wash away my guilt; and from my sin cleanse me. For I know my transgressions; my sin is ever before me. Against you only have I sinned; I have done evil in your eyes...My sacrifice O God, is a contrite heart, a contrite, humbled heart you will not scorn. 'From this Psalm 51 we see that humankind's need for mercy has been around for a long, long time. That need continues for us today because of who we are. We as "spiritual beings," are forever and always, having to face what "immersed in the human experience" is constantly revealing to us. Some of the revelations give cause to celebrate. We are the beloved daughters/sons of a Prodigal Father whose infinite-love- vision of us never changes. As we are immersed in the confining limits of a broken humanity we do not readily see, or believe all that is ours because of who we are. Because we, at least for me, are not able to be conscious of our inner dignity.  We can live our lives in estrangement, not knowing what to do. We are lucky, however that our Prodigal Father, out of His infinite love for us, sent us His Beloved Son, Who became enfleshed, became incarnated, in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The historical Jesus, who became The Christ of God, was the revelation of fullness of the infinite, mercy-full, love of our God. Out of His personal love, for you and me and all of creation, He assumed our broken humanity. Why would The All Powerful One empty Himself of His divinity, and be immersed in a broken humanity?  Simply put, through His life, His mission, His ministry the Prophet Jesus would model for us how to move from estrangement to oneness, to unity, and eventually to peace. By entering the human condition God "conferred on human nature immortal value."  The Mystery of The Incarnation calls us, no, challenges us to see our humanity as evolving into an everyday, every moment, of newness. We are asked, and indeed challenged to enter this mystery, as we are with all mystery, with an attitude of reverence, and respect. We do this with the knowledge that we are never going to solve the mystery; we are however, going to be drawn deeper and deeper into, said mystery. This journey is endless in this life. We must not be discouraged by our limited knowledge, and vision. The Holy Spirit, The Wisdom of God, is in charge of this journey and She will make sure all that we need is right there before us. All that we will ever need will be there, when we need it and as we need it. Notice the word want was not used. There is such a difference between what we need, and what we want. "God takes care of our need, not our greed"( Ghandi).  Our Shepherd God will make sure that we, His sheep, and lambs are going to be led to running waters, and green pastures. To the good grazing fields of mercy, compassion, forgiveness, reconciliation, and freedom. As we are journeying through the darkness of the valley, and this IS a certainty, we will have The Light of Lights to guide us securely on our way. We will never wander to a place where the Good Shepherd will not seek, and search for us. According to the scriptures it seems that the lost sheep get special care and attention.  In The Cloud of Unknowing the author says that God seems to do His best work with HABITUAL SINNERS.  "Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more." There is such hope and consolation contained in the healthy spiritual writers. We seem to have forgotten their tenderness, or choose to ignore it!!! 

 

                We do not have to know how this miracle of grace happens. It is none of our business. This is in the realm of The Divine.  All of our God's workings are way beyond our ability to understand or comprehend. All we have to do is simply allow it to happen.  Easy to do?  No way. We will have to go to war; do battle with the egocentric ego, the false self takes. This false self, where The Father Of Lies makes his dwelling will offer what APPEARS to be a better way, a more attractive one.  It will appear to be "An easier and a softer way."  As a result we will stray, go our own way and get lost.  How often will this happen?  As long and as often, as it takes for us to wake up and admit, this way is not working, there must be a better way.  Usually, we will slowly have to let go, the way of the false self, with all the pain and suffering which has become part of our so-called life. We are NOT living; we are existing. The way of the false self buys us nothing but a ticket to the dungeons, the hellish prisons of guilt, fear, and shame. We will have many encounters with that good old toxic trinity before we will awaken to the real truth, and follow the healthy way.

 

        Sheep and lambs do not have to know the path; all that is necessary is that The Good Shepherd knows the trail. The sheep know, recognize The Voice that calls them by name and then follow.  (That is the same Voice who is always calling us. Calling us by our unique name. A name that has been chosen for us. A name most of us will never know, so the mystics tell us. Pretty neat to have God personally choose a name for us.)  They follow that voice even though the trail may be rocky, and steep. They follow knowing there will be rest, refreshment, and safety at journey's end. For the sick, the weak, the injured there will be comfort, care, and time to rejuvenate. All their care is provided by the kind, compassionate, mercy-full, loving, tender presence and actions of the shepherd who is good. That is what a good shepherd does. In his mission and ministry, The Good Shepherd showed Himself to be everything that one could expect from a good shepherd, and even more. Jesus showed Himself to be mercy-full, healing, comforting, compassionate, kind, accepting, The Presence, and The Revelation of Love.  While on earth The Historical Jesus went before the apostles and they followed Him. Now that Jesus is The Risen Christ, He now travels with, and within each one of us. While on earth, He was not able to do that. We can say now that we have The Guidance System to guide and direct us through the darkness of the deep valleys, and its challenging trails, on our way to the eternal sheep-fold.  Darkness is not dark to the One Who is Light. Such is shinning within our depths, lighting our way to the treasure, to the pearl of great price that is waiting for us to discover. 

                                                                                                       

 

In...Search...Of...Self

As a consequence of my being, "a spiritual being, immersed in the human experience," there are zillions of questions seeking answers. Why does it we seem to never get a satisfactory, complete answer? All the answers I seem to get just lead to another new question, which leads to another new answer, which leads to another new question. Duh!!! I get tired, and very frustrated. I want it to stop. That "I," who wants this to stop, is my ego, my false self, not my true self. My true self is always seeking and searching for who it is, in the unconditioned, unlimited, unrestricted love of A Prodigal-father-God.  What the "I," the false self is, is an end to that endless moment to moment battle, fought in the depths of our souls.  It is a battle which the false self cannot win, but goes down fighting every inch of the way. Joe has to become reconciled with that endless searching, seeking, and ever deepening journey into the "beyond" of everything, and everyone. I have come to the realization that as it is, in the sacrament of the now moment, so it was, and ever shall be, a journey into the ever mysterious, Beyond. This Beyond exists outside time and space, and outside the ability of words to communicate such a Reality. Thomas Aquinas reminds us "whereas we can come a knowledge of the existence of God, we will never come to a knowledge of the essence of God."

 

          So many of us are drawn to the ocean, and its many looks, voices, and moods. Our journey into the mystery of God, is like a person entering an ever receding sea. The endless, mysterious ocean, is a common metaphor used by the spiritual writers. Even at this stage on my life's journey the ocean still stirs within me something in which I fail miserably in my efforts to communicate. There is a certain reality which is deep, deep within, and aching to be expressed. The desire is there but, for some reason the vehicle, the language to express  such  reality, I am sad to find out, has been lost. In the past, the ability to communicate at such deep levels was present within humankind, what a gift we have been deprived of and why? So we settle for conversation about the accidentals of life, and never wonder why we are not satisfied. The restlessness we all experience will be with us until we hear those words of welcome to our eternal home," Come you who are the blessed of my Father inherit this eternal kingdom..." We will then find eternal rest, and peace in that place, from which in reality, is our place, of origin. What a mysterious circle we are called travel.

