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.

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.