Loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you is hard. In my life I've found it probably the most difficult thing to do as a Christian. Many years ago, for example, I lived with someone who simply refused to talk to me. He despised me. And I couldn't figure out why and efforts at reconciliation failed miserably. No matter what I did, nothing changed his attitude.
Over the course of many years, in light of that experience, and in light of meditating on the Gospels, I realized three things about loving your enemies.
First of all, some people may simply dislike you. So it's useless to try to "get" them to like you, much less to love you. It's useless to try to change them. You can be open to reconciliation, but you have no control over whether someone will reconcile with you. Part of this process is embracing your own powerlessness. Letting go is paramount.
Second, turning away from insults, hatred and contempt and "offering the other cheek" is emotionally healthy. Now, some schools of psychology say that you should always give vent to anger (rather than let it fester) but always responding with vituperation or vengefulness is rather a childish thing to do. Only a baby gives vent to his or her anger all the time. You can acknowledge your anger, perhaps express frustration you have in a calm way, but you don't have to respond in kind. Basically, and to put it less elegantly than Jesus, if your enemy behaves like a jerk toward you, there's no reason you have to act like a jerk toward him.
Third, loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you is liberating. Too often we can find ourselves in pitched battles with the people who hate us, always seeking the upper hand, always noting who's up and who's down, always analyzing every slight. You see this in families and even in office environments, where people are trapped into cycles of vengefulness. It wears both parties down and dehumanizes everyone involved.
So what Jesus is telling us is hard, but it's not impossible. And it's necessary, too, because ultimately he is inviting us not only to forgiveness and charity but to something else: freedom and happiness. So you have heard that it was said, and you have heard that it was said to you by Jesus, who wants you to be happy.
Thanks to Fr James Martin, SJ, for the Huffington Post.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Distractions (a sharing by Lynette Chen)
... [Since] Lent started, I am still not able to really focus on Christ. Till now there are a lot a lot of interruption that has drawn me away from Him. Work is very, very stressful these days and all I want to do is sleep when I am home. School assignment is due very soon and I just want more time to complete it. All these excuses are stopping me from willingly wanting to read the bible and pray. I have been forcing myself to do it. However I am glad at least I have been able to keep to the promise to go for adoration one hour per week, one weekday mass and abstinence, definitely with great temptations surrounding me.
The greatest difficultly [for me] is my stubbornness to let go. There is a temptation that has been telling me to hold on to something till you see or hear, [even though] there are already a lot of signs which I believe is from God to tell me to stop being so stubborn. It's as if, unless until I see Jesus on the cross, I won't believe He loves me. In this sense, I feel I have doubted God in knowing what is the best for me and wants to be in control. I realise that holding on actually hurts more than letting it go.
I am asking God to help me stop doing anything to save the situation but just to leave it in His hands. There is nothing I can do actually but just pray and I feel this is the only thing that God wants me to do.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
The spiritual offering of prayer
Here's a short reading by Tertullian, taken from his treatise On Prayer:
Prayer is the offering in spirit that has done away with the sacrifices of old. What good do I receive from the multiplicity of your sacrifices? asks God. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, and I do not want the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats. Who has asked for these from your hands?
What God has asked for we learn from the Gospel. The hour will come, he says, when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. God is a spirit, and so he looks for worshippers who are like himself.
We are true worshippers and true priests. We pray in spirit, and so offer in spirit the sacrifice of prayer. Prayer is an offering that belongs to God and is acceptable to him: it is the offering he has asked for, the offering he planned as his own.
We must dedicate this offering with our whole heart, we must fatten it on faith, tend it by truth, keep it unblemished through innocence and clean through chastity, and crown it with love. We must escort it to the altar of God in a procession of good works to the sound of psalms and hymns. Then it will gain for us all that we ask of God.
What more need be said on the duty of prayer? Even the Lord himself prayed. To him be honour and power for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer is the offering in spirit that has done away with the sacrifices of old. What good do I receive from the multiplicity of your sacrifices? asks God. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, and I do not want the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats. Who has asked for these from your hands?
What God has asked for we learn from the Gospel. The hour will come, he says, when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. God is a spirit, and so he looks for worshippers who are like himself.