 

             "You are never too old and it is not too late to dive into your increasing depths where life calmly gives out it's secret... (so) Deeply I go into myself. My God is Dark, and like a webbing made of roots that drink in silence." So Rilke writes. He also writes that we: "Believe in the love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have Faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so LARGE that you can travel as far as you wish without stepping

outside of it...the only journey is within." Despite what my ego wants, to stop all this journeying into uncertainty, the true self will be restless until it rests in its, True Home. This true Home we are given just an introduction to, on this part of the journey. We get a taste of what is awaiting us, so as to encourage us to continue 'our trudge," through this "vale of tears."  We call these moments, our moments on The Mount of Transfiguration. 

 

Remember how the prophet Jesus, before His "passing over," revealed to The Big Three, Peter, James, and John, His inner light, on The Mount of Transfiguration where His divinity shone through His humanity. Was this to show off? Of course not. It was done so that they would have an inner, deeper, understanding to strengthen them so they would be able to face the coming apparent disaster. Jesus wanted to reveal to them that He was so much more than what they thought, saw, or understood. It was through a long, pain-full process before those Apostles came to understand Who this Prophet, Rabbi Jesus really was. They had to move beyond their relationship and understanding of the historical Jesus, The One who was "WITH THEM" daily as a fellow human being. What an authentic human being that Jesus was. WE do not place enough importance on the humanity of Jesus, through which Our Gracious, Mercy-full, God is revealed to us. Jesus is God in human form.  They too, had to endure a death and resurrection so that they could grow into a new enlightening, and enlivening relationship with the Risen Christ. What agony those early disciples, our ancestors in faith had to endure so that their understanding of the historical Jesus, Who was with them, could give way to the birthing of The Christ, "WITHIN THEM." I wonder how often did the Big Three return in memory to those sacramental moments on their Mount of Transfiguration? I wonder what part that played when question and doubt invaded their hearts, soul and minds?

 

   The Big Three had only one visit to the Mount, of which we know. We, on the other hand, have many, many visits to that sacramental place, and space. But are we aware of that which is happening to us? Yes, we are privileged to journey again, and again to the place of transfiguration. Jesus "took with Him, Peter, James, and John" up the mountain.  The spirit of that same Jesus, who became the Christ, is with us as we enter our moments of encounter with transfiguration.  These are the sacramental moments when the hidden Presence, breaks through, and we are not able to say anything, but, WOW!!! We, like Peter are tongue tied.  We have no real words to express that depth of feeling welling up from deep inside. We are in those "wow" moments caught up in the wonder, the mystery, The Presence of that which is beyond, thought, feeling, and emotion, it is The Beyond. Is it not very sad when people, places, events, actions, enter into the realm of the familiar? There is no sense of the sacred, the holy. Then we see that person, place, etc. as something we take for granted. We are then well on our way to our own private hell. We are condemning ourselves to dwell in that heartless, soul destructive, life destroying, awe-less, place we call, The Land of the Ordinary, and the Familiar. These two lands do not exist in God's creation. They are illusions we ourselves create, or are forced by the circumstances of poverty, and violence to inhabit. Unless we break free we will just exist, not live. We will die, without ever having lived. How sad is that?

 

Musings...Of...A...Celt...Part II

Off to seminary I went. (We thought it real funny to define "seminary" as: a home for expectant fathers. Now not so funny!!!!!) During those six years, and the intervening years as well, I was introduced to the world of theology. There was natural, dogmatic, moral, scriptural, ascetical, process, etc., etc. As I got smarter??? I seemed to have lost something. I was in my head. I found myself caught up in thoughts, definitions, dogmas, infallible teachings, and rubrics, just to mention a few. That got me through seminary. The fantasy world of academia was left behind within the blink of an eye. I was lucky to be appointed to an inner city parish however, I did not think so then. My classmates were in, one could say, fat city and there were places I could not drive through at night.

 

The reality of real life hit me right between the two eyes in the form of my encounter with real life. My first encounter with a body to be anointed was one that had been burned in a helicopter crash. The sight and smell lasted a long, long time. I still can recall how those remains looked. One of my first parish anointings was when I was called to a small, small home. Inside was a father and little daughter, both asphyxiated as the result of a heater that went on the blink. That was hard enough to deal with, but I was also the celebrant for the mass. I still remember how I had to hold back the tears during the mass, and the internment. Wow, I was not prepared for that. The emotions that welled up from the inside were completely new to me. (I revisited another depth of feelings at my Dad's, and Mom's funerals.) I came to realize this vocation was not just about the outside, there was a whole inner dimension to it as well. This Encounter with humanity in all of its rawness was the beginning of a long, long journey into a deeper understanding, and growing acceptance, of the limitations of my own humanity.  I have learned, the hard way both acceptance, and reconciliation with who Joe really is, not who he would like to be, or supposed to be, is a lifelong enlightening, and transforming process.  A process, I again, do not have to like, I sure do not, but for health and sanity I am required to allow to happen. Then the mystery of the love of a Gracious God works it's miracle.

 

I now agree wholeheartedly that the poor are our greatest gift. I really believe if you have not been a priest in a "financially poor" parish, you have never been exposed to the real riches of the church. With the poor, underprivileged, marginalized, you are dwelling with those who are our God's favorites. To be close to the God of Jesus Christ one has to have a deep commitment "to the least." The poor reflect back, that innate poverty within the depths of who we really are. The scriptures reveal to us whose prayer is heard by God, "the prayer of the widow and the orphan." In today's language, it is summed up in the phrase; God's fundamental option is towards those who are weak and crushed in spirit." There is great joy, and freedom to be experienced within the community of those who are accepting of, but not necessarily reconciled with their "outward poverty." Once immersed in such a community the whole meaning of church changes.

 

Our Slum Pope, Pope Francis, continues to shock people with his, what appears to be simple statements, but yet, they are so profound, e.g. He "wants a poor church for the poor." That is the ONLY church that can really be The Living Body of Christ. Jesus, Who became The Christ, came to us in poverty, served the needs of the really poor, and marginalized, and died the death of one who is cursed.("Cursed is he who hangs upon the wood,") Honestly, how are we ever going to be real imitators of that Historical Jesus who became the Christ of God. This will not be accomplished in a world of "power, property, and prestige." Pope Francis told the clergy to stop worrying about advancement in the church, but to get out and allow the smell of the sheep to get on them." He has lived and daily walked the talk. He can then, without any compunction, authentically challenge us to follow Him to walk the Real Christian talk. As someone wrote recently," It is so much easier to pray to Jesus, than to imitate Him." Now them's fightin' words!!!

There is then, the invisible dwelling of our God in the person, and the community, of the poor. It cannot be measured or analyzed, only experienced. As our God holds all things in existence, things visible, and invisible, we must ask, I must ask, for the grace to find a peace-full rest. This place of peace-full rest is in the land of the invisible. Maybe there I will be able to travel, not with angels, but with the Siohe Gaoithe.

