God's will is actually God's care for us.

Since this is the last Reflection I will be offering you this year, I want to leave you with something that might add a new dimension to your relationship with the Lord.

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday. My friend is going through a particularly difficult time in his life and he told me that he was having a hard time “finding and accepting God’s will in all of this.” And it occurred to me that sometimes it might not be particularly helpful to think of things in terms of God’s will—because more often than not, we tend to shy away from His will, or find it somewhat threatening or foreboding, assuming that God is expecting or demanding something difficult or unpleasant that we have to “toughen up” and accept with resignation.

The more I thought about this, the more it seemed to me that it might be better to think not of God’s will but rather of God’s care. God cares for me. I have had signs all through my life of the many special ways in which he has indeed cared for me, and even in the most trying and difficult times of all, there he was, taking care of me. Sometimes that caring may bring us through troubles and trials and difficulties of all sorts, but we always emerge, somehow blessed and well cared for.

Think of that, will you? That through the circumstances of your life, right here and right now, God is indeed caring for you and all you have to do is let go and let Him do His work in your life.

I remember a time when I lost a friend, and was grieving that loss, when I came upon an intriguing quote: “Sometimes God removes a person from our lives in order to protect us.” Meditating on that quote, I realized that the loss I was suffering was actually the result of God’s direct care for me. And as time went by, I began to realize that the friend I lost was actually toxic for me, and I was so much freer and better off once the friendship had come to an end.

I also remember wanting something desperately, and praying earnestly that God would allow it to happen, and it didn’t happen. It took a little while before I could actually begin to understand that his refusal to grant my request actually turned out to be an incredible blessing in my life.

How about you? Might this notion of God’s care for you help you to process whatever it is that may be happening in your life? And think of that this Christmas, that God sent His Son into the world so that through Jesus Christ He might best care for us all, each and every moment of our lives, and even beyond the span of our earthly lives.

May the blessings and the care of Christmas be yours in abundance this year. God bless you all.

Fr. Bede

He will complete His work for you

Once again we turn to the prophet Isaiah for our Advent meditation. This passage is filled with promise for all of us:

For just as from the heavens

the rain and snow come down

and do not return there

till they have watered the earth,

making it fertile and fruitful,

giving seed to him who sows

and bread to him who eats,

So shall my word be

that goes forth from my mouth;

it shall not return to me void,

but shall do my will,

achieving the end for which I sent it.  (Isaiah 55:10  NAB translation)

The interpretive key to this passage, for me, is my word, which reminds me of  the beginning of the Gospel of John: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

The Word is Jesus Christ, come down from heaven.

He waters the earth: we are the earth, thirsting for God all the days of our lives. The water that Jesus brings is the living water that he promised to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. He promises that if we drink of this water we shall never again thirst. Our thirst will be satisfied with the coming of the Lord. What is dry and cracked and barren in our lives will be made fertile, and bear fruit—perhaps things which you have never even imagined up until this point in your life.

Christ will come to do the will of the Father, and achieve the end for which He was sent: our salvation, our healing, His forgiveness, His grace and truth, His mercy and compassion, and His love for you which is so great that He died for you—you alone, if necessary.

And then, having achieved all of this, He will return to the Father. And your life will never again be the same.

And so, no matter where you are at this point in time—whether you are standing at the peak of a mountain which you have struggled to climb or whether you are lost in a pit or in a valley of near-despair, consider this passage and realize that Jesus Christ is being sent into the world—and to you—to achieve His Father’s purpose for you in your life.

Some of you may already have had evidence of this in your life; some of you may be waiting for the gift to touch you and transform you. All of you—no, all of us—are once again promised a great and wonderful gift.

Celebrate the coming of this gift, and your Advent will be blessed. And your Christmas will be filled with a delight that no one can take from you.  God bless you!

Tomorrow will be my last post for 2015, and I will resume posting again on January 3, 2016. Thank you for reading these reflections and thank you for your kind words and encouragement. Please spread the word, post these reflections on your own timelines, and send me email addresses for my mailing list.

Thank you so much.

Arise, my beloved!

One of my favorite scriptural passages is found in the Song of Songs and is contained in the Mass reading for December 21:

The Lover speaks: Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come.

Who is the Lover and to whom is he speaking? These questions can be answered in at least three ways, and each is valuable for our meditation.

(1) The Lover is God and he is speaking to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This is particularly appropriate on December 21, because the Gospel for today is the story of the Annunciation, when God sends a message to Mary via the angel Gabriel: “Hail, full of grace!”

(2) You are the Lover and you are speaking to the Lord, calling Him to come to the world, and most importantly, to come to you and bring the fulfillment of all His promises, of all the things you have been praying for during the season of Advent. How might you be calling him to come to you today, and why?