We are true worshippers and true priests. We pray in spirit, and so offer in spirit the sacrifice of prayer. Prayer is an offering that belongs to God and is acceptable to him: it is the offering he has asked for, the offering he planned as his own.
We must dedicate this offering with our whole heart, we must fatten it on faith, tend it by truth, keep it unblemished through innocence and clean through chastity, and crown it with love. We must escort it to the altar of God in a procession of good works to the sound of psalms and hymns. Then it will gain for us all that we ask of God.
What more need be said on the duty of prayer? Even the Lord himself prayed. To him be honour and power for ever and ever. Amen.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God
St Theophilus of Antioch:
If you say, “Show me your God,” I will say to you, “Show me what kind of person you are, and I will show you my God.” Show me then whether the eyes of your mind can see, and the ears of your heart hear.
It is like this. Those who can see with the eyes of their bodies are aware of what is happening in this life on earth. They get to know things that are different from each other. They distinguish light and darkness, black and white, ugliness and beauty, elegance and inelegance, proportion and lack of proportion, excess and defect. The same is true of the sounds we hear: high or low or pleasant. So it is with the ears of our heart and the eyes of our mind in their capacity to hear or see God.
God is seen by those who have the capacity to see him, provided that they keep the eyes of their mind open. All have eyes, but some have eyes that are shrouded in darkness, unable to see the light of the sun. Because the blind cannot see it, it does not follow that the sun does not shine. The blind must trace the cause back to themselves and their eyes. In the same way, you have eyes in your mind that are shrouded in darkness because of your sins and evil deeds.
A person’s soul should be clean, like a mirror reflecting light. If there is rust on the mirror his face cannot be seen in it. In the same way, no one who has sin within him can see God.
But if you will you can be healed. Hand yourself over to the doctor, and he will open the eyes of your mind and heart. Who is to be the doctor? It is God, who heals and gives life through his Word and wisdom. Through his Word and wisdom he created the universe, for by his Word the heavens were established, and by his Spirit all their array. His wisdom is supreme. God by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding he arranged the heavens, by his knowledge the depths broke forth and the clouds poured out the dew.
If you understand this, and live in purity and holiness and justice, you may see God. But, before all, faith and the fear of God must take the first place in your heart, and then you will understand all this. When you have laid aside mortality and been clothed in immortality, then you will see God according to your merits. God raises up your flesh to immortality along with your soul, and then, once made immortal, you will see the immortal One, if you believe in him now.
If you say, “Show me your God,” I will say to you, “Show me what kind of person you are, and I will show you my God.” Show me then whether the eyes of your mind can see, and the ears of your heart hear.
It is like this. Those who can see with the eyes of their bodies are aware of what is happening in this life on earth. They get to know things that are different from each other. They distinguish light and darkness, black and white, ugliness and beauty, elegance and inelegance, proportion and lack of proportion, excess and defect. The same is true of the sounds we hear: high or low or pleasant. So it is with the ears of our heart and the eyes of our mind in their capacity to hear or see God.
God is seen by those who have the capacity to see him, provided that they keep the eyes of their mind open. All have eyes, but some have eyes that are shrouded in darkness, unable to see the light of the sun. Because the blind cannot see it, it does not follow that the sun does not shine. The blind must trace the cause back to themselves and their eyes. In the same way, you have eyes in your mind that are shrouded in darkness because of your sins and evil deeds.
A person’s soul should be clean, like a mirror reflecting light. If there is rust on the mirror his face cannot be seen in it. In the same way, no one who has sin within him can see God.
But if you will you can be healed. Hand yourself over to the doctor, and he will open the eyes of your mind and heart. Who is to be the doctor? It is God, who heals and gives life through his Word and wisdom. Through his Word and wisdom he created the universe, for by his Word the heavens were established, and by his Spirit all their array. His wisdom is supreme. God by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding he arranged the heavens, by his knowledge the depths broke forth and the clouds poured out the dew.