 

Musings...Of...A...Celt

Not going to Ireland has somehow caused me to reflect more on, not what I have left behind, but what is emerging from within. The more I am blessed to wander WITH nature I find an ever deepening connection with the roots of my religious beliefs. We, as Christians have to have a tremendous reverence for the Jewish Tradition of belief because our founder was Jewish. Do we not refer to the Old Testament as, The Jewish Scriptures? What place of reverence do they hold in our Liturgical Celebrations, and private devotions? So too does Celtic Spirituality has its roots in the religion of the Druids and their pre-Christian beliefs and practices. The genius of those who brought Christianity to The Celts of Ireland, was their innate ability to take that which was already present, and as it were, Baptize it. "The Druids had a strong sense of the supernatural, the survival of the soul after death, and the immanence of the gods. Many divinities were worshipped in groups of three, or triads…Druid practices also included a sense of sacred places, particularly woods, groves, rivers and springs."(Leaver) There are many, many holy wells, still visited by people, which were regarded as "holy" even before Christianity came to The Celts. The Irish Celts were Christianized without one person being martyred. That is almost beyond belief as The Celts were a very feared, and warlike people. The Romans never got to conquer Ireland. "The Roman conquest of Ireland" came at a later date. (As we used to say, "Enough said." I'll say no more.)

     So my ancestral belief is in the sacredness, the holiness of not only what is seen, but in the unseen as well. God has blessed me with the great desire to read. I was a reader from my earliest years. I was exposed to a world that had its origin in the imagination, and not in any perceived reality. The world I was introduced to could not be analyzed or measured to provide imperial information. I was introduced to a world beyond time and space. The story would begin long, long ago, in a place far, far away. It was a long, long time later, I came to find out that place, far, far away, was deep within me. There was no, "long, long, ago," there was the sacrament of the present moment; the sacred now, in which all is present. "Myth, never was, but always is."(Rohr) In those long winter nights, reading, yes, by oil lamp, I found myself lost in the mists of history. The Tuatha De Danaan were a mysterious people, imbued with miraculous powers. They were defeated in battle but retreated to the underground, where they made their homes. Throughout Ireland you will see particularly, trees and small mounds of earth out in the middle of the fields. They will not be cut down, or not leveled off, no way. It is common knowledge, just ask, who dwells there, and you do not mess. I was very young when I saw a small whirlwind approaching and I was pulled, unceremoniously I may add, out of the way. I was told to never stand in the way of such a whirlwind. I remember asking, Why? That whirlwind is the Siohe Gaoithe (The People of The Wind) on their way from one dwelling place to another. The invisible world was just another reality in the creation I was to live in. That invisible world I was to learn had its good and helpful presence, but it also had its evil realities. The Leprechaun was a real good guy, but slick. He had his pot of gold, but ever hear of anyone getting to keep it? On top of being the shoemaker, he was the master trickster. The Puca, and the Banshee were a manifestation of the dark side, which was a reality to be confronted and so dealt with. In that world there was the presence of both good and evil. They were both going to be encountered. With the encounter, knowledge was to be gained.

To be continued…




 

A...Celtic...Lament

I have been asked this question more than once, "Are you going back to Ireland for your Golden Jubilee?" The answer is, a reluctant "no." That does not mean I will not be connected with land of my ancestors, The Celts.  My Celtic heritage, and all the gifts it bestows, has become more and more of a presence over these last number of years. A presence that was absent, sad to say, for many of the previous years.  I now have to admit, confession is good for the soul, that the lack of my understanding of Celtic Spirituality, resulted in unnecessary pain, and sorrow.  My pain and sorrow was of necessity, felt by others as well.  For that I am heartily sorry.  Everything, at that time, was either black or white. There was no willingness to understand the baggage of personal journey, with all that it brought to each person. The imperative to see each person, as a person to be listened to, not some impersonal object to be judged, was a gift that was coming.  Thank God, the new Spirit which came with the Second Vatican Council was The Spirit of kindness, understanding, and compassion.  The reforms brought us back to a new, and a more vibrant, life giving, understanding of The Mystery.  The Mystery revealed in the life, and ministry of Jesus, who became The Christ, was none other than, The Living Father-God of the same Jesus Christ.  We were introduced to the historical en-fleshed, oh so human Jesus.  In this human Jesus, it was revealed the fullness of The Divine One.  If I was to know The Unknown, and Unknowable, all I had to do was to immerse myself in the reality of The Carpenter Shepherd from Nazareth. That was 50 years ago, and it is only now I am becoming more and more aware of what was being offered at that time.  The proclamation of that Good News has continued over years, but not without opposition.  The Gospel proclaimed in its purity, always finds opposition.  The Gospel it appears, only thrives in opposition.  The persecuted church is the spiritual healthy church.  Look at history and see when the church has been most vibrant.  A vibrant faith flowers in persecution. That is so true for our individual faith journey as well.

 

         I got a little sidetracked, so back to what has happened and unfortunately is happening right now in our church.  The Second Vatican Council did happen, even though there are well meaning members of the hierarchy and laity that act as if it never was a reality.  Like all councils, called by the Pope in session, it had the guidance of The Holy Spirit.  What happened was under the guidance of The Holy Spirit, no matter which way we may want to cut it.  For those who deny, or actively work against those reforms, and the evolving theology are not "Building up The Body of Christ. They are, to put it bluntly, warring AGAINST the workings of The Holy Spirit.  The fear-full actions of those who wish to "reform" the previous reforms are adding nothing to the well being of our church, The Mystical Body of Christ.  They are, despite their good intentions, making the growth of The Body more difficult in a world that is so diametrically opposed to all that of the authentic teaching of the Gospel.  The demands of the Gospel are such, we are always coming up short.  We have to face our own limitations on a daily basis.  Despite our best intentions we have to face the fact, The Real Gospel imperatives are too, too much.  This is where the miracle of grace comes in.  Thank God, our Gracious Father-God sees into our hearts, and at least sees our willingness to become, even though at present we are not, the best bearers of the Good News.  This willingness is enough for God.  Once we show our willingness, grace takes over, and we are in for the ride of a lifetime.  We become what we desire, so be WARNED.  We are setting ourselves up for hard, demanding, tough work.  A work which by ourselves we cannot accomplish. On top of that we have to face the outside enemies, who are conspiring, with all likeminded forces, to oppose by any means necessary the coming of The Kingdom.  With the coming of The Kingdom, their kingdoms of "power, property and prestige" will have to go, but not without a fight.

 

         There will not be just a fight, there will be a war.  A war that is being waged within the souls of each one of us, as well as in the world we are traveling through.  So then, we are all caught up in a death struggle.  We are not the first to experience such a death struggle, the death struggle of Jesus, through which He became The Christ Of God, carries with it this great hope.  In the long run death will never be the victor.  In His victory over death, The Christ has brought to you and I a new level of hope-full seeing. We now see that all death is, is the threshold over which we must all pass into a reality that words cannot describe.  In our little every day death-resurrection experiences we

get a glimpse, just a taste of that "which eye as not seen, or ear heard, or it has not even dawned on us what is waiting for us in the fullness of life.  We have the option to life in the freedom that The Resurrection brings us, or cower in fear.  When we live out of fear we leave ourselves open to becoming fully fledged members of spite-full, fear-filled opposition.  There are those who are actively opposing the workings of The Holy Spirit. We must remember, even if they do not, they are STILL being called each and every moment, and Who is doing this calling?  The very same Holy Spirit, Whose works they are opposing, is STILL calling each one of us to be the living, life enhancing, presence of The Prodigal, Compassionate Father-God.  A Lover Who is persistent.  The Shepherd God Who is ALWAYS seeking out and searching for, the lost sheep which is you and I.

