St Francis of Assisi says,"It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, In giving of ourselves that we receive...." Remembering that we have had so many second chances in our lives with Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit, when we REALLY never deserved it in the first place. This should be enough of a reason to want to give chances to everybody and for anything, but when the time comes, it depends on what side of the coin we are on, the giver or the receiver, this determines how easy it is to do. It sounds horrible, but it is very human.
Second chances, reconciliation, forgiveness, expiation, redemption, and pardoning all difficult to do, yet so needed in our society today and mostly within ourselves. Even in the name "second chances" there really isn't just two, its bascially a lifetimes worth, which thank God we get. As humans, we were given the ultimate second chance in Jesus, He gives us the second chance into union with God. There is no other way. Jesus is our perfect second chance to God because of the unfathomable wickedness of sin that we deal with in our world today. God is the unconditional second chance giver, he proved that by sending His son to die for our sins.
It is sometimes hard to "give" the chance because: of our own egoness, stuborness, pride because we have to say sorry, not wanting to say sorry because my way is the right way. What makes it even harder, is when you really were right, but still have to "keep the peace, keep quiet" It reminds me when Christ Jesus told St. Faustina about the graces he won for us as he had to be silent when standing in front of Pilate. I must keep remembering this stuff, because that's what he died for and why I need to forgive since I have been forgiven by the fount of forgiveness himself, Jesus Christ.
One reason for why it is hard to "give" for me is because of what has happened.
The problem with that is, as time passes, the incident becomes more of a moot point. It becomes trivial because so much time has passed by. Disagreements can go on for years, two people/families that have been mad at each other, and they forget why they are mad, they just remember being mad all the time, it becomes second nature, it becomes a habitual. Sad really, yet we all have done it. What is liberating, what is freeing for any person is just to come clean. Just take the step and say sorry, take the step and call a truce, and you live by the truce and move on. It feels like a weight is lifted from your shoulders and replaced with peace. Now you don't have to worry about, we dont have to think about, we don't have to waste anymore energy on holding the grudge, which truly can be so heavy. but so light when we make it right, or at least try to. How does it become lighter/peacful? Well we are letting Christs' righteousness seap through. When we do this, we are graced with the guts to make amends, take the higher road, be the better person. Why? I feel because my heart becomes resolved. Resolved in what? Resolved in Christ. What gets resolved in Christ? The adamacy, the tension, the hurt, the defense mechanisms, and the feeling of it not being fair. I know life is not fair, but in making amends I need to be o.k with a few things to start in me, so time can heal everything else.
A second reason why its hard for me to give chances is due to the extent to which it has happened, again, another moot point. Yes at first it may feel very violating, very wrong, very not right, but really, we can not change what has happened because it is already done. This for me is a very time consuming/distracting, draining, and imprisoning phase for me, because I stay stuck in chains. For me, those are the reasons why I get stuck, stay stuck everytime I need to forgive and don't. So all of this time, in the "now", all of this energy is just for aggrevation, frustration and anxiety. Stress for ourselves and for anyone else who cares, who listens, because misery/negativity loves company it keeps itself fueled that way. This brings up another thought, isn't it funny how our tolerance levels vary so much from person to person. For some reason it is easier to swallow my pride for some people and then it feels like swallowing nails for the other. I need to remember it was nails that held my Christ up on that cross, so I really needn't complain. I know, it is just really hard to live like that. Why is that? How are pride has such a hold on me. The enemy keeps his hold/grasp on us, in these realms, it keeps me in bondage. "Why should I forgive, I wasn't wrong in the first place?" These stubborn question we ask ourselves, and here's the answer I keep getting,,,, well let's see, the extent Jesus took it to, the nailing of himself onto a cross for forgiveness. That's what I need to know and remember and love and to imitate. Jesus is why we should and Jesus is why we do.
Another obstacle of mine is how many times it has happened. The sad fact, is that is it still going to happen again. People don't change quickly, some people never change at all. So even though we change, we see our ways, and try to change them and make them better does not mean others will. But when it happens again, it becomes a little easier to deal with and get over. This is where it becomes tricky, this is how I humbly see it, we get into a skirimish, we are mad , time goes by, we have a chance to get free by the grace of God through forgiveness, then we can be free, we move on. The other person/party it may not be that easy. it is not their fault. Jesus died for everybody and everything. He is the only judge, nobody or nothing else is. By not forgiving or letting it go, we keep the wound fresh and open with our left hand and then I have the nerve to ask the right hand when is this wound going to scab and go away? How insane is that? I do this....truly.People are people, they can not change over night, unless it be the will of God of course, but we are people that act the way we act for a long time, and some habits are hard to break. I can appreciate that. But when "it hits the fan again", and it will, it becomes a little easier to do" the getting over it part" That's when I try to realize and re-realize again, that Jesus had to be the one doing all of the letting go for us during that terrible sacraficial Friday, then our situations becomes very tiny next to that. I have found it is also an opportunity we have to offer something back to God, for loving us so much to discipline us and mold us in our imperfections to help perfect our Love to His Son, which really we are not worthy of, yet that is all God want us to do, because that is all God does, He just loves.