If you understand this, and live in purity and holiness and justice, you may see God. But, before all, faith and the fear of God must take the first place in your heart, and then you will understand all this. When you have laid aside mortality and been clothed in immortality, then you will see God according to your merits. God raises up your flesh to immortality along with your soul, and then, once made immortal, you will see the immortal One, if you believe in him now.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Prayer knocks, fasting obtains, mercy receives
Here's a portion of a sermon by St Peter Chrysologus:
There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.
Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself.
When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.
Let this be the pattern for all men when they practise mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you.
Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defence, a threefold united prayer in our favour.
Let us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others. Let us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting. There is nothing more pleasing that we can offer to God, as the psalmist said in prophecy: A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart.
Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting, so that your soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own and at the same time made over to God. Whoever fails to give this to God will not be excused, for if you are to give him yourself you are never without the means of giving.
To make these acceptable, mercy must be added. Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. Fasting dries up when mercy dries up. Mercy is to fasting as rain is to earth. However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues, if you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit.
When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn. Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor, and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others.
There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.
Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself.
When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.
Let this be the pattern for all men when they practise mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you.
Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defence, a threefold united prayer in our favour.
Let us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others. Let us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting. There is nothing more pleasing that we can offer to God, as the psalmist said in prophecy: A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart.
Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting, so that your soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own and at the same time made over to God. Whoever fails to give this to God will not be excused, for if you are to give him yourself you are never without the means of giving.
To make these acceptable, mercy must be added. Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. Fasting dries up when mercy dries up. Mercy is to fasting as rain is to earth. However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues, if you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit.
When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn. Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor, and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others.
What draws God to the human heart?
Despite all the brokenness and misery that mark human existence, God is drawn to the human heart. There is something about humanity that He patiently loves and profoundly respects. He gently attempts to persuade us constantly but never imposes his omnipotence. In the depths of our being, He knocks. Ever confident that our indifference and rejection are not our last word, He awaits us. If He humbly requests our hope, it is only because He hopes in us even more. But why? What draws Him?
It seems He knows, better than even we ourselves, the greatness of the human vocation. To help us fulfill our great high calling, He pours out every spiritual blessing so that even our malice and hatred are taken up into his great plan for us. And, this is true not only historically in the visible events through the course of time, but also mysteriously in the invisible recesses that run through the human heart.
To accomplish this, the almighty power of God clothed itself in weakness. Vulnerable placing himself into our hands, He found a sure pathway into the depths of human poverty. The closer He came, the greater we felt that primordial enmity. The seed of distrust once sewn before the dawn of history had become a forest of ignorance in which we hid ourselves. He continued with undaunted hope, ready to pay any price to restore our dignity so that we might be free to achieve the great purpose for which we were created.
Our supreme act of aggression against Him, when we tortured and crucified Him, He transforms into the means of all grace. All we need is to repent, humble ourselves and accept his forgiveness - He gives us the power to live a transformed life, to do something beautiful for God, to make an offering of ourselves which is truly pleasing to Him. Such is His divine plan, that we should, through following Christ in love, become the praise of his glory.
Elisabeth of the Trinity believes there is one person who did this in a singular way - someone who not only leaves us an example to follow but prays for us - that we might live so as to draw the Lord to us in new, unimaginable and beautiful ways. Mary, the Mother of the Lord, is called in tradition "Faithful Virgin" and it is the faithfulness of the Virgin Mary which Elisabeth sees as dynamic. She connects faithfulness to God in love with humility - the virtue by which we esteem ourselves rightly. In our selfish and power obsessed culture, this connection for the spiritual life is even more relevant today. Faithful and humble, Mary "drew down upon herself the delight of the Holy Trinity ...The Father bending down to this beautiful creature, who was so unaware of her own beauty, willed that she be the Mother in time of Him whose Father He is in eternity" (Heaven in Faith, 39).
These words about Mary contain a great truth for anyone who wants to serve the Lord. Something about being faithful in our weakness is beautiful to God. This is the pathway to the cross, the threshold to union with Him. It means to believe in love and to love, to not lose hope even in failure, but to strive, by God's grace, to rise again. When we go on this pilgrimage of faith, we not only discover the the victory of good over evil in our own lives, but through our surrendered weakness and his indomitable hope in us, this triumph of love extends to the whole world.
Thanks to Anthony Lilles.