 

       This was The  Presence I was seeking.  A Presence, I have come to believe that finds a dwelling place, not outside of me, but within the depths of my being, keeping me in being.  It is within This Presence, "I live and move and have my being," I cannot exist apart, no one can.  Like St. Augustine, I was looking outside, where it could not be found.  Like Augustine, I was looking "in all the wrong places," for  that which was dwelling in the depths of my being, keeping me in being.  That reality I was able to give

lip service to, and that was all.  I had not suffered enough.  Now I see That Presence was there, all the time, calling in a gentle, tender, whisper.  Why did I not hear The Call? For me and for so many more that gentle whisper drowned out by the cacophony of noises alien to Its will, and purposes. The ears of my heart, and soul, were deafened.  It has taken a long time for the healing of my hearing to take place.  This healing, like all regular healing, has been for me a very slow process.  Yes it has taken a long time for my eyes to be truly opened so that the real "seeing," may take place. That "seeing" has gone hand in hand with the rediscovery of the richness, and gentleness of Celtic Spirituality.  It is only now, after many, many years of wandering, and wondering, I seem to have found a home.  A place where I can dwell in some peace and harmony.  I get every now and then, a brief insight into what the dream, The Aisling of God, does have for each living person.  His dream for all of us is that "We would have life and have it to

the fullest."  To live life, and live it to the fullest fullness, is a great challenge for us who are "spiritual beings immersed in the human experience."

       Will be continued, hopefully, in the next posting.

 

 

Dare...To...Answer...The...Call.

                Bede Griffiths has written the following: "In South India there is a pilgrimage to a place called Sabarimala.  It is a pilgrimage to the forest and hundreds of thousands of people go there every year. The deep meaning of this, is that people need to go back from time to time, to the forest, to the wilds, where they were before they belonged to settled civilization with a home and city.  We need to recall the freedom of the forest.  Some time each year, at least, we should go from our fixed abode, leaving our possessions, and everything to which we are attached, and become free to wander or to settle in some very quiet place, to be free for some time...."

                We are encouraged to take that time to be apart, alone and unencumbered.  Some will go so far as to state this action is essential for healthy living.  Is this easy?  No it is anything but.  Why?  What makes this healthy action such a challenge?  Simply put, it is our egocentric egos, the source of all our disease, which makes it so very difficult, for you and for me.  The bigger our egos the more intense the struggle will be.  For some, it is  almost impossible to leave behind all that SEEMS to satisfy our deep seated need, to be seen as needed and having value.  We now know, or, growing in awareness of, that when our worthwhileness is dependent on these outside forces, we are in serious trouble.  That word "SEEMS" is important.  When we are looking outside, of our true selves, for that which is already deep within, we are on "a fool's errand."  We will wander, and wander and never find a place we can truly call home.  We will be out there, as it were, "looking for love in all the wrong places," and some places we find ourselves in, are really "wrong."  We will look and look and never see.  For that which is sought is already present within us.  We have to let go, become unattached to the trappings that feed the false self, and embrace The Unseen, The Unknown.  On vacation, how often now do you see families lost to the personhood of each other as they are lost, attending to an impersonal, unfleshed electronic device?  Are we really losing the rich, comforting, challenging sounds of human voices, which have for so long been a source of our connectedness with real reality?  Our spirit can never be touched with an inanimate object, no matter how fancy it may look. 

                 We must, in order to be spiritually and physically healthy, take that time away.  Answer that call which is calling us to be alone, so The Alone can speak to our hearts.  William Butler Yeats, the great Irish poet, has penned these wonder-full, awe-full, challenging words:

 "Come way, O human child!

to the waters and the wild

 With a Faerie, hand in hand,

For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

                 Let us human children connect again with our ancestral heritage by returning to the forests, the glimmering lakes, and to the  mountains with their gentle flowing streams.  Let us return to the ocean shores and become lost in the symphonic sounds of the surf.  We will not have to have a Faerie, "hand in hand," because we will be in The Hand Presence, of that Reality which the word, "Faerie" was meant to communicate. This journey of ours is a journey of our spirit to a place where there will be real food, real nourishment.  We will journey to a place where we will find rest for our restlessness.  Because of the hospitality of nature we will be able to be at home, at peace, and at rest. The great sacrament that nature is, is ever new and ever old.  Just as we will never visit a place twice, so too, we are never the same from moment to moment.  The Creative Spirit is bringing all of creation into a oneness. An emerging creation, with all of its newness, is right here before our eyes. When are we going to stop, and in reverent awe, be caught up in that which is greater than anything we will ever be.  When that happens the only thing left to do is...pray.

 

Don't...Forget...What's...Forgotten...???

I was really enjoying reading this afternoon. As a matter of fact, I was reading in my car, as sheets of rain gave it a well deserved wash. Outside it was 66 degrees. What a great feeling that was, having endured, no survived, the 118 degrees in The Valley of The Dry Heat. When the rain stopped, thank God, to start again later, it was a little bit of heaven to step outside and enjoy the cooling down of one's body. Not only that but what a blessing, what a delight it was to be able to breathe deeply the rain freshened mountain air. That does something for the mind, body, and soul. One gets the feeling of something springing up from the depths within. It is a feeling, which in reality, words are unable to convey. How impoverished we are when it comes to communicate that which springs from our essence. We search, and search for that elusive word which never appears to materialize.

Yet we continue on with that search. We become searchers. Becoming searchers, we continue that which was begun, by our ancestors, long before recorded history. We are led by, The Unknown, to seek out and search out a way to communicate, The Unknowable. An endless search we all share, but each one in his/her own very unique way. I was pretty contented, no, really contented with myself until I read the following quote from from Annie Dillard. "Write like you are dying." Wow! Wow! Wow! I was not ready for that. A dying person's confession is sacrosanct. Look at how the law takes into account a dying person's confession. It is not questioned. It is taken for granted that the dying person would not lie. Then this thought hit me between the two eyes, Joe, you are dying. From the moment of birth, we are dying. This is a fact, a very uncomfortable reality. A reality I much prefer to deny, or at least ignore. I can get away with being an amnesiac, but only for a short period of time. As I face this stage of my life, those periods of denial, and forgetfulness are becoming shorter and shorter, darn it. So I am to write like I am dying? This means I have to tell that truth. That is so, so easy to type, but the ramifications of truth telling are something else!!! "The truth will set you free, but first it will tee off a lot of people," is one of my favorite sayings. "Good news must become bad news for the ego, before it can again, become good news." Those are two sayings that I repeat over and over, and over again. To be honest, remember that "dying thing," I repeat it why? Simply because I need to hear those words. Actions have consequences, and truth telling? Well take a look at the cross and see what humanity did to The Revelation of Truth!!! The Prophet Jesus lived the truth. Both in his mission and ministry, He was the personification, The Enfleshment of The Truth. There then emerged a conspiracy to stifle, The Voice of Truth. A conspiracy that continues to this present moment. Jesus lived a life of freedom. This freedom came from His belief in He being, The Beloved Son, of a Gracious Father from whose womb of infinite love, all life has emerged. That is our origin and our destiny. We forget this awe-filled reality. As one author writes: We have to face the fact that we have forgotten, that we have forgotten." That is a very sad reality, isn't ? I was brought up to "never forget where you came from." That was in regards to my history, and heritage. My spiritual heritage was not emphasized in the same way. Actually I was exposed at a very early age to, "the toxic trinity," namely guilt, fear, and shame. Even though I was politically free, I was so un-free, when it came to living the life that really mattered. The journey into spiritual freedom, my destiny, has been like the Irish struggle for freedom, a long tear-full, and pain-full one. Would I want to change anything? I was thinking about that on a hike. The conclusion? As I reflect on my life now, I am becoming more aware of the work of my Compassionate, Creative God, through the power of The Spirit of Wholeness. I, every now and then, have glimpses of unity, peace, and harmony. Through the workings of grace, from the chaos has emerged, a little serenity, tranquility, and some peace of mind. The weaknesses of my youth have become a source of strength. My so-called strengths have been gradually exposed for what they really were, mere illusions of grandeur. The source of these damaging illusions was a false sense, a false understanding of my humanity, and healthy spiritual realities. The real truth, has ever so slowly emerged, as I have had to face failure, rejection, weakness, and brokenness, in other words, entered into the fullness of The Paschal mystery. Over the years I have experienced a deepening belief, there can be no new life, without first experiencing, death. This awe-full, pain- pain-full reality is a place we have to journey into, over and over. In these latter years the words: "Death is not an end, it is a beginning" have been a great source of consolation, and encouragement. As it has been for me, and countless others, so may it be for you. Wow this writing, knowing that you are dying, is tough stuff. "Every blessing is a curse and every curse is a blessing." Now how long is this going to last???