(3) This is my favorite interpretation and I have spent many years meditating on it: The Lord is the Lover, and he is speaking directly to you. Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come. Even in all your imperfection and with all of your sins and weaknesses, he looks upon you and you are beautiful to him, and beloved (as we recalled in Isaiah 43:4), and precious and honored. He loves you and calls you to arise from your sleep, from your neediness, from your brokenness and woundedness, and even from  your resistance. Arise! Let your destiny as a beloved child of God come out from you and arise and rest in his arms for a bit. Arise and come! Go to Him. Forget all your cares and your problems and simply go to Him and let Him take care of what needs attention in His way and in His time. Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come! Hear him calling you from the grave at the end of time to be reunited with your body and rest whole and entire in the Kingdom of heaven.

What else might he be saying to you when he speaks those words? Rest in silence and peace, incline “the ears of your heart” (Rule of St. Benedict) to his voice, and hear something that you have never been able to hear before since you have been so busy and preoccupied and distracted.

And let Him bless you this Christmas and always.

Advance notice: I will be posting on the 22^nd and 23^rd and then will take a Christmas Break until January 2 or 3.

A day to exult and sing

For your meditation today I offer two passages from Isaiah which, I believe, go well together and enhance each other.

The first is from the liturgy of the 4^th Sunday of Advent and is designated as the Introit for the day. If is frequently left out, but its message is important for all of us on this day so close to the Christmas Feast because it is poetic expression of our yearning for the coming of Christ:

Drop down dew from above, you heavens, and let the clouds rain down the Just One; let the earth be opened and bring forth a Savior (from Isaiah 45:8)

Notice that the gift from heaven comes to us from two different directions: from the heavens above but also from the earth below. Let the earth be opened and bring forth a Savior causes me to think of the Blessed Mother about to give birth to Jesus who will save us from our sins.

Here is the second passage, from Isaiah 49:13:

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;

break forth, O mountains, into singing!

for the Lord has comforted his people,

and will have compassion on his afflicted.

Heavens and the earth now exult, and the mountains break into song, for the prophecy of Isaiah 45:8 is being fulfilled. How do the heavens and the earth exult? And the mountains sing? Close your eyes and picture what your eyes cannot see; listen to the singing that your ears cannot hear.

What is the cause of the singing and the joy? The Lord has come to bring comfort to us his people. All those things you’ve been thinking about and praying for through our meditations this month, through the liturgy of the Church and through your personal and sometimes silent prayer. Comfort comes to all.

And you who are afflicted (which actually means all of us, for we all suffer from one affliction or another) are to receive the Lord’s give of compassion.

Before we close, let’s take a quick look at the word compassion: its Latin roots mean “suffer with.” Never forget that our God who is full of compassion is a God who looks upon our human state in all its glory and also affliction, and where we suffer, he too suffers with us.  It might be difficult to think of the Lord suffering during these days when we think of babe in the manger, yet, as one commentator has pointed out, the wood of the cradle will one day become the wood of the cross.

But for now, let us put that aside and rejoice, give thanks, give expression to our yearning, and, most importantly, remember that not just you but everyone around you is precious in God’s eyes, and honored, and loved. Show that to one another.

God bless you.

You are loved, no matter what

The Book of Consolation: Isaiah 43:1-4

Before I entered the monastery, I worked for a man who wasn’t very nice. I’m not going to say more about that, because I have forgiven that man a long time ago.

One day I was preparing to meet with him to tell him that I was planning to enter a monastery and that I wouldn’t be working for the company much longer. I was very nervous about this conversation and, as I remember it, I was pacing back and forth in my office and rehearsing exactly what it was that I wanted to say.

Along came a co-worker who knew what I was about to do. He stopped before my door and said just two words to me: “Isaiah forty-three” and then he went his way.

I went to my briefcase and took out my Bible (the very one I’m reading from as I write this) and looked up what Isaiah 43 had to say. This is what I found:

Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters I will be with you;

and through rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

. . .

Because you are precious in my eyes,

and honored, and I love you.

Take those words to heart because He is speaking to you as well. No matter what mistakes you may have made, no matter what you think of yourself in your self-critical moments, no matter what you own particular story of weakness and failure or want and need, those words are for you: You are precious in His eyes, and honored and He loves you.

The conversation I ended up having was very difficult and did not go well. But it was true: the waters did not overwhelm me and I did not get burned. I passed through, just as I have passed through every challenge and difficulty that my own life has brought me.

And still, I sometimes have to work to open my heart enough to hear those words and to believe them: “You are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you.” And yet he proves it to me again and again, time after time, no matter what may be going on.

And so I leave this passage to you as a pre-Christmas gift. God bless you.

The next reflection will be on Sunday, December 20.

God is working things out for you.

Today’s gift from the prophet Isaiah:

And I will lead the blind in a way that they know not,

in paths that they have not known

I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,

the rough places into level ground.