It seems He knows, better than even we ourselves, the greatness of the human vocation. To help us fulfill our great high calling, He pours out every spiritual blessing so that even our malice and hatred are taken up into his great plan for us. And, this is true not only historically in the visible events through the course of time, but also mysteriously in the invisible recesses that run through the human heart.
To accomplish this, the almighty power of God clothed itself in weakness. Vulnerable placing himself into our hands, He found a sure pathway into the depths of human poverty. The closer He came, the greater we felt that primordial enmity. The seed of distrust once sewn before the dawn of history had become a forest of ignorance in which we hid ourselves. He continued with undaunted hope, ready to pay any price to restore our dignity so that we might be free to achieve the great purpose for which we were created.
Our supreme act of aggression against Him, when we tortured and crucified Him, He transforms into the means of all grace. All we need is to repent, humble ourselves and accept his forgiveness - He gives us the power to live a transformed life, to do something beautiful for God, to make an offering of ourselves which is truly pleasing to Him. Such is His divine plan, that we should, through following Christ in love, become the praise of his glory.
Elisabeth of the Trinity believes there is one person who did this in a singular way - someone who not only leaves us an example to follow but prays for us - that we might live so as to draw the Lord to us in new, unimaginable and beautiful ways. Mary, the Mother of the Lord, is called in tradition "Faithful Virgin" and it is the faithfulness of the Virgin Mary which Elisabeth sees as dynamic. She connects faithfulness to God in love with humility - the virtue by which we esteem ourselves rightly. In our selfish and power obsessed culture, this connection for the spiritual life is even more relevant today. Faithful and humble, Mary "drew down upon herself the delight of the Holy Trinity ...The Father bending down to this beautiful creature, who was so unaware of her own beauty, willed that she be the Mother in time of Him whose Father He is in eternity" (Heaven in Faith, 39).
These words about Mary contain a great truth for anyone who wants to serve the Lord. Something about being faithful in our weakness is beautiful to God. This is the pathway to the cross, the threshold to union with Him. It means to believe in love and to love, to not lose hope even in failure, but to strive, by God's grace, to rise again. When we go on this pilgrimage of faith, we not only discover the the victory of good over evil in our own lives, but through our surrendered weakness and his indomitable hope in us, this triumph of love extends to the whole world.
Thanks to Anthony Lilles.
Monday, March 28, 2011
A first (a sharing by Isabel Francis)
Though I've always practiced some form of abstinence/fasting during Lent over the last few years, it has never been a real life changing journey for me till now.
When Lent began, my life took a drastic turn that shook my very existence. It was a struggle to not allow myself to permanently wallow in self-pity and completely let Lent pass by as I spend my days endlessly moping. Though I've had my fair share of daily trials, the devil's temptations this time were scarily easy to fall for.
While I wandered in the desert of pain and hurts, Christ revealed to me in so many ways that I was never alone. When I was shaking with fear, He was cradling me. When I felt like shattered glass, he was piecing me back together with mercy. When I'd thought I'd lost myself, He'd already found me. Coincidentally as ever, I'm on my semester break now so my opportunities to talk to God were endless!
Daily reflections (I use the Magnificat Lenten Companion 2011 — it is truly insightful!), daily decades of the rosary, abstinence from my favorite foods, weekly novenas, lots of talk time with God and 'dates' with Jesus opened my eyes to not only my weaknesses, but also to how much God has blessed me with the capability to love even beyond my own expectations.
The hurts and pain I feel will never compare to all the times that I've been ignorant towards Him. What I feel is a million times less than an ant bite of what He probably has received from me. Realising this has stirred in having a greater desire to love Him first and foremost more faithfully even though I'm not perfect and to be better for the people he's blessed me for it is indeed amazing to share His love.
Prior to the Lent, I've never had regular 'dates' with Jesus. I've grown to love these 'dates', never realizing that I could enjoy spending hours in solitude with Him and feel so comfortable.
It's been a life changing and encouraging journey these last two weeks and I most definitely look forward to rest of Lent, I hope that I won't just stay renewed myself but also take the step to help someone else be renewed.
When Lent began, my life took a drastic turn that shook my very existence. It was a struggle to not allow myself to permanently wallow in self-pity and completely let Lent pass by as I spend my days endlessly moping. Though I've had my fair share of daily trials, the devil's temptations this time were scarily easy to fall for.