The...Danger...of Denial...

There was a headline on the front page of this morning's paper, “Short walks on a long journey." It was meant to encourage hikers, like myself, not to focus just on the long hikes alone but to consider shorter ones as well. It then went on to point to short hikes that were really worth taking. It struck a chord with me, as I reflected on how it may apply to everyday living. As you know, I love to compare our journey on "the spaceship earth" to a long, long hike. Each and every day is a “short walk" on the hopefully long journey we call life. We, who have emerged from the mist of The Eternal, are forever and always, in a reality, way beyond that which our limited vision, can see. We believe, the Eternal, the Mystery, the Indefinable, the Ineffable, is a Reality we will never understand, on this earthly journey. As a consequence we will ever and always be seeking, and searching for understanding. Understanding of who we are, and who that source of our being is. We are in good company. We need to remember, St. Francis had just these two very basic questions. "Who are you God, and who am I?" St. Francis had that wonder-full simple faith which kept him grounded in those questions. I have, from my youngest years, admired St. Francis. I had even thought about becoming a Franciscan. In facing it myself I have to admit I love to complicate even the simplest things. So I have had to learn to simplify everything about my life. This is an ongoing difficult, pain-full moment-to-moment, daily struggle. Thank God I found, or was forced into hiking. Almost from the beginning I became aware, a hike was just about hiking. It was not about putting one foot carefully in front of the other. There was more, much more to this seemingly simple exercise. (I was told many years ago that the more simpler a reality APPEARS to be, the more profound it really is i.e. God). Gradually I came to realize that on hikes some of the basic, essential questions of what it means to be a "spiritual being immersed in the human condition." What this word means has triggered so many thoughts, feelings and emotions. We are all invited. Though many are not, and never would be, if I had anything to say about it. Which to my horror I have found out I do not. As a consequence I have many, many uninvited guests. Ever notice when you are in a place of quiet, in a deserted seemingly abandoned place, you have even more of these unwanted visitors. You can look and see that there is no one on the trail and you are, seemingly, on your own, but not really. You have many unwanted company crowding your mind, and demanding attention. They are unwanted because they bring to consciousness that which we much prefer was left buried. When this happens to me, I am forced to face my shadow side. This is the side, the part of me I want to live in denial of, the part of me I do not want to share with anyone. I am choosing to live in the hell of denial, choosing my state of denial brings NOTHING but pain, and destruction, for myself. Pain and destruction will also hurt a lot of those who share my life. I am going to have to deal with great upheavals, in my daily living. Those parts of my reality I choose not to share, the shadow, have been described by some authors as "the past, the primitive, and the inferior." It can be the parts of me that I find "unacceptable, unknown, and not yet developed." We all have this shadow side as, individuals, couples, families, parishes, diocese, nations, and the family of nations. On my hikes I am forced to face that which I would rather not face. Here, denial comes in very handy. Denial, I am sorry to say is just a stop gap measure. It does not do anything to help in the living into the solution. On the contrary, it just postpones the inevitable, which is pain and destruction. That which I choose to reject or am not ALLOWED to accept, as part of my reality, will REMAIN as part of my reality. This is going to happen whether I like it or not. It is not going anywhere, darn it! I can only embrace it, or as one book encourages, romance the shadow. We of ourselves are incapable of loving the shadow, that is where grace comes in especially particularly in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Yes!! That Sacrament is still being celebrated, though not as much, to the detriment of so many who are unfortunately, shadow controlled. The Creative Lover, The Holy Spirit, The Spirit of Wisdom, needs to be invited to bring about reconciliation. A reconciliation between which I would like to be, and the reality of which I am. Reconciliation is a PROCESS, not an event, I have found from sad experience. So I am forced, on a daily basis, to embrace the truth of what Thomas More has said, "The soul is never cured, it is cared for." If the soul is not cared for there is a horrible price to be paid. When the maintaining work, that is spiritual exercises, is not being done there is a price to be paid. The Spirit brings about a transformation, and we are delighted. When the ego takes overhand we get cocky, the spiritual exercises are neglected, and we assume the place of God occupied. The ego has removed the Real God, The Real Higher Power. So now we worship at the altar of pride. This always results in the old patens of behavior returning, and with a vengeance. Remember what The Prophet Jesus said “the last state, will be worse than the first." It will be the same for me as soon as I stop the spiritual work, I am on the road to places I never, never in my wildest dreams, imagined ever existed. So I have to become more and more aware of what is bubbling up from the depths. Each moment is my encounter with where my life has come to and at this moment my life has peaked. "By the grace of God I am who I am, and on the way to becoming a more authentic human being. Not becoming in any way perfect but I am growing in the acceptance of the fact that I am perfectly imperfect. The letting go of the ideal, and becoming reconciled with the reality is all through the Loving, Creative, Power of our Gracious Prodigal Father God. Grace has brought me to this moment, and grace will keep me safe, in this moment. After all, does not The Holy Spirit, The Spirit of Truth, say to you and I, “Now is the acceptable time now is the time of salvation.” Right here right now my salvation is being worked out, as I respond, not react to my present reality. In order to reach the end of a hike, I have to take a number of steps. I cannot just wish, or imagine that the hike is made. It takes action. It takes the healthy use of my free will. What an awe-full gift our Creator has entrusted to you and I. On my hikes I am challenged to face the question of how healthy is my use of this precious gift, in a way that other activities do not do. The truth will sometimes hurt, but the soothing oil of God's mercy-full love is always there for me to fall into.

50+.....The Challenge...