These are the things I will do,

and I will not forsake them.  (Isaiah 42:16)

No matter what we may have planned, we don’t really know what the rest of this day will bring us. Perhaps things will go as we have planned, but perhaps things will go the way God has planned and perhaps His plans are different than ours. Have you ever found this to be true? I know I have. In fact, I wrote about it in a reflection back in June:

A few months ago I was praying for things to turn out a certain way. Well, they didn’t. And so, once again, like so many other times in my life, I am walking on ground I have not walked on before. Just like Abraham, and Moses, and the Blessed Mother, and the apostles, and so many of the saints, and in the lives of countless ordinary people who have been led in directions they never would have planned for or predicted or perhaps even wanted.

Through it all, God is with us, and the promise He makes through the prophet Isaiah can reassure us if we take it to heart. It is He Who is leading us, He Who will bring us through whatever life might throw at us, He Who is most powerful in our lives when things seem most hopeless, He Who is most powerful in our lives when it seems to us that He isn’t there at all. (Consider the famous “footprints” poem.)

Don’t forget that these words were directed to the people of Israel when they were living in miserable exile in a land that they didn’t know and that they would never have chosen for themselves. But even at this time, when things seemed the bleakest, He was working something out for them.

He is doing that for you as well.

May this prediction from Isaiah fill you with peace, and hope and a new type of wisdom that you wouldn’t have been able to understand a short time ago.

Blessed Advent to you!

God will give you strength

Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know

  or have you not heard?

The Lord is the eternal God,

  Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary,

  his understanding is beyond scrutiny.

He gives strength to the fainting,

  and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Though youths shall faint and be weary,

  and the youths stagger and fall;

They who hope in the Lord will renew their strength,

  they will soar as with eagles’ wings,

They will run and not be weary

  walk and not grow faint.  (NAB translation)

By this point in December, a great many people are indeed exhausted. This is also a time of the year that many people find difficult, for any number of reasons.

Are you taking care of yourself? Are you giving yourself enough time—rather, are you giving the Lord enough time to have direct, unimpeded access to you? Remember to breathe consciously, to close your eyes for what I like to call a “minor moment” where you clear your mind for all the distractions that oppress you and simply realize that you are in the presence of God and that he is promising to do the things that Isaiah describes in this beautiful passage from the Book of Consolation.

Could you, perhaps, take the time to write out these words on an index card or slip of paper and keep it with you throughout the day? Could you even, perhaps, memorize this passage?

Could it possibly be that at least one word, one phrase in the text has something to say directly to you? If it does, claim it. Don’t worry about what kind of effect it will have in your life: don’t forget that God’s understanding, that his ways, are so far beyond our human understanding that we cannot possibly predict how he will work with us. Prepare to be surprised. Prepare to be delighted. Today.

We are touching here on a great mystery, one that we discussed a few days back. We are considering “the peace of God which surpasses human understanding.” May it be with you this day.

Don’t forget to close your eyes for a moment and breathe deeply. As often as you like. No matter how busy or distracted you may be. Today.

Blessed Advent to you!

The motherly God

We continue with a prayerful reading of The Book of Consolation (Isaiah 40-53):

On the one hand, God is all powerful and mighty, while at the same time, when dealing with the meek and helpless, he is full of compassion. Is 40:10-11.

Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him;

behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him.

Like a shepherd, he feeds his flock;

in his arms he gathers the lambs,

Carrying them in his arms (bosom),

and gently lead those that are with young (leading the ewes with care).

Here is a study in contrasts, reminding us that we cannot reduce our understanding of God to only one dimension. This God is the almighty Ruler bringing justice and judgment. And yet, at the same time, he is gentle as any mother suckling her young.

The passage speaks of the “flock,” the “lambs” and “the ewes.” These are the ones who are the recipients of God’s motherly kindness.

Can you become a sheep? Can you put aside your human pride and vainglory? Can you surrender any claims you have to power, or the instinctual drive to control things? Can you be gentle, and docile as a sheep of the flock? Can you surrender yourself when he bends to lift you to his shoulders? Can you admit your own constant need to be carried by One stronger than you? Can you allow yourself to be gently led?

These are the dispositions needed so that we can experience the compassion and care of an almighty God and Father (and mother).

Let.him.carry.you.in.his.arms.

Blessed Advent to you.

Speak tenderly to yourself

Every Advent I like to spend some prayerful time reading and re-reading a section of the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapters 46-55, which are often referred to as  “The Book of Consolation.”  If you haven’t discovered this beautiful section of the Bible, perhaps this Advent you can explore its riches.

Isaiah 40:1-2  immediately sets the tone: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to [Jerusalem] and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

Once again, I encourage you to make the scriptural passages more personal and direct by changing the words in brackets to your own name.

Just a few things to notice from these opening verses:

·         The prophet is to speak tenderly. This is particularly important because so often we speak to ourselves in ways that are not tender, don’t we? Perhaps today you can spend some time speaking tenderly to yourself, and then as a result, perhaps you can find ways to speak tenderly to those around you.

·         “[her] warfare is ended.” Your warfare is ended. Where and how are you at war? With yourself? with others? The voice which speaks tenderly puts an end to the wars we wage.