To be the receiver of the chance/forgiveness is a very humbling experience. At that time, because I know I did wrong and what is really cool is that I want to make it right, make amends, to get the chance to make it right, a very humbling process to do. In my very recent personal experience this has happened to me by a collegue at work. I was really wrong and called out on it. I humbly saw the error of my ways and felt terrible about it. I asked for forgiveness and the second chance to redeem myself. He gave it. We moved on and now we are doing o.k. Thank God. The tighter the amends, the better the chance.I feel really depends on the intention or motivations we hold in our hearts because of being so humbled or feeling humilated. I think the feelings of humiliation does fade, it loses its weight in time. Yet I feel it promotes change. It stirs something in us to do better, to get back on the horse and try again. God willing, the experience will inflame the desire to make it right, with all of this practice we do here on earth, I pray and hope it will help me in my interior life with God. In all of this experience I feel helps me to always to humbly go to Him and say sorry, mean it, and try to do better, not for ourselves, but for Him and Him alone.
This all leads me to believe in second chances, and stirs in me a thing to give them more, especially when I really do not want to. But seriously, I am humbly seeing and learning how to be more open in giving them, especially condsidering recent events where I had asked for them and received them from another. Whom, I am sure had a tough time doing so, but they still did. Honestly, I was so grateful. This forgiveness stuff truly, is an insane dichotomy we all, I mean all, have to deal with. It is not nice, not fun, not easy to do, and just real hard to live by and live with. But Thank God Jesus did all ot this stuff so perfectly because of all or our imperfectness we all posess.
Maybe we aren't supposed to make amends with everybody, yet that doesn't sound right through, it sounds and feels unresolved. Especially, because its going against the second commandment, love thy neighbor as thyself, and look how much we were loved, through the sacrificial Lamb of God, for our wretched lives of sin. He so forgave us that we must forgive, it is as simple as that. St. Francis of Assisi said it beautifully, ".....and in dying that were born into Eternal Life."
Amen.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
The morphing process of pruning...God helps us all
Tonight, at our disciplship meeting, Patrick had brought up the point of hiding, retreating, in the bush out of shame, unworthiness or the undeservingness. Fr. Paul then elaborated on the fact of it being a wound that Jesus goes into, but we have to believe and to trust in Christ. To believe in that wound, that brokeness, that grudge, that resentment, that block/obstacle of ourselves means to believe and to trust that Christ Jesus is there, and its o.k. What we trust in IS HIM, and for me personally, I place alot of my trust in the fact that Jesus is happy to be there to help us out. He does all the time anyways, this I know. I trust that he does all of this, just because He loves me, which really helps me, love Him even more. With all of this falling in and out of love that I do in my little wretched life, all of this change; in all of my doubts and fears, bottom line is that Jesus is my/our Almighty Savior and Redeemer and that is whom I place all of my trust in, and HIM ONLY.
He is "MY LORD, AND MY GOD" TOO!!! I quote St. Thomas the apostle. Him being the "Doutbting Thomas" to a very true and fearless apostle of Our Lord and Our God, by restoring our faith because we believe. Maybe that is how Jesus loves us through all of our "doubting Thomas's" in our broken wounds and inflated egos. Every time we feel our wounds, we think our wound, we pray about our wounds, we let go of our wounds, we empty ourselves of the wounds (or so we think) we re-open our wounds, if we REMAIN on the vine, IN CHRIST, IN THIS BODY AND BLOOD he mends and reseams our brokeness, our grudges, our resentements, our blocks/obstacles of ourselves INTO THE LOVE OF LIFE ITSELF.
And in experiencing that mending, on any level in any form, is truly a most gentle nurturing type of a love that gets mixed with our souls to give us a peace of mind and heart that only comes from our Lord. I have tried other ways to get this, it ALMOST WORKS....but never does in the end. All of these gentle ways to experience and learn HOW to believe and HOW to trust, all of these moments of gentle consolation of faith, we allow Jesus to work right in the wound, as a result, we will grow in faith, in belief and IN TRUTH......Whom is? Christ Jesus. What truth do we grow in? We grow in the truths of ourselves, which is ususally a very layered voyage down those deep depths, yet I find consolation that when we grow in these ways, we grow deeper IN the Lord, and IN the mending and re-seaming phases. I may be growing deeper but it may feel a tad overwhelming at that time, but the mending and re-seaming phase takes time, that's why it is a phase, we all go through in our own little ways.