While I wandered in the desert of pain and hurts, Christ revealed to me in so many ways that I was never alone. When I was shaking with fear, He was cradling me. When I felt like shattered glass, he was piecing me back together with mercy. When I'd thought I'd lost myself, He'd already found me. Coincidentally as ever, I'm on my semester break now so my opportunities to talk to God were endless!
Daily reflections (I use the Magnificat Lenten Companion 2011 — it is truly insightful!), daily decades of the rosary, abstinence from my favorite foods, weekly novenas, lots of talk time with God and 'dates' with Jesus opened my eyes to not only my weaknesses, but also to how much God has blessed me with the capability to love even beyond my own expectations.
The hurts and pain I feel will never compare to all the times that I've been ignorant towards Him. What I feel is a million times less than an ant bite of what He probably has received from me. Realising this has stirred in having a greater desire to love Him first and foremost more faithfully even though I'm not perfect and to be better for the people he's blessed me for it is indeed amazing to share His love.
Prior to the Lent, I've never had regular 'dates' with Jesus. I've grown to love these 'dates', never realizing that I could enjoy spending hours in solitude with Him and feel so comfortable.
It's been a life changing and encouraging journey these last two weeks and I most definitely look forward to rest of Lent, I hope that I won't just stay renewed myself but also take the step to help someone else be renewed.
Pause a moment in silence
The Samaritan woman goes every day to get water from an ancient well put there by the patriarch Jacob, and that day Jesus was sitting there ... The theme of "thirst" emerges in particular in the meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well and it culminates with the cry on the cross: "I thirst" (John 19:28). Of course this thirst, like the weariness, has a physical basis. But Jesus, as Augustine continues, "had thirst of the woman's faith" (In Ioh. Ev. 15, 11), as he has for the faith of all of us. God the Father sent him to quench our thirst for eternal life, giving us his love, but asks our faith for bestowing this gift. Love's omnipotence always respects man's freedom; it knocks at his heart and awaits his answer with patience.
Each one of us can identify ourselves with the Samaritan woman: Jesus awaits us, especially during this season of Lent, to speak to our hearts, to my heart. Let us pause a moment in silence, in our room, or in a church, or in a place apart. Let us listen to the voice that says: "If you knew the gift of God."
- Abstracts from Pope Benedict XVI's address before praying the midday Angelus on 27 Mar 2011.
Each one of us can identify ourselves with the Samaritan woman: Jesus awaits us, especially during this season of Lent, to speak to our hearts, to my heart. Let us pause a moment in silence, in our room, or in a church, or in a place apart. Let us listen to the voice that says: "If you knew the gift of God."
- Abstracts from Pope Benedict XVI's address before praying the midday Angelus on 27 Mar 2011.
The two faces of love
This is a portion of the first Lenten homily delivered in the Vatican by Father Raniero Cantalamessa (see the full length sermon). Fr Cantalamessa is the preacher to the Papal Household, that means, he preaches to the Pope himself - and that probably means he's got advice worth heeding. The homily is titled The Two Faces of Love: Eros and Agape, and it was delivered last Friday. Hope it adds to your Lenten growth!
There is a realm in which secularization acts in a particularly pervasive and negative way, and it is the realm of love. The secularization of love consists in detaching human love in all its forms from God, reducing it to something purely "profane," in which God is out of place and even an annoyance.
However, the subject of love is not important just for evangelization, that is, in relation with the world; it is also important first of all for the internal life of the Church, for the sanctification of her members.
Love suffers from ill-fated separation not only in the mentality of the secularized world, but also in that of the opposite side, among believers and in particular among consecrated souls. Simplifying the situation to the greatest extent, we can articulate it thus: In the world we find eros without agape; among believers we often find agape without eros.
Eros without agape is a romantic love, very often passionate to the point of violence. A love of conquest which fatally reduces the other to an object of one's pleasure and ignores every dimension of sacrifice, of fidelity and of gift of self. There is no need to insist on the description of this love because it is a reality that we see daily with our own eyes, propagated as it is in a hammering way by novels, films, television fiction, the Internet, the gossip magazines. It is what common language understands, moreover, by the word "love."
It is more useful for us to understand what is meant by agape without eros... Agape without eros seems to us a "cold love," a loving "with the tip of the hairs" without the participation of the whole being, more by imposition of the will than by an intimate outburst of the heart, a descent into a pre-constituted mold, rather than to create for oneself something unrepeatable, as unrepeatable is every human being before God. The acts of love addressed to God are like those of certain poor lovers who write to the beloved letters copied from a handbook.
If worldly love is a body without a soul, religious love practiced that way is a soul without a body. The human being is not an angel, that is, a pure spirit; he is soul and body substantially united: everything he does, including loving, must reflect this structure. If the component linked to affectivity and the heart is systematically denied or repressed, the result will be double: either one goes on in a tired way, out of a sense of duty, to defend one's image, or more or less licit compensations are sought, to the point of the very painful cases that are afflicting the Church. It cannot be ignored that at the root of many moral deviations of consecrated souls there is a distorted and contorted conception of love.
We have therefore a double motive and a double urgency to rediscover love in its original unity. True and integral love is a pearl enclosed within two valves, which are eros and agape. These two dimensions of love cannot be separated without destroying it, as hydrogen and oxygen cannot be separated without depriving oneself of water.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Snail mail and dates with Jesus
I admit it: I like snail mail.
There’s something about mailing something that brings a smile to my face because I know receiving it will bring a smile to someone else’s. The surprise of a card (or gift or even a magazine) in the mail is one of life’s simple blessings. That birthday greeting means more when it’s via mail, in my opinion.
Staying in touch with people can be a challenge nowadays. Family and friends of mine are scattered across the country, pursuing careers and raising families, here and there and everywhere. It’s rare that we can see one another in person — but what a blessing it is when that happens. Our reunions are always fun.
Sure, we can use technology to stay connected. There’s e-mail, social networking, cell phones, etc. All of that makes communication convenient.
But nothing is better than in-person meetings: Seeing the joy on newlyweds’ faces, witnessing the love on the face of a new mother or hearing the highlights of someone’s new job can’t be conveyed sufficiently online.
Even matchmaking, which has gone to cyberspace, can only start online. At some point, it must transition to phone calls and person-to-person dates.
Our faith is the same.
We need Mass to connect physically with Our Lord in the Eucharist and gather in community.
And adoration is truly a date with Jesus. I love adoration. The quiet of the chapel, when I gaze at and have a heart-to-heart with Christ, is a precious prayer oasis for me.
He’s there in tabernacles all over the world waiting for us. He’s waiting to hear all our prayers. Better yet, he’s available 24/7. Why wait?
Good things to consider during the season of Lent.
Thanks to Amy Smith from the National Catholic Register.
There’s something about mailing something that brings a smile to my face because I know receiving it will bring a smile to someone else’s. The surprise of a card (or gift or even a magazine) in the mail is one of life’s simple blessings. That birthday greeting means more when it’s via mail, in my opinion.
Staying in touch with people can be a challenge nowadays. Family and friends of mine are scattered across the country, pursuing careers and raising families, here and there and everywhere. It’s rare that we can see one another in person — but what a blessing it is when that happens. Our reunions are always fun.
Sure, we can use technology to stay connected. There’s e-mail, social networking, cell phones, etc. All of that makes communication convenient.
But nothing is better than in-person meetings: Seeing the joy on newlyweds’ faces, witnessing the love on the face of a new mother or hearing the highlights of someone’s new job can’t be conveyed sufficiently online.
Even matchmaking, which has gone to cyberspace, can only start online. At some point, it must transition to phone calls and person-to-person dates.
Our faith is the same.
We need Mass to connect physically with Our Lord in the Eucharist and gather in community.
And adoration is truly a date with Jesus. I love adoration. The quiet of the chapel, when I gaze at and have a heart-to-heart with Christ, is a precious prayer oasis for me.
He’s there in tabernacles all over the world waiting for us. He’s waiting to hear all our prayers. Better yet, he’s available 24/7. Why wait?
Good things to consider during the season of Lent.
Thanks to Amy Smith from the National Catholic Register.
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