Ascension Thursday 2016
One day, about a year before I
entered the monastery, I was taking a walk through a park and I came to a
little pond and sat there, my Bible in hand. The memory of this is so strong
that it feels like it just happened recently. Anyway, I opened my Bible and
began reading the Letter to the Ephesians. My eyes fell on the passage which is
read at the Mass on Ascension Thursday, and my heart leaped within me and I was
filled with joy and comfort and even courage, because I was at a time of
transition in my life and I wasn’t quite sure where I was heading next.
This is what I read:
[I pray] that
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of
wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts
enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you,
what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the
immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe according to the working
of his great might which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the
dead . . . (Eph 1:17-20) *Note: this is an older translation than what
we currently use at Mass, but this is the one I read that day—RSV translation.)
This might take a few days to
unpack since it is so rich. I encourage you to read it through several times,
and then to make some notes about what it means to you. It may take some work
and some good, prayerful thinking, but the riches it promises will be well
worth the effort. I’ll start a little bit today.
First of all, note that the
subject of the passage is God, . . . the Father of glory. This is the direct
work of the Father, the One who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. He is the
One Who did that, and He is the One Whom Paul calls upon to shower spiritual
gifts upon us. Keep in mind the power of our God; the whole passage is speaking
about the work of his power. There is absolutely no limit to what our heavenly
Father can do in the world and most especially, can do in us. Everything in
this passage points back to the Father from Whom all these graces come.
What does Paul ask for? that he give him a spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of him.
He prays that we may come to
know the Father more fully then we do now. “Revelation”—the Greek verb used
here is related to the word uncover.
It says to me that there will always be something new to learns, something new
to understand, just as there has been through my life and I would bet throughout
yours as well.
. . . having the eyes of your hearts enlightened . . . What a beautiful metaphor! I can’t
help thinking how Saint Benedict revers to “the ear of your hearts” and I
wonder whether this phrase from Ephesians may have inspired him. This phrase is
closely related to what I said about “revelation.” Paul is calling for us to
see what we haven’t seen before, and to see it not with our eyes, or with our
intellect, but rather to see with our hearts—which in Biblical language
refers to the entire inner essence of a person. In simple terms I would suggest
it means “see from deep down inside, see with our guts and our intuition.”
And what are we to “see”? We’ll
look at that tomorrow.
God bless you.
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