I am very thankful that Love is unconditional, Love is God. Love never fails, we do. But we get back up, lick the wounds and live on. God unconditionally loves our conditions and loves them into his own, Christ Jesus.I humbly reflect on the parable of the vine and the branches, specifically on the part of John 15:2-3 "He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes, so that it bears more fruit." I recently witnessed rose bushes grow through their pruning process and bloom and produce the most fragrant and richest of mix of colors, it was truly amazing, truly a marvelous and most wonderful works of the Lord Almighty. I remember seeing the rose bushes full, green, leaves healthy, branches stable and growing nicely the next day I see the rose bushes, and they were stripped down to a bare nothing, this was honestly during lent actually, and I felt sad, shocked, a little angry, I wanted to know what happened and mostly WHY such a cut down. I was told this will help the rose bush and it will be just fine.
Time passed on, and I critically watched, I wanted to see HOW fine this bush was going to be, when it was stripped to nothing when it "seemed" to be doing ok. Well, the brown thinned branches started to show green, and in its greeness/newness it re-fortified the whole, it grew. It got thicker, It got taller, It got wider, It got leafier, It got so many blooms, It is gorgeous to this very day. All that morphing right in our own backyard, all that morphing done by the grace and love of God, for us, so that we may have these joys and wonders and miracles and marvelous works for us to be happy. In the spring the bush did have stronger and beautfiul roses, just like all the other rose bushes. The new blossoms, the new leaves, the stronger branches, the stronger roots, the whole bush getting stronger and stronger with each season it its own time, to produce the best fruit possible for the Glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Maybe that's why the morphing process, the desert, the testing of gold in fire, the pruning are all processes, done in the timing of or according to the will of God. Each growth process is done in its time, and in its appropiate season, as the seasons pass on, as they do so quickly, the morphing process hurts, shocks, grounds us, humbles us, strips us, belittles us, pierces us, but not as bad or not as deep. As each pruning season comes and goes, we get stronger and stronger.Yes the wound is there, but the sting, bite, the prunimg, the value of what hurt us so,,,,, well that gets softened in the callus of experience and in the big soft heart of God. Amen.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
LUKE 24: 35-48
Hello Everybody,
The building of the foundation, for the proclamation of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. To preach the Good News!!, that our Christ Jesus is the new and everlasting covenant, and we are all saved through Him, with Him and in Him. The start of the church, by a group of men called as apostles, and as friends to Christ in person, born in sin, just as you and I,to carry on and to proclaim the salvation from sin for all, in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God,with all of their heart, with all of their mind, with all of their person, all of their souls, for the salvation of souls, in such chaotic of times, I guess no different than any other time in history except in its timing, such a pivotal factor when discussing salvation, God only knows....lol.....sounds so cliche'...lol...
Timing, the will of God, when is enough, enough? why now? who did what? where did it all go? what happened? how come? where has the time gone? Jesus knew at the start of time what was,is,to come of our Mother Church on earth. Jesus knew what He was dying for on that cross, Jesus knew what New and Eternal Life is to come for all that are IN HIM, by his conquering of death IN his Body and Blood, Jesus knew of all the trials and tribulations the apostles were to have in their time, just as He does now, this very moment, there is no surprises with Christ, especially with his bride, the Church. The mystery, the shock value, the secrets, the lies are all on us sinful people, NOT with Christ, He knows infinately better. Jesus knows He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, He IS the answer and is its fulfillment, He shall bring His bride home to her Father. That is what the Son died and rose for. REDEMPTION in UNIFICATION!!!!
We need this hope to battle all of the ignorance and sin that is in our societies today. To me, if truth is white and sin is black, then we are each just a big collage of gray. Honestly, for me when things get chaotically foggy because of all the gray, it is just a muddy mess. But in that muddy mess, I can still go to mass, receive our Lord, His Body and His Blood meshes with my body and blood all day. I know He is with me, muddy and all. I take deep refuge in that. The Body and Blood of our Lord, is what we need to always seek and find. I find it very hopeful that Jesus can not be boxed in anywhere. He grows and goes with us. We go through our lives, make our decisions, right or wrong, and the day ends. We grow up and when we look back, we can see in our darkest and most wretched of places in us, we can see and appreciate HOW THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD PREVAILS. WHY? BECAUSE LOVE NEVER FAILS. That is why today, we are able to , 3000 years later able to take refuge in Christ to re-fortify, to re-sustain, to re-try, to re-charge, to re-do, to renew as a people of Christ here and now. And by all of this refortifying, retrying, recharging and renewal, this is how the Living Body of Christ keeps procreating and regenerating itself, in us, during the circles of our lives here on earth, thereby to the whole Body of Christ, here on earth. Thank you Jesus and Thank you Apostles.
Today 4/24/09, I was reflecting on the Gospel of Luke24:35-48, a few things came to mind. The two apostles are reflecting back to what had happened to them on their way to Emmaus, specifically in the breaking of bread. The impression of that very night at supper, the last for our King. His Body and Blood, as the new and everlasting covenant to all. The forgiveness of sins with unconditonal love.