"I became what I never thought I would " are lines from one of my favorite John Denver songs." (Some days are diamond, Somedays are Stone.") They sprang up when I was reflecting on last weekend. June 8th was my Golden Jubilee Anniversary Mass, I am so grateful to all who made it a special celebration. To be honest, I have real trouble writing those words golden jubilee. When I was younger, a golden jubileearian was a real old f.....! You can fill in the blank with what you think is a good word to describe Fr. Joe as he is right now. ( I would love to be able to read your minds, right now.) I must remind you who read this effort, I was ordained in the 60s. What a awe-full, wonder-full time that was. These were the times when we did not trust anyone over 30. Back then, I was not able to imagine my living beyond 30. Thirty was going to be the end. Beyond that there was to be no living. Yet I am alive today with some of the those same thoughts, ideas, ideals, and dreams. The Mammas and The Papas were big back then. "There is a new world a coming" sang Momma Cass. These words encapsulated what the dream of so many was. A world that was "coming in peace, coming in joy, coming in love." Do not those words sum up the kingdom that is supposed to be coming into reality in "the present age." Growing into old age does not, and cannot, put an end to the dream, or the dreamer. We, in our old age, I now have come to believe, are called, are challenged, to shout out that dream so ancient and so new, all the louder. When you are old you have so little to lose, so you can take the risk? On second thought, is it really a risk? In this raising of our voices are to bring, not comfort, but discomfort. We must challenge all the forces that conspire to frustrate the "coming of The Kingdom". We must point to the great warning in the scriptures, that the "angels of darkness, will appear as angels of light", was The Historical Jesus conspired against by outwardly evil people? For goodness sake, it was the religious leaders who conspired with ,the secular power, to destroy Him. Those out-worldly good people, who we men of God, did not recognize the manifestation, the appearance of God when He became enfleshed. Their minds were so conditions that anything contrary to what they knew to be true, was a lie. There was no challenge tolerated. Jesus's death was brought about because He spoke a new truth, that challenged the status quo. He was counter- cultural. He pointed out that the old way was coming to an end, and a New Dawn had already broken upon the world. A new Light had come into the world to shine light where it had never shone before. To light up the lives of all those who lived in darkness, and who were, sad to say, kept in darkness. Jesus was ostracized, why? Because He broke rules that kept people in bondage. Those religious rules He broke to raise the only son of a widowed mother. In last Sundays gospel, when He healed the leper by touching him, He himself from there on was to be treated as on would treat a leper. How we going to treat the "lepers" of our time, and in the place we meet them. Who is the leper for you and I? We have to name that "leper" when we meet him/her on the outside. is the task finished there? No! Of course not. Now we have to journey inside, to meet that "leper" who is dwelling within in the depths of who we are. Still not finished? Yep!!! Now we have to follow the exhortation of St. Francis, which is, "kiss the leper within". In this way we are readying ourselves to be willing participants in the vision of our Pope Francis "to be a church for the poor". We can pay lip service to those challenging words, and the consequent actions, of our Supreme Shepherd. As we meet The Pope's challenge, we too are going to be challenged. That is the what is to be expected when we follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Is not persecution guaranteed, in the gospels? As The Lord was treated so are we. Jerusalem is our destiny. (As you know I love that prayer). Each one will have a unique trail to travel. Our way to our Jerusalem, is a hike over rough, and varied terrain. There are many, many, deserts, lush green valleys, and barren mountain tops." It is, a long, long road from which there is no return" (Neil Diamond.), there is no looking back. There will joy and sorrow, war and peace, crucifixions, deaths, and resurrections. As it was with our Suffering Good Shepherd so it will be for us. Let move resolutely forward in the knowledge and belief that there will be NO obstacle on the trail which will be too much for our God and us. So let us act like we are on a trail putting one foot in front of the other. Conscious of where we are at each moment, and knowing that in that moment we are safe.

The Pentecost...Spirit...At...Work

Since I was ordained ,almost 50 years ago, the only constant has been change. For some there have been too many, for others not enough. There is one change, however, I would love to see happen, yet deep down I know this will never happen. I was brought up with this fact, there is no harm in dreaming or in asking the question. So why stop now? We as Catholics are brought up to think, to reason. That is why we had two years of philosophy in the seminary, so we would be ordered in our thinking, and help others in their journey of discovery. This journey of discovery is a never-ending one. We go from discovery to discover without ever becoming satisfied with what we are in possession of. [G.K. Chesterton remarked "Catholicism is a thinking persons religion." He was a wonderful thinker himself, and add so much to the Catholic Church.] So what is this change I desire to see, and why do I think there needs to be a change? What is the reasoning behind this way of thinking? Well to begin with, I wish we would stop using those two words, "ordinary time”, to describe the time we are journeying through right now. It is NOTordinary, like all time it is extraordinary. It is like all time is to been seen as Kairos time. Kairos time is full of the awe and full of mystery of God. There is no moment in time that the Divine is not communicating with each one of us personally. In each and every one of our "creature" moments we meet with and are met by. Each and every moment is used by The Creator God to continue the creation, which had its origin in the mists of antiquity. Over these so many eons creation is being perfected. What is really mind blowing is that you and I have been chosen, even before the mists of time to be co-creators, and co-perfectors of this great mysterious endeavor. This is a dignity that must be claimed, again and again, otherwise we lose our Creators intention for our creation. How often have we been told that we are called to be "co-creators and co-perfectors of the universe"? How often have we heard that expression and we either forgot it or conveniently ignored it? Why? If we really believed in the radical trust our God has in us what a difference we would make. Our world would undergo a radical transformation and become that which The Creator originally planned. The Second Vatican Council sure changed our way of seeing, believing and acting. It was for those of us lucky enough to be around then, like a New Spring. It was an awakening that radically changed our lenses and thank God, it is still revealing an ongoing newness. With change and the threat of newness came opposition. Opposition that Pope Francis sees as working against the workings of The Holy Spirit. It was great to hear our Pope express so clearly that the efforts of The Holy Spirit must not be impeded by human fear. What we need, no, what is demanded of us, is a strong abiding belief in eternal newness of ourselves, our church and all of creation. What is demanded of us is a lively, life giving and life enhancing faith in the reality of a living and loving God. A God who is always pouring Herself/Himself out into an eternal act of fruit-full, creative love. This love, then of its essence, is creative and so where this love is, there is the creative force of Our Gracious God always creating. This creative, loving Spirit dwells within each of us, in the depths of who we really are. It is only in that place of my radical I-am-ness that that this gift is realized. (Oh what a journey that is.) The Holy Spirit ,This Loving Creative Force is first encountered by us in the Sacrament of Baptism. This Sacrament has in the past been called the Sacrament of Enlightenment. How come we have lost that awe-full, wonder-full name which conveys so much of what that Sacrament is intended to accomplish within each person. It conveys that which we are so desperately in need of right now. We need to be enlightened, to be reminded who we are, who we are called be, and Who it is that has done the calling? I would like to suggest we have a desperate need for this voice to be present in our minds, hearts, and souls. Why? Because we are exposed to so many loud voices whose sole purpose is, to drown out that gentle, whispering voice which dwells within. A voice which calls us Beloved. A voice which reminds we are previous, called, chosen, gifted, blessed and consecrated. The voices which strive, endlessly and sometimes unceasingly, wage endless war to distract us from who we are, who we have been called to be, and above all, Who it is that has done the calling. In each so called, "ordinary moment" of every day this is what is happening, the reality we face. There is The Voice of The Spirit of Pentecost, reminding us of who we are in our Creators Love. Then there is the is the voice of negativity, the voice of the prosecutor. The sole purpose of this voice is to somehow to bring disquiet ,and the denial of our essential goodness. This deceiver has only one goal. That goal is to ultimately destroy that loving eternal relationship we have, and have enjoyed, with The Eternal. These loud voices can be heard, not only in the world we are forced to live in, but are alive, as a destructive force within ourselves. As they are within ourselves they are, of necessity, to be encountered in our homes, parishes, ministries, local and universal church. With each day comes a death. With each dawn comes forth a new day. It is virginal. Untouched. We, each one of us, will choose in every moment to be life-givers, or death-dealers. How we act will result from which voice we listen to. Let us choose then to live each moment of every day in the freedom of being, beloved daughter/son, of our Prodigal God. In this way each and every moment becomes for us a sacrament. A sacramental "meeting with", is nothing ordinary, but very much extra-ordinary, awe-full, wonder-full. (I am aware of why it is called ordinary time, but I feel the question should be raised!)