·         “[her] iniquity is pardoned. Certainly, for serious matters we need to have recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but there are so many other matters in our life that God pardons almost before we even ask.

·         “that [she] has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” Historically, this addresses the exile of Israel which they were enduring at the time the passage was written. If we personalize it, however, we might think of the consequences of our sins of both omission and commission. When we sin, we are the ones who get hurt in one way or another, either immediately or in the long term. The passage might be saying to us, “OK. Enough of that.” Let the tender voice of the Lord reach through our darkness and bring light and healing where we need it the most.

We’ll continue with our reading of The Book of Consolation next time.

Blessed Advent to you.

The peace that can't be described is meant for you.

From the second reading for the Third Sunday of Advent (Year C): Philippians 4:4-7

. . . Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

So what is this peace? Have you experienced it? Can you describe it?

Of course you can’t. This peace which is given to us who believe defies description because we are limited in our language, especially when it comes to spiritual things. We don’t have the words or concepts to speak about it rationally, or logically, or in merely earthbound terms.

What we do know is that the peace itself is conditional. There are things we have to do that end up calling this peace down upon us and within us. The passage from Philippians lists the requirements for us:

·         Rejoice in the Lord always (even during those difficult times).

·         Be extraordinarily kind.

·         Be free from anxiety because you know the Lord is near (=with you in all things). Sit calmly, breathe deeply, feel the anxiety and then offer it up to God who will touch it and heal it. Focus on the body sensations you have when you are anxious; imagine the Lord touching those sensations, and as you breathe deeply, experience them growing fainter and lighter until they all but disappear. Don’t think about the problem or the issues: focus you attention on the feelings and the sensation.

·         Ask for things by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. God already knows what you need, but it is important for you voice your requests in your own words.

If you do all these things, then you will know that peace which surpasses all understanding. Give thanks for it. Don’t try to explain it to anyone else, or even to yourself: simply rest in it.

When you emerge from this meditative process, you will be better able to face the things you have to face in your life, and you may perhaps even be given insight about what you are to say or do.

I can’t say any more about it. I don’t have the language to do that. But I do what I can do in my own imperfect way. I pray that the suggestions I make will inspire you to make yourself ready to receive that peace. Just remember: on this third Sunday of Advent, the color is pink, not purple, for this a day given to us that we may rejoice.

Blessed Advent to you.

Repairing what is broken

The final verse of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel finishes our series of meditations.

O come, Desire of nations, bind

In one the hearts of humankind;

O bid our sad divisions cease,

And be for us our King of Peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you

O [Israel]

This verse was on my mind last night during Vespers, particularly when we prayed the last petition for the evening: Conqueror of the barriers of hatred and discord, reunite at the banquet of eternal life all who have died as victims of war. ---and I added, and terrorism.

The petition shed light on something I had not considered: at the end of time, ALL who have died will be reunited at the banquet table. Enemy combatants will one day reach out hands to one another; there will be unity at last.

Consider that, if you will: we, too, will be united with those we may have seen as enemies on this side of the grave. We will be united with those we disagree with, with those we have found it difficult to like, with those we may have hurt as well as those who may have hurt us.  Somehow, the Prince of Peace will dissolve those barriers. The petition calls him ”Conqueror of the barriers of hatred and discord.”

Perhaps we may need him to send that powerful grace to us here and now, for we cannot wait until the time we may pass over from death to eternal life.

Are there divisions in your life? Discord? Contentiousness? Emnity? Bitterness over what has happened in the past? Aversions to some? Ask him to send the grace to dissolve these barriers for us, even if it may take a lifetime for the process to be completed. Try this exercise: focus your attention on one single person; pray for that person; picture the Prince of Peace dissolving what has been broken and uniting heart to heart in a sublime moment of healing.

Remember this: Emmanuel shall come to you, bringing all the things you have prayed for as we have made our way through this wonderful hymn.

Blessed Advent to you.

The next Reflection will be on Sunday, December 13.

The light comes gently

From the 6^th verse of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel:

                O come, O Dayspring from on high,

                And cheer us by your drawing nigh.

Think of the coming of the dawn. Consider how slowly it rises, and how gentle is its first light.

And then, consider the coming of the Savior of the World into the world: not as a mighty king, but as a little child, poor and homeless. Gradually, over the course of years, that child will grow into a man, into the God-man ready to teach and to heal, to suffer, die and to rise again. To be “a light in the darkness,” to quote the prologue in St. John’s Gospel.

These things come slowly.

Conversion, enlightenment, awakening: most often, these come slowly as well. Slow, gradual but inevitable.

I like to think of it in this way:

We are in a room that is completely dark. And we strike a match and light a single candle. At first, there is just a tiny, flickering light, but then the light slowly spreads and begins to fill the room with a soft gentle light. The light is there with us, but the room is still somewhat dark. Light and darkness exist together in the beginning. And then, if we use that tiny light to light other candles and spread them throughout the room, then the darkness recedes while there is only the light left.