Jesus gave us his body and blood as the Lamb of God for the salvation of all souls and unification of all. By his conception, life, death and resurrrection, Jesus knew that he is not only going to be present then, but He is present everyday of our lives, not just spiritually but physically tangible in the Eucharist. The giving and receiving of his own body and blood that He gave us back then is what is remembered and celebrated at every mass today. That is why, as Fr. Paul would say, "the mass is the source and summit" of all Christians today, it is Jesus Himself. The Eucharist is the source of life we as a people, so desperately need, to see us through each day. For our Lord to be with us, to guide us, to consume us, to see us through whatever life has to offer. To guide His lambs to serve others in the Body of Christ, every time we receive our Lord, His Body and His Blood meshes with our body and blood, a most precious and personal communion. Then, the love is shared to the Whole Body of Christ, within itself and the Church, in the name of Christ Jesus, for the salvation of souls and the promise of Eternal Life. Thank God.
In reflection again of this gospel of Luke, Jesus says, "Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch mea and see, b ecause a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have". In this particular part, what struck me most was the use of Jesus' words of "me, myself and I". I humbly feel, which is probably way off but, that the "me" is death, like the death we must face to ourselves each day. The "myself" is life, since Christ is Life Everlasting. The "I" is the resurrection, for if Christ had not rose from the dead, what would the point have been then, we would still be stuck in death, just as St. Paul has stated in his preachings.
Jesus was coming to them, man to man, not like He had before, but as the resurrected Son of Man and Son of God. For all, we are all our own "me, myself and I" because we our own unique and indiviual person. So in Christ Jesus, we get the strength to help us battle with, deal with, the trials and tribulations. He gives us the strength or courage to try to handle all of the" living and dying" and "dying and rising" we do to ourselves everyday. Jesus is there, He will see us and love us through the thick and thin days. I feel by doing so, He is deepening his communion with us, just as He did with the apostles back in the day.
Another thought came to mind when I read, "These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened ther minds to understand the Scriptures."(Luke 24:35-48). The Word made Flesh, in person, opening their minds to HIS TRUTHS, from TRUTH ITSELF.....WOW!!!!. All of the apostles to ingest, spread and preach to the people of the saving power of our Lord Jesus. Whom each personally lived with, walked with, experienced, and now ready to go our to the whole world. I tried, but couldn't imagine how Jesus helped/guided each of them in whatever they needed, wherever they were. It had to be craziness, in a holy way of course. I just really thank Jesus for leading them as He did, and how He still leads/guides His Church today.
Truth is freedom, truth can withstand and be stood on, truth is the rock which we take refuge in any season, truth last for all time and ages, universally seasoned and steafast for all of time. Truth is the bar we hold/base our decisions, is it right or wrong? The roots of truth is what we need to cling to, to surrender to, to free us from, or to choke on...lol...The truth roots us in the questions we face in our daily lives, all of the who's, what's, where's, when's, why's, and how comes, the shouldas, wouldas and couldas that come our way. The truth is our definintion to what is right or wrong, the black or white in ourselves.
The truth brings to light all of the "grays" we accumalate in ourselves as well. The realization of the amount of grays in my person, and how much really needs to get white can be overwhelming. But then truly, it must be soaked in the blood of the Lamb, Christ Jesus, its a good grounding for us dirty people to stay grounded in Jesus. Then it becomes not overwhelming but hopeful, I cling to the hope that one day, my robes will be, white just like the people of God. Why? because Jesus loves me, and Jesus is the Eternal Hope that was sent to redeem, make our robes white in His Blood, and save us from eternal damnation. The truth, Christ Himself, is what we hope. He is all we need, because He is not only truth, but perfect Love too. Thank God!!!
The building of the foundation, for the proclamation of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. To preach the Good News!!, that our Christ Jesus is the new and everlasting covenant, and we are all saved through Him, with Him and in Him. The start of the church, by a group of men called as apostles, and as friends to Christ in person, born in sin, just as you and I,to carry on and to proclaim the salvation from sin for all, in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God,with all of their heart, with all of their mind, with all of their person, all of their souls, for the salvation of souls, in such chaotic of times, I guess no different than any other time in history except in its timing, such a pivotal factor when discussing salvation, God only knows....lol.....sounds so cliche'...lol...
Timing, the will of God, when is enough, enough? why now? who did what? where did it all go? what happened? how come? where has the time gone? Jesus knew at the start of time what was,is,to come of our Mother Church on earth. Jesus knew what He was dying for on that cross, Jesus knew what New and Eternal Life is to come for all that are IN HIM, by his conquering of death IN his Body and Blood, Jesus knew of all the trials and tribulations the apostles were to have in their time, just as He does now, this very moment, there is no surprises with Christ, especially with his bride, the Church. The mystery, the shock value, the secrets, the lies are all on us sinful people, NOT with Christ, He knows infinately better. Jesus knows He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, He IS the answer and is its fulfillment, He shall bring His bride home to her Father. That is what the Son died and rose for. REDEMPTION in UNIFICATION!!!!