Mother...Motherhood...Is a Sacrament...

There is an awe-full, mysterious, sacred presence in our lives. A presence, I am sad to say, that seems to be acknowledged, reverenced, and celebrated just one day out of 365. As we live out the other days is not this mysterious reality really taken for granted? Has not the place of our encounter with the Sacred become so familiar that we have lost our reverence, and respect for this God given gift. That is the danger of the familiar, it leads us into that death dealing place of apathy. We are always in the need to be awakened to the sacred to the mysterious that is part and parcel of our every day journey. That journey that is ours as spiritual beings immersed in the human condition. Within the depths of our mothers an encounter takes place, between the creative love of Creator God, and the human effort of human beings, acting freely. This hidden, sacred, mysterious encounter has led to the present day understanding of the sacramentality of sexuality. We sure have come a long ways in our ever growing understanding of human sexuality, and the sacramental aspect of this gift. Now we go a step further and are asked to reflect on the sacramentality of mothers and motherhood. I'm referring to sacrament with a small "s". A small "s" sacrament I would like to suggest is: " Each and every person, place, event, action, which brings us into contact with the deeper realities of life, ultimately with Reality itself, that Reality we call God”. The sacramental reality of mothers and motherhood must be visited again and again. Like all that is mysterious this journey always leads us to a deeper understanding of that which can never be explained, only reverenced. We find there is layer upon layer to the mystery that is "mothers" and "motherhood". Just stop and reflect on all that has been written, and is being written. It is never ending, so we must be open to ever new, life enhancing, life enriching revelations. Speaking of revelation the scriptures have some wonder-full passages offered for our encouragement. Our Father/Mother God, in Isaiah 49:15 "Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you." So we are forever present in the minds of God, and to a lesser extent to our mothers. There are times when we will be absent from the conscious though of our mothers, after all they do have their own lives. In the mind of God we are always present to Him, as we journey with Him, and to Him. Our Father/Mother God is our origin and our destiny. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you?" Psalm 110:3, "from the womb before the day star, I have begotten you." Our place of origin then is the womb of God, Who is infinite love. We leave that place of comfort and security and journey into the uncertainty that is this life. God as not abandoned us. He has prepared for us a presence who will remind us of Who it is we came from, and the love that we originated from. The loving Gaze of mother's is the loving gaze of God enfleshed. This is a loving presence we can feel, hear, and above all touched by. This soothes the pain of the seeming loss of our First Love. Our mother's is to mirror the first love, and who we continue to be in that love. The best of plans do not always work out, not even God's plan "a". We are in His plan "b". There is a dark side to mothers and motherhood. The ideal is in so many case never actualized, and this results in human beings existing in a "living hell". Because of abuse their essential inner wholeness has been broken and in some cases destroyed. There are so many books written about "Daughters without Mothers", and the recovery that is necessary to return to wholeness. Thank God for the courage of those authors that tell their story and offer hope to those who have to honestly face that reality in their lives. Of course there are many sons without mothers as well. There is so much healing to be gone through to journey back to the place where you were the beloved. We must not allow transient evil sabotage our essential goodness and lovableness. That recovery, like all recovery, is not easy. The toxic shame will fight us each and every step of the way. Toxic shame which wants to communicate that we are not okay, somehow not "good enough", has to be faced. We are all more than we do, or have or achieve. We therefore need the-unconditioned love, undeserved, unlimited " first love" to become a reality. In this way, while we are still pilgrims, having no lasting home. We are somehow secure in the knowledge that our God is always a nourishing, ever creative, ever comforting, and always ever mercy-full. Why? Because we have experienced all within the lives who reveal the Mystery within mothers, and motherhood. Mothers you are the living sacrament of our living God. Be healthy so we can have a healthy understanding of, and a healthy relationship with The Source The Origin. We will then find ourselves living the aisling, the dream of our Mother/Father God.

Greed...The...Saboteur...Of...Dreams

Even though I am retired from the administrative side (boy do I thank God for that),I still have the privilege of interacting with a number of individuals. These are spiritual beings, who like myself, have that moment to moment struggle with our immersion in the human condition. I am, very slowly, getting a grasp of the disconcerting truth articulated by J.Metz, "We are (spiritual beings) born human, and spend our whole life coming to understand what that word human, means". This immersion, we are all sharing in, to my mind, is it not a royal pain? (I better stop there!!!!!) As a result of this immersion, do we do the things that are unhealthy for us, and fight the things that are healthy? Are you with me on this? If you are with me then we are all in great company. A saint by the name of Paul had the self same difficulty. He had to face that self same endless struggle. He came out fine, in the end, did he not? So we can relax, we are in great company. In his struggle, Paul was reminded where the real source of strength comes from. So, we too, must grow into that same acceptance of where the source of our strength lies. Acceptance is a process, and a slow one at that. I have to admit that the place I end up in is always better than the place where I began. This does not make the letting go any easier. I read that we are born knowing how to hang on, we have to learn to let go. That "letting go" is the essence of the spiritual life, and that is why is not very attractive to the ego. My ego is all about, power, property and prestige. Looking good in the eyes of the world, while all the time having to deal with that essential loneliness which is part and parcel of the human experience. This encounter, with that loneliness, if it allowed, is gut wrenching. That is why we run away from that inner loneliness, and set our eyes on that alleviate, that which we wish to avoid at any cost. We will do anything pay any price, go to any external extreme, rather than face ourselves as spiritual beings who have inherited a broken humanity. This is where we have to deal with the presence of greed in our own lives, in the lives of others, and in society. Frank Buckman has written: "There is enough in the world for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed". Look at the price we have paid over the last number of years because of the havoc greed has wrecked on our individual lives, the lives of our families, and the life of our country. Insatiable greed has been the root cause of so much destruction. It is essential for us to face the presence of greed in our lives, otherwise we will never come to enjoy the asking, the dream has for us. This dream God has to live and share with us is? He/She wishes to meet us in the ordinary not the extraordinary. That is a big blow to our egos. Our Gracious, Living God, has chosen all that is ordinary to be place where this mysterious event happens. It is in the so-called ordinary person, place, and event God's dream is realized. In this way, there is tremendous dignity to all that is authentically human. We also have to face the fact that this aisling (dream) is not a reality. We also have to face the fact that even though it is God's dream it is not always realized. Not even God gets all She/He wants. Wow!!!, the power of free will. God's great blessing and curse. So many of our dreams are sabotaged. We are, at times, the saboteur. There are those who cannot deal with peace, joy, contentment, serenity, security, etc. It is a challenge that must be faced by not a few of our fellow travelers. Look around and you will see that person on your daily walk. Some of us have to the challenge of that person dwelling within the depths of who we are. Constant Vigilance is required to keep the saboteur from its destructive mission. John O'Donoghue, in Anam Cara writes the following about Greed: He says that greed is one of the powerful forces in the modern world. It is sad that a greedy person can never enjoy what they have, because they are haunted by what they do not yet possess. This can refer to land, books, companies, ideas, money, or art. (I would like to suggest that in the realm of religion this applies too. Unfortunately and the price is Endless.) The motor and the agenda of greed is always the same. Joy is possession, but sadly possession is ever restless; it is an inner insatiable hunger.....It can never engage presence..This greed is now poisoning the earth and impoverishing its people. Having has become the sinister enemy of being. Being and presence for me go together. We have to work at being still, to engage what is right here, right now. In this moment all that I need is right here. There is nothing missing, in God's way of seeing. For us we have to make the journey from could be, should be, ought to be, etc. to the wisdom my God, Who is All in All, is present Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What more can there be? We also have to guard against those who look at you through greedy eyes. You will never be "enough" for them. No matter what you do more is expected, or subtle demanded. The greedy eye can appear to be so "nice". Say no to that expectation and there is heck to pay. One is also to be so careful when it comes to ministry. Good boundaries are necessary so that you are not stretched to the point of burnout, and breaking. The subtleties of greed are many. All are destructive. Let us not sabotage the dream God has for us. in this way we are not too likely to be a saboteur to the dream God has for others. There is a new world being created, in you and in me. The Creative Love is bring a newness to all of creation. Not living out of possessiveness will free us to be ready to embrace the new, as it is slowly revealed in each moment. Each moment is to be embraced-reverenced, and celebrated as our encounter with the Paschal Mystery? Then, horrors of horrors for the ego, Let Go.