This is the process of conversion, of enlightenment, of awakening or of anything else you might like to call it.

Sometimes Christ comes into our lives as a blast from heaven knocking us off our horse, as happened to Saint Paul. But for most of us, most of the time, the light begins as a dayspring, or as a single candle in a darkened room.

As you pray for the coming of Christ into your life this year, pray also that you might be able to see the gentle light as it begins its process within your heart and your mind and your soul.

Blessed Advent to you.

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night

Today we consider the 6^th verse of O Come, O come, Emmanuel:

O come, O Dayspring from on high,

And cheer us by your drawing nigh;

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,

And death’s dark shadow put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel will come to you,

O [Israel].

The word Dayspring evokes the closing lines of a prayer known as the Benedictus, which is sung in monasteries and convents and in the Liturgy of the Hours every morning at the end of Morning Prayer.

The Benedictus is better known as the Canticle of Zechariah, the prophecy of the father of John the Baptist when his lips were opened and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. It begins like this,

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and brought redemption to his people.

The canticle goes on to speak of John the Baptist and his role in preparing the people for the coming of the Lord:

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

to give his people knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God

by which the daybreak from on high will visit us

to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow,

to guide our feet into the path of peace.  (Luke 1:76-79)

 Can you see how the words of the Benedictus inspired today’s verse from the Advent hymn?

In all of this, I believe the key words are forgiveness, and  tender mercy. And in this, perhaps the verse (and the Benedictus) challenges us to ask for forgiveness for our sins, either through the Sacrament of Reconciliation (most especially) or in our regular daily prayer. Could you perhaps focus on some sin, temptation or weakness that calls down upon you “the gloomy clouds of night”?

It is time for that night to come to an end. Focus on the light offered through the Advent hymn, verse 6, and also in the Benedictus. Be very specific in your prayer, and gently but ruthlessly honest in your examination of conscience. And may you know the coming of the Light as you are guided by Our Lord to move you into the path of peace.

Blessed Advent to you.

The way to heaven is opened for us.

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

We continue with the fifth verse:

O Come, O Key of David, come,

and open wide our heavenly home;

Make safe the way that leads on high,

And close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you,

O [Israel].

The conception of Mary in the womb of her mother Elizabeth is the definitive moment in salvation history when the Key does, indeed, open for us the way to heaven. Grace has totally conquered sin. Concupiscence is wiped out, along with all the various unhealthy ways we have of coping when we perceive that our basic needs for security, control and esteem are not being met. Addiction cannot take hold. The supernatural enemies of the human soul are bound and cast into hell at the conception of this one, spotless, completely pure and holy girl who is meant to become the Mother of God and the Mother of us all.

We, of course, suffer from the ravages of original sin, concupiscence, and unhealthy coping mechanisms, not the least of which are major and minor addictions which do lead us along the path to misery.

When we need to make choices about our present, we can look to the Blessed Mother and ask the way we should go. We must always be aware that to some extent, we are “flying blindly” as we make our ways through life. We don’t always know which is the way that leads to God; are are sometimes tragically ignorant that there is a path that leads to misery while our senses and deluded minds are convincing us that it is that  path that is the right way to go.

Consider, if you will, the definitiveness of this verse: one way is opened—not only opened, but “opened wide.” Another way is closed. Would that were true for us now. Unfortunately it is not. What this verse offers us is an incredible promise of what Christ comes to bring to us. Let’s seize the promise and live in the hopeful space that our deliverance is near at hand. Often, we will experience it here and now in our lives. Other times, it may be just a bit beyond our reach . . . for now. But let us hope.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Advent trust

We continue today with our Reflections on the verses of the hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

I encourage you to continue substituting your own name in place of the word “Israel” in order to make this wonderful hymn your own personal prayer.

Verse 4:

O Come, O Rod of Jesse’s stem.

From ev’ry foe deliver them

That trust your mighty power to save,

And give them victory o’er the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you,

O [Israel].

The key word in this verse is trust. Do you, can you, trust that God will indeed deliver you from the enemies of your soul and of your peace, serenity, security and well-being? Ask God continually to increase your capacity to trust him. Look back over the landscape of your life and recall those times when he has, indeed, delivered you from something or someone that threatened to wreck havoc in your life. Give thanks for his great mercy to you, and build your trust in the present time on the realities you discover in your own past. More simply put: he has delivered you, he is delivering you (even if you aren’t aware of it) and he will deliver you.

In his prayer for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis eloquently points out to us the kinds of deliverance that are described in the Gospels. Let the words of his prayer serve to increase our own faith and hope and trust:

Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money;

the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things;

made Peter weep after his betrayal,

and assured Paradise to the repentant thief.

Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman: ‘If only you knew the gift of God.’

Trust that the gift be given to you as well during this Advent season, in whatever way you need it. And, above all, remember that the greatest gift is yet to come: Our Lord is going to give each of us victory over the grave! Our physical death will be a temporary state for us and not the end of existence.