We need this hope to battle all of the ignorance and sin that is in our societies today. To me, if truth is white and sin is black, then we are each just a big collage of gray. Honestly, for me when things get chaotically foggy because of all the gray, it is just a muddy mess. But in that muddy mess, I can still go to mass, receive our Lord, His Body and His Blood meshes with my body and blood all day. I know He is with me, muddy and all. I take deep refuge in that. The Body and Blood of our Lord, is what we need to always seek and find. I find it very hopeful that Jesus can not be boxed in anywhere. He grows and goes with us. We go through our lives, make our decisions, right or wrong, and the day ends. We grow up and when we look back, we can see in our darkest and most wretched of places in us, we can see and appreciate HOW THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD PREVAILS. WHY? BECAUSE LOVE NEVER FAILS. That is why today, we are able to , 3000 years later able to take refuge in Christ to re-fortify, to re-sustain, to re-try, to re-charge, to re-do, to renew as a people of Christ here and now. And by all of this refortifying, retrying, recharging and renewal, this is how the Living Body of Christ keeps procreating and regenerating itself, in us, during the circles of our lives here on earth, thereby to the whole Body of Christ, here on earth. Thank you Jesus and Thank you Apostles.
Today 4/24/09, I was reflecting on the Gospel of Luke24:35-48, a few things came to mind. The two apostles are reflecting back to what had happened to them on their way to Emmaus, specifically in the breaking of bread. The impression of that very night at supper, the last for our King. His Body and Blood, as the new and everlasting covenant to all. The forgiveness of sins with unconditonal love.
Jesus gave us his body and blood as the Lamb of God for the salvation of all souls and unification of all. By his conception, life, death and resurrrection, Jesus knew that he is not only going to be present then, but He is present everyday of our lives, not just spiritually but physically tangible in the Eucharist. The giving and receiving of his own body and blood that He gave us back then is what is remembered and celebrated at every mass today. That is why, as Fr. Paul would say, "the mass is the source and summit" of all Christians today, it is Jesus Himself. The Eucharist is the source of life we as a people, so desperately need, to see us through each day. For our Lord to be with us, to guide us, to consume us, to see us through whatever life has to offer. To guide His lambs to serve others in the Body of Christ, every time we receive our Lord, His Body and His Blood meshes with our body and blood, a most precious and personal communion. Then, the love is shared to the Whole Body of Christ, within itself and the Church, in the name of Christ Jesus, for the salvation of souls and the promise of Eternal Life. Thank God.
In reflection again of this gospel of Luke, Jesus says, "Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch mea and see, b ecause a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have". In this particular part, what struck me most was the use of Jesus' words of "me, myself and I". I humbly feel, which is probably way off but, that the "me" is death, like the death we must face to ourselves each day. The "myself" is life, since Christ is Life Everlasting. The "I" is the resurrection, for if Christ had not rose from the dead, what would the point have been then, we would still be stuck in death, just as St. Paul has stated in his preachings.
Jesus was coming to them, man to man, not like He had before, but as the resurrected Son of Man and Son of God. For all, we are all our own "me, myself and I" because we our own unique and indiviual person. So in Christ Jesus, we get the strength to help us battle with, deal with, the trials and tribulations. He gives us the strength or courage to try to handle all of the" living and dying" and "dying and rising" we do to ourselves everyday. Jesus is there, He will see us and love us through the thick and thin days. I feel by doing so, He is deepening his communion with us, just as He did with the apostles back in the day.
Another thought came to mind when I read, "These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened ther minds to understand the Scriptures."(Luke 24:35-48). The Word made Flesh, in person, opening their minds to HIS TRUTHS, from TRUTH ITSELF.....WOW!!!!. All of the apostles to ingest, spread and preach to the people of the saving power of our Lord Jesus. Whom each personally lived with, walked with, experienced, and now ready to go our to the whole world. I tried, but couldn't imagine how Jesus helped/guided each of them in whatever they needed, wherever they were. It had to be craziness, in a holy way of course. I just really thank Jesus for leading them as He did, and how He still leads/guides His Church today.
Truth is freedom, truth can withstand and be stood on, truth is the rock which we take refuge in any season, truth last for all time and ages, universally seasoned and steafast for all of time. Truth is the bar we hold/base our decisions, is it right or wrong? The roots of truth is what we need to cling to, to surrender to, to free us from, or to choke on...lol...The truth roots us in the questions we face in our daily lives, all of the who's, what's, where's, when's, why's, and how comes, the shouldas, wouldas and couldas that come our way. The truth is our definintion to what is right or wrong, the black or white in ourselves.