Paschal....Hope-filled....Eyes

According to Chronos time, Holy Week has passed. The Resurrection has been celebrated. So we can say, "all of this is now in the past, and we are moving on". Or are we? Are we really moving on and leaving all that "stuff" behind us? Kairos time tells otherwise, and thank God for that. Otherwise, we would be setting ourselves up for real trouble. We would have lives filled with fear, anger and despair, with no help in sight. Kairos time offers us the gift of eternal hope. Kairos time, that is God's time, allows us to see that which we have celebrated is present today. The Paschal Mystery is being encountered in each and every moment of our human experience. The human experience we as spiritual beings are immersed in. So that which has been celebrated is being lived out right here, in the here and now. This is what I like to call "the beyond time" of The Paschal Mystery. We are always living in the "beyond time" of some encounter with The Sacred. So in this "beyond time", we are challenged to become more and more aware of The Paschal Mysteries that is ever and always present, and being encountered, in the sacramental now moment. We also refer to this sacred time as, the here and now. Because of this reality we become more and more immersed in this season's great Mystery. We will never, in this life, gain the full understanding of any of The Supernatural Mysteries of our faith. We enter, or need I say, are drawn into, an ever deeper immersion into that which is beyond our full understanding. Full understanding will never be ours in this life as mystery can never be exhausted. Mystery can only be reverenced and celebrated. As we approach, with a sense of deep reverence, we are drawn by grace, into the depths the mystery. Through grace we will be gifted with the following realization, that which we are celebrating is within the depths of who we are. We are being continuously "dipped and dyed" into this awakening reality, that which I am celebrating in the Liturgy, is being lived within. The journey into The Mystery, is a life long journey. It is the only one worth taking. In each stage, in each season, of life's journey we are offered a new, and different understanding of that wonder-full, Paschal Mystery. This is the Mystery we have been baptized into. In this Sacrament (big S) we have been called, chosen, and consecrated to be the beloved daughter/son of our passionate, living and loving Father-God. We are ever and always the object of this infinite, unconditioned, unlimited and unrestricted Love. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can come between us and that love. We are to be reminded that it is NOT that I love God, but that through the Spirit we were first loved. It is not that I give love, but that I accept love. A love that has already mine from eternity. Love is my Origin, and my Destiny. This love cannot be earned nor deserved, just simple accepted. Are not the simplest of thing the hardest to do? The same here. No amount or effort on our part, can make this loving possible. It is always free. All we have to say is "YES", and leave it at that. In this "Yes" there is the wonder-full transformation, and transfiguration happening secretly in the depths of who we are. Only on very rare occasions is this reality revealed to us. This is The Spirit's call, not ours. Fr. Rohr warns us, "We are not to put a thermometer in the soul". There then is an eternal newness happening within us. This is the fulfillment of the scriptures "behold I make all things new", "do you not see ?". The scripture says I make all things new, I am not making new things. So there is this constant renewal process within you and I. I sometimes wish this whole thing was over in a minute, but would I be ready for the shock? This very impatient Irishman must be constantly reminded of this salient fact, God's ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts!!!! I find the daily struggle to believe who I am in passionate, life giving, always creative love a real tough slog. It is so easy to get side tracked. Our human experience, and our interaction with others living out of that same reality is a great challenge. John O'Donoghue in his book "Anam Cara" makes a great connection with the way others see us, and the way we see ourselves. Maybe I do this too often, but here I go again. When it comes to the healthy vision necessary for a healthy spirituality, and hence for healthy living, the words of Robbie Burns always come to mind. He wrote "Would that God the gift to give me to see myself as others see me". That is a prayer I would ever want to be answered. This prayer, however, is a constant desire, "Would that God the gift to give me, to see myself as God sees me". For that desire to be fulfilled there is serious hard work to be done. Joe can so easily say "I am not what others say I am, I am not what others see me as "but the acceptance of that truth is not an easy task. Here are some of the "eyes" through which we and others see our reality. First there is the Fear-full eye, to this eye everything and everyone is perceived as a threat. There is the threat of danger, of serious damage, and of loss around every corner. This is the life that is lived without the faith grounded in the Paschal Mystery. This is faith-less life and life-less. Yes every day we encounter danger death, and destruction. What we are experiencing right now is man's inhumanity towards his fellow man, and woman. Yes there are losses. There is death. There is pain. There is confusion. These are not end moments. These are "the beyond moments" where the ever deepening, life transforming mystery of The Paschal Mystery is continuously being revealed. We must always keep before us the eternal truth of The Paschal Mystery: death, pain, confusion, destruction are steps on the way to a new way of seeing, believing, and acting. These are not intended by God, but are used to lead us ever deeper into the following of His Beloved Son. We are then called to walk though our fears into a more intimate and trusting relationship with or Shepherd-God. There is no real intimacy in any relationship as long as fear is in control. We all have to pass through a raw naked fear, on our journey into intimacy with The One who is waiting for us at the end of this fear-full step. Merton's great prayer is such a comfort, "God I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead, nor do I really know myself...." (the rest is on Google). Fear and faith we will always be in one or the other, the choice is ours, every moment. (Over the next few blogs the other eyes will be looked at, i.e. the greedy eye, the judgmental eye, the resentful eye, the indifferent eye, the inferior eye. These eyes we see through, and are seen through on the way to the essential acceptance of who we are in the eyes of Love.