Pray for that trust as well.

Blessed  Advent to you.

God will do for you what you cannot do for yourself.

This Reflection is based on the readings for the Second Sunday of Advent, Year C.

For one who is truly committed to moving closer to the Lord during this Advent season, today’s Gospel passage is filled with hope. Let me explain.

I remember a time over 30 years ago when I began considering making a major life change in order to  enter religious life. I mentioned to my Pastor that it seemed that there were too many seemingly insurmountable obstacles standing in my way, and that they were beginning to discourage me.

He answered me by quoting the wonderful passage from Isaiah that we contemplate today: “Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be laid low, the winding winds shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth . . .”

That passage came true in my life over the next year, until finally I found myself becoming a Novice at Saint Anselm Abbey. And the power of that passage never abated. Again and again and again I have found that the Lord acts in my life to make possible what I thought to be impossible, to send me assistance from all sorts of places I never would have predicted or imagined, to put people into my life—just the right people at the right time to be agents of divine grace in my life.

What was required of me was a firm commitment to move forward. John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Allow me, if you will, to interpret that repentance as the will to move away from anything in our lives that keeps us from moving closer to God, and to take committed and deliberate steps to move towards the God who calls us by name, who sends us graces that sometimes seem miraculous, who provides us with valuable companions on the way, and whose guidance and wisdom continue to light our way. Take special note of those valleys that become raised up for us, and the mountains become laid low, as the path in the direction of our heart’s desire becomes smooth and blessed with wonder upon wonder upon wonder.

That change you have in life, that movement away from something sinful, those tentative steps towards the new life that God is calling you to have this Advent and throughout the coming year? Put your faith in Isaiah’s prophecy, profess your commitment (which is there often along with a certain fear), and take a step forward. A bit at a time, day after day, even hour by hour, towards what might end up becoming the greatest Christmas you have ever had in your life.

God bless you.

The Law is a way of protecting us.

Continuing with O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, Verse 3:

O come, O come, great Lord of might,

Who to your tribes on Sinai’s height

In ancient times once gave the Law

In cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice!

In this verse we consider the awesome mighty and majestic Lord of all things, and it would be a good practice in prayer to humble ourselves before this God of great mystery and tremendous power. We don’t have enough transcendence and awe in our lives any more, when everything is being stripped down to the least common denominator and the only things to be worshipped are man-made gods of paper and stone and glass and computer chips. Muslims bow to the ground five times a day, every day, and we have nothing in our lives that can equal that gesture, and we are impoverished because of it. Can you possible create some kind of gesture in your own life, or at least, when you genuflect in the Church do so with greater heart-felt humility and fervor?

And so the awesome mighty God delivers the commandments of the Law to Moses from the mountain-top. Even in his most awesome state, he stoops down to us to give us something that is meant for our own well-being and protection.

Have you ever considered the 10 Commandments in this light? That they are there to protect us? I say this because the truth is that they contain the secret about how life actually works in this world. Those who break the commandments, even if they know nothing about them, end up getting hurt and hurting others in many ways. Actions have consequences. And our lives come with a set of instructions.

In all his awesomeness, our Lord looks upon us and cares for us, even if it has to be in ways that we struggle against from time to time.

Today would be a good day to reflect on the first three commandments and to see how they play themselves out in our lives.

Blessed Advent to you.

The next Reflection will be on Sunday, December 6.

Wisdom at Work

Wisdom, part 3

This is the third of a series of reflections based on the hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” The series began on December 1.

“ . . . and teach us in her [Wisdom’s] ways to go.”

Something’s been going on in my life the past two weeks that I thought I needed to address, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I actually had several options to choose from. Meanwhile, I’ve been writing these reflections on Wisdom and as result I’ve been asking for guidance in my prayer and meditation, knowing full well that the way of Wisdom was not necessarily the way I would choose if left to my own devices.

So I prayed, and waited. God gave me the grace not to do anything at all about the situation until I was able to pray with conviction: “teach me in her ways to go.”

So what happened? Yesterday afternoon  I was with one of the people involved in the situation, but chose not to say anything. Instead, I found myself acting in a way I never would have predicted, and as a result, simply by being with the other person and practicing compassion and gentleness was all that was needed to bring relief to something that could have been tense and full of confrontation.

This was a truly graced moment. It is important to stress that none of the solutions I had come up with on my own were applied to the situation. Something entirely different and unexpected proved to be the key to unlock the door to resolution.

God’s ways are not my ways. But because I was given the grace to surrender to his Wisdom, and to lay aside my own limited point-of-view, I was able to witness Wisdom at work. And not only did the situation benefit, but I benefitted as well. And I hope you can benefit from my telling this story.

Blessed Advent to you.

Making Room for Wisdom

Wisdom, part 2.

O come, O Wisdom from on high,

who orders all things mightily:

To us the path of knowledge show

and lead us in her ways to go.

Rejoice!

I don’t know about you, but there are times when I seem to be all filled up with “mind stuff: ” Things I’ve learned, things I think I have figured out, my continually rehashing of things from my past and constant predictions about what the future will bring (which are almost always nothing more than fantasies). In addition to this, of course, I have my own attitudes, opinions, attractions and distractions to deal with minute by minute and moment by moment.

This is a serious problem. If my mind is already full of stuff, how can I possibly expect Wisdom to come to me, to show me where true knowledge lies, and to lead me in a wise and holy path?

We’ve got to make room for Wisdom. In order to do that, we’ve got to do some serious housecleaning, some serious letting go. We’ve got to put our thoughts on “hold” and silence the constant internal chatter so that we can begin to hear the voice of Wisdom prompting us to a new way of life.

This is where and when meditation, or Centering Prayer or mindfulness  becomes so important. It doesn’t matter what you call the process or technique: the process is always the same.

If you’ve never meditated before, do a search for one of the methods I’ve named above or seek out one of the many excellent books on the subject. But, for what it is worth, here is meditation in a nutshell:

Sit quietly and focus you attention on your breathing. Notice the breath as it goes in and out of your body. If possible, count the breaths up to 10 and then begin again. Keep your attention on your breath (or on some phrase such as ”Come, Lord Jesus.” You mind will begin to wander and thoughts and feelings will arise that take your attention away from your breath or your phrase. When you notice this happening, gently return to your meditation. This will continue to happen, and each time it does, return to the basic meditation.

After a time, you will come to realize that you are the “space” through which thoughts and feelings move. You are not your thoughts; you are not your feelings. You are the one who has thoughts and feelings passing by in an endless parade. Let them pass through.

If you do this on a regular basis (15-20 minutes is good), you will begin to discover and realize many things that you have not realized before. Perhaps this is the voice of Wisdom speaking to you . . .

Blessed Advent to you.

We are not Wisdom

We continue today with the second verse of the Advent hymn:

O Come, O Wisdom, from on high,

Who orders all thins mightily:

To us the path of knowledge show,

And teach us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O [Israel].

We are not Wisdom. Sometimes we may be a little wise, and hopefully, as we make our way through the spiritual life we grow bit by bit towards wisdom, but we are still not Wisdom. Let’s take a look at what the book of Wisdom has to say about Wisdom itself (or herself, since Wisdom is personified as female in the ancient writings):

For in her is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique,

manifold, subtle, agile,

clear, unsullied, certain,

not baneful, loving the good, keen

unhampered, beneficent, kindly,

firm, secure, tranquil,

all-powerful, all-seeing,

and pervading all spirits,

though they be intelligent, pure and very subtle. (Wisdom 7-22)

If you have the time, I encourage you to read the entire seventh chapter of the Book of Wisdom.

And so, looking at the list, it is easy to understand that we are not Wisdom. (And, by the way, in the New Testament it is Jesus who is called wisdom. (1 Cor 1:24)

And since we are not Wisdom, many of the things we think and the attitudes and opinions we have may not necessarily be wise and true, no matter how much we cling to them or are addicted to them. And that is why we need to pray for the gift of Wisdom and the order and understanding it brings, while at the same time we need to pray for the humility and openness to realize that God’s Wisdom might require us to move in different directions than we are currently moving.

Once again, it comes down to the basic tenet of the 12-Steps: we are powerless, and falsely opinionated (12Steppers call this “stinking thinking” and as soon as we admit that we are ready to fall into the arms of a completely merciful, compassionate and wise Savior.

Our thoughts are not necessarily true, and our opinions are not facts, as much as we’d like to think they are. As one writer put it, “If you’re going to continue thinking the way you’re thinking, you’re just going to end up right where you are now.”

One final suggestion: be particularly careful of those most cherished and passionately held opinions of yours. They may prevent you from experiencing God’s visitation. 

Jesus comes to touch the weakest part

Reviewing yesterday’s hymn verse:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

and ransom captive [Israel]

that mourns in lonely exile here

until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O [Israel}

Verse One of the Advent hymn (see yesterday’s reflection) makes us aware of the existential pain that permeates our lives. We are exiled from our true selves; we are held captive by things that keep us from a fuller experience of God; we mourn what we have lost as well as what we cannot manage to achieve on our own; our exile is lonely and marked by profound yearning for the coming of the One who can save us from our condition.

What I didn’t mention yesterday is that the condition described in the first verse of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is actually the same condition as that described in the first of the 12-Steps of A.A. and other addiction programs. In the first step, we acknowledge that our lives are “unmanageable” and that we are “powerless” to do anything about it on our own. 

Franciscan Fr. Richard Rohr and retired Cistercian Abbot Thomas Keating, among many others, have pointed out that the 12-Step program of recovery is so powerful and effective that everyone should have the experience of working the steps and that everyone is addicted to something that renders life unmanageable and powerless. It needn’t be a major addiction at issue. How about that temper, or that thin skin that causes you so much pain? How about your tendency to judge others by appearances, or your bigotry, or your need to see yourself as better than others? How about . . . . . ? A gentle but ruthlessly honest review of your own life situation can and will help you identify your own particular issue, the one that holds you captive, the one that you have been powerless to defeat. Jesus Christ comes to meet you at exactly that place.

May you be open to the grace he comes to bring.

As I make my way through the verses of my favorite Advent hymn, I intend to relate it to the 12-Steps where possible. I suspect that a deep prayerful study of the verses of the ancient hymn will produce real change, growth and grace in all of our lives. Please come with me as I make my way through this journey.

Advent begins with your need for God

Let’s begin Advent with a verse from a well-known Advent hymn. But before we start, let me make a suggestion: that wherever you encounter the word “Israel”, that you replace it with “my soul.” In this way the Advent hymn becomes a song about your life and about some great blessing you can receive if you take the words to heart. Let things become not only about head but also about heart, soul, spirit, psyche, and even body.

And so here’s the verse:

O come, O come, Emmanuel

and ransom captive  [Israel]

that mourns in lonely exile here

until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to you,

O [Israel].

Let it move from your head to your heart. Don’t merely try to understand it; seek to feel it deep within your being. It has a lot to say about you; it has a lot to say about all of us, here and now, and especially during this time of Advent.

The reality of the verse is undeniable: You are a captive. Think about this today: how are you a captive?

What has you stuck? What are you chained to, that you cannot free yourself from, no matter how much you have tried on your own? Is it some habit? Some mistake you have made? Some weakness that threatens to overwhelm you? Or something else: what is it?

And you are in exile. You are separated from your true self. You are separated from that person that you are trying to become, separated from your most intense dreams and wishes about yourself? You can almost reach out and touch the goal you strive for, but something always keeps you from it. And this exile you suffer is a lonely place. No one has access to it save you. No one merely human, that is.

And so you mourn. Oh how you yearn for what you cannot give yourself, that your own efforts cannot acquire for you. Perhaps it is something you have lost and wish you could have back, but it is lost to you seemingly forever.

What you need to break those chains, to put an end to your loneliness and your mourning, is not something you can give to yourself or can get from anyone else. You need help from the outside.

As it stands, your life is unmanageable and in this verse you admit it and own it. And then you hear the great promise. The only one who can set you free is going to come to you. In fact, is already with you. Let him touch all the dark and hopeless places you have considered in this meditation. And rejoice.

Rejoice in hope!

Black Friday

A few thoughts about Black Friday:

·         To me at least, it represents unbridled consumerism at its most insidious and pathetic.

This is what Pope Francis had to say about consumerism and its effect on the human person: “Since the market tends to promote extreme consumerism in an effort to sell its products, people can easily get caught up in a whirlwind of needless buying and spending.” (Laudato Si, #58)

·         We must always remember that none of the products of consumerism can bring the lasting peace and happiness that every one of us never stops searching for.

·         I heard of a man who pitched his tent before one of the stores on Tuesday morning and lived there so that he could be the first in line when the stores finally opened for the big sales.

·         It has served to devalue family life. Family lives and traditions and customs, for many, are being neglected, curtailed or even overthrown by the new tradition of rushing to the stores at all hours of the day and night.

·         And what about its effect on young people these days. Again, I quote Pope Francis: They “have grown up in a milieu of extreme consumerism and affluence which makes it difficult to develop other habits. (Laudato Si, # 209)

·         It has further enslaved the men and women who work in retail, often giving them no choice but to leave their families to go and work the “machine.”

·         Some enjoy increased salaries, even as much as “double time and a half,” by going to work at 4 am on Friday. For the most part, these are people whose usual wages are usually so low that they need the increased income in order for them to be able to provide for their own families.

·         Thanksgiving Day and its observance is a unique moment in the life of the average American. When it supplanted by consumerism, what happens is that a cherished time which only occurs once a year is now taken over by the sort of activity that occurs on just about any other day of the year: shopping. How unique.

·         More time for rest and familial congress is eliminated, replaced by yet more frenetic activity.

·         The space for reflectiveness disappears in the lives of those who become victims to the New Order.

·         The very creation of the Black Friday concept was fueled by the insatiable greed of corporations.

·         Our humanity suffers for it, and when it gets taken away from us there is often little or no chance that we will ever get it back.

·         I was happy to read that a few establishments stood firm and did not participate in the overnight openings. Perhaps this is a sign of hope.

·         I am very happy to be in a monastery on this day. We enjoyed our community time right up to the end of Thursday, awoke on Friday for prayer, and have spent this day as a special day of rest and reflection. I wish everyone could have the opportunity to enjoy the same.

·         If you haven’t yet given in to the pull of Black Friday, please stand firm and do not let it corrupt your way of life.

·         If you have become of victim of Black Friday, I encourage you to see yourself as a victim and to examine closely the motivation behind your participation in this new custom. What, in the end, has it done for you or to you? 

The next reflection will be on Sunday, November 30.