The truth brings to light all of the "grays" we accumalate in ourselves as well. The realization of the amount of grays in my person, and how much really needs to get white can be overwhelming. But then truly, it must be soaked in the blood of the Lamb, Christ Jesus, its a good grounding for us dirty people to stay grounded in Jesus. Then it becomes not overwhelming but hopeful, I cling to the hope that one day, my robes will be, white just like the people of God. Why? because Jesus loves me, and Jesus is the Eternal Hope that was sent to redeem, make our robes white in His Blood, and save us from eternal damnation. The truth, Christ Himself, is what we hope. He is all we need, because He is not only truth, but perfect Love too. Thank God!!!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
THE WORD MADE FLESH
Hello everybody,
Reflecting on the gospel reading from last Sunday, as we did in our last gathering, Jesus' response is so captivating to me. His response captivates me even more as I keep pondering it." To REPENT, and to BELIEVE in the gospel."
Then I read our blog notes, and read the line "The power of contemplative prayer in the matrix of our "ordinary lives", in the matrix of the Mystery of God." WOW!!
To believe in the matrix of LOVE. God became flesh, Jesus Christ, becoming not only a DIVINE human vessel, but the matrix ITSELF....LOVE ITSELF....In Jesus, as a spot on the matrix ( His perfect humanity/divinity) makes His being, being every fiber and makeup of the matrix . How? Because He is the Word made flesh. Why? To re-unite His whole family (human and divine) back to His Father Almighty.
Jesus the man, Jesus the person, Jesus the God. The Holy Trinity made flesh. That's why the human nature and divine nature of Christ is so crucial for the inclusivness of eternal salvation. He became a very small and fragile creature, yet large and egotistical in nature, the mere concept of scaling God to human flesh.....unfathomable..... Jesus had to experience/accept this sinful existance of human flesh and human ways, mold it with his divine natures and divine ways, to live, to die, and to rise for all humanity and divinity to be One in the One.
To believe IN Jesus the man. To believe in Jesus the person. To believe in Jesus the God. To BELIEVE IN the summit and culmination of a man, God Himself. He became human, so we can be one flesh IN HIM . To restore/renew/realign our beliefs in our flesh, to believe that we can and do get restored/renewed/realigned in our hearts. To believe in hope, to believe in humble trust, not in ourselves but outside of ourselves, to believe IN LOVE.
The Love that brings us to salvation from sin, and all of its consequences and reprocutions, that have been sewn into our realities by Satan. To believe in hope, to believe in humble trust, not in ourselves but outside of ourselves, to believe in Christ Jesus, who personally purchased for us, eternal hope. Hope, that all of this "matrixing" we are doing, all of the connections, reconnections, disconnections and re-disconnections and re-reconnections in our lifetime, deep down we believe we are being stiched tighter IN Love, being stiched tighter in the mysterious matrix of God, to believe that Jesus truly happens everytime everyday.
The Christ, created to save His people, from sin. To save his people of all generations, through HIS living body and blood, the Eucharist. The Bread of Life. The Cup of Salvation. The New and Everlasting Covenant. Every time we go to communion, and receive Christ Himself, His person, His body, His humanity, we commune with the love of Christ, He in turn loves us to restoration/renewal/realignment in the depths of our beliefs IN HIM, but also FOR HIM.
Glory be to Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
AMEN.
Reflecting on the gospel reading from last Sunday, as we did in our last gathering, Jesus' response is so captivating to me. His response captivates me even more as I keep pondering it." To REPENT, and to BELIEVE in the gospel."
Then I read our blog notes, and read the line "The power of contemplative prayer in the matrix of our "ordinary lives", in the matrix of the Mystery of God." WOW!!
To believe in the matrix of LOVE. God became flesh, Jesus Christ, becoming not only a DIVINE human vessel, but the matrix ITSELF....LOVE ITSELF....In Jesus, as a spot on the matrix ( His perfect humanity/divinity) makes His being, being every fiber and makeup of the matrix . How? Because He is the Word made flesh. Why? To re-unite His whole family (human and divine) back to His Father Almighty.
Jesus the man, Jesus the person, Jesus the God. The Holy Trinity made flesh. That's why the human nature and divine nature of Christ is so crucial for the inclusivness of eternal salvation. He became a very small and fragile creature, yet large and egotistical in nature, the mere concept of scaling God to human flesh.....unfathomable..... Jesus had to experience/accept this sinful existance of human flesh and human ways, mold it with his divine natures and divine ways, to live, to die, and to rise for all humanity and divinity to be One in the One.
To believe IN Jesus the man. To believe in Jesus the person. To believe in Jesus the God. To BELIEVE IN the summit and culmination of a man, God Himself. He became human, so we can be one flesh IN HIM . To restore/renew/realign our beliefs in our flesh, to believe that we can and do get restored/renewed/realigned in our hearts. To believe in hope, to believe in humble trust, not in ourselves but outside of ourselves, to believe IN LOVE.
The Love that brings us to salvation from sin, and all of its consequences and reprocutions, that have been sewn into our realities by Satan. To believe in hope, to believe in humble trust, not in ourselves but outside of ourselves, to believe in Christ Jesus, who personally purchased for us, eternal hope. Hope, that all of this "matrixing" we are doing, all of the connections, reconnections, disconnections and re-disconnections and re-reconnections in our lifetime, deep down we believe we are being stiched tighter IN Love, being stiched tighter in the mysterious matrix of God, to believe that Jesus truly happens everytime everyday.
The Christ, created to save His people, from sin. To save his people of all generations, through HIS living body and blood, the Eucharist. The Bread of Life. The Cup of Salvation. The New and Everlasting Covenant. Every time we go to communion, and receive Christ Himself, His person, His body, His humanity, we commune with the love of Christ, He in turn loves us to restoration/renewal/realignment in the depths of our beliefs IN HIM, but also FOR HIM.
Glory be to Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
AMEN.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
We fishes in the river that goes everywhere
Hello everybody,
I was reading the notes from our last meeting, and as I was reading about the fish in the river, I was really moved by Fr. Francis' analogy. It is so deep. After reflection I have a few thoughts I would like to post.
"The fish in the river does not have a map of the river, it just swims, same with us, we do not need to understand where the river will turn, we are all called to go with the flow and see how that works out." I am quoting from the notes taken.
We are all called to go with the flow, I feel that the "going" IS the map, so to speak. The map, is the map of love, God's map (aka. God's will). The unconditional love of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost which is infinately dimensional, so we can never get lost in the mysterious depths of the river of life or of love itself.
It is that love is so right there, and we(fishies) are so everywhere else, that we don't see it, hear it, think it, or feel it. We need to just be, be there with it. We are just too busy swimming, that is what we are naturally/innately/conditionally made to do. Thank God that God is unconditional.
And for all of the "flowing" that life offers, wether the river is calm or if we are in Mock 5 roaring rapids. God's map is suffice for anything, it always has been and will always be. We just need to learn to trust in the map, to surrender selflessly instead of conditionally, that is how we stay afloat. In doing that, throughout our fishy lives, we will learn that the only way out is through.
We learn to trust in the one thing that is there; in all of our "outs" all of our "throughs" all of our "afloating", the only constant centrality in our everchanging world is CHRIST JESUS. The perfect unconditional love made flesh. The only constant, unchanging, unwavering and unconditional thing we have is LOVE ITSELF (the map,in its perfect essence).
So, in living in a world,where the river is never the same river twice, where each day is its own unique day of its own, where time never stands still, to me shows,why the only constant thing in our reality of ours; is change. And we, by our baptism, have the map of love, to be our guide, our navigator, our lifejacket in all waters (from the calm to the roar of the rapids) OUR GOD IS THERE. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
I would like to express one more personal comment. I quote, "Sometime at some point God gives His fish their map- but a fish with a map doesn't change much (looks cool but makes you much weirder to all the other fish) you just know where but need infinite help....." I agree with the point that we all need infinite help, yes we all do, we are all human born in sin. Which means we are all perfectly imperfect.
I deeply feel that we are all "His fish" and each of our maps, ALL COINCIDE IN THE MAP OF LOVE. I feel that no fish is "weirder" than the next, that is just our own weirdness. From salmon that swim upstream, to the beautiful jellyfish that never see sunlight, to the starfish that is stuck on a rock, from saltwater coral to freshwater feeder fish, WE ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD. That is not weird, its just connected. Isn't that the point of maps to get us from one place to another, I feel in God's map that is how gets us from one moment to the next we just have to humbly trust in the connections. God bless us all. :)
I was reading the notes from our last meeting, and as I was reading about the fish in the river, I was really moved by Fr. Francis' analogy. It is so deep. After reflection I have a few thoughts I would like to post.
"The fish in the river does not have a map of the river, it just swims, same with us, we do not need to understand where the river will turn, we are all called to go with the flow and see how that works out." I am quoting from the notes taken.
We are all called to go with the flow, I feel that the "going" IS the map, so to speak. The map, is the map of love, God's map (aka. God's will). The unconditional love of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost which is infinately dimensional, so we can never get lost in the mysterious depths of the river of life or of love itself.
It is that love is so right there, and we(fishies) are so everywhere else, that we don't see it, hear it, think it, or feel it. We need to just be, be there with it. We are just too busy swimming, that is what we are naturally/innately/conditionally made to do. Thank God that God is unconditional.
And for all of the "flowing" that life offers, wether the river is calm or if we are in Mock 5 roaring rapids. God's map is suffice for anything, it always has been and will always be. We just need to learn to trust in the map, to surrender selflessly instead of conditionally, that is how we stay afloat. In doing that, throughout our fishy lives, we will learn that the only way out is through.
We learn to trust in the one thing that is there; in all of our "outs" all of our "throughs" all of our "afloating", the only constant centrality in our everchanging world is CHRIST JESUS. The perfect unconditional love made flesh. The only constant, unchanging, unwavering and unconditional thing we have is LOVE ITSELF (the map,in its perfect essence).
So, in living in a world,where the river is never the same river twice, where each day is its own unique day of its own, where time never stands still, to me shows,why the only constant thing in our reality of ours; is change. And we, by our baptism, have the map of love, to be our guide, our navigator, our lifejacket in all waters (from the calm to the roar of the rapids) OUR GOD IS THERE. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
I would like to express one more personal comment. I quote, "Sometime at some point God gives His fish their map- but a fish with a map doesn't change much (looks cool but makes you much weirder to all the other fish) you just know where but need infinite help....." I agree with the point that we all need infinite help, yes we all do, we are all human born in sin. Which means we are all perfectly imperfect.
I deeply feel that we are all "His fish" and each of our maps, ALL COINCIDE IN THE MAP OF LOVE. I feel that no fish is "weirder" than the next, that is just our own weirdness. From salmon that swim upstream, to the beautiful jellyfish that never see sunlight, to the starfish that is stuck on a rock, from saltwater coral to freshwater feeder fish, WE ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD. That is not weird, its just connected. Isn't that the point of maps to get us from one place to another, I feel in God's map that is how gets us from one moment to the next we just have to humbly trust in the connections. God bless us all. :)
Friday, January 16, 2009
Luke 11:27-28 True Blessedness
Hello everybody,
This piece was in "draft status" for a long time, and I have been still pondering The Word made flesh. Here are a few thoughts.
True Blessedness in Luke 11:27-28.
The passage is, " While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed."
He replied, "Rather blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."
Where do we hear this stuff? We hear it in our hearts, in our minds, in our spirits, in our consciences, in the core of ourselves. Through the good times and the bad times we learn to observe it, practice it, fail at it, get up by it, practice hearing it some more......day in and day out. With all of the practicing, in the successes and failures everday, we learn to believe , we see what is right, we see what is true. We believe and start to grow in truth in our sinful lives. The truth, Christ Jesus which gives us balance to the sin we are born in, and are in.
That is our eternal hope, we can experience as a family of Christ, in all of the practicing in listening, the good days and bad days, that our Jesus, is our eternal salvation, our eternal hope, in our internal worlds. Jesus says "BLESSED are those...who hear the word of God and observe it. " I feel that the blessing we grow in, is one of hope, a light in the darkness of sin in our beings, a blessing of hopeful sustenance, on those bad days, where truth is in the dark, yet we can experience the silver lining that lies beyond the darkness, that hope that it is going to be o.k, just stay close to me Christ Jesus, stay close.
I pray Christ stays close to each and every one of you this day, and for all days to come. Amen.
God Bless,
Tyree
This piece was in "draft status" for a long time, and I have been still pondering The Word made flesh. Here are a few thoughts.
True Blessedness in Luke 11:27-28.
The passage is, " While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed."
He replied, "Rather blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."
To hear the word of God, to believe in the Gospel, to hope in the Word made flesh, God made Man, scaled down to each and every person in ourselves, deep down in each of our beings.
To hear the word of God: to hear the little voice, nudge, incline, huntch, pull to do what is right to God, to our neighbor, and to ourselves. What we hear, if it is from God, helps us to keep straight in our daily lives, to keep straight our sinful ways to Jesus. Wether we want to or not? or understand it or not, wether or not we agree with it or not. I humbly feel, that in all of this time all of the wanting, understanding and agreeing becomes pretty trivial in the broad scheme of things, like God's will being done and not our own.Where do we hear this stuff? We hear it in our hearts, in our minds, in our spirits, in our consciences, in the core of ourselves. Through the good times and the bad times we learn to observe it, practice it, fail at it, get up by it, practice hearing it some more......day in and day out. With all of the practicing, in the successes and failures everday, we learn to believe , we see what is right, we see what is true. We believe and start to grow in truth in our sinful lives. The truth, Christ Jesus which gives us balance to the sin we are born in, and are in.
That is our eternal hope, we can experience as a family of Christ, in all of the practicing in listening, the good days and bad days, that our Jesus, is our eternal salvation, our eternal hope, in our internal worlds. Jesus says "BLESSED are those...who hear the word of God and observe it. " I feel that the blessing we grow in, is one of hope, a light in the darkness of sin in our beings, a blessing of hopeful sustenance, on those bad days, where truth is in the dark, yet we can experience the silver lining that lies beyond the darkness, that hope that it is going to be o.k, just stay close to me Christ Jesus, stay close.
I pray Christ stays close to each and every one of you this day, and for all days to come. Amen.
God Bless,
Tyree
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Jesus and His Family- Luke 8:19-21
Hello,
I wanted to also comment on the discussion we had Monday night regarding, Luke8:19-21, Jesus and His Family. Jesus is fully human and fully divine, 2 natures in 1 being.
You know, it reminds me of the Finding in the Temple. The parents looking for their child for a few days, come to find Him in His Father's house, preaching and teaching. When found, Jesus as a boy, was obedient to his parents from then on.
In this scene, Jesus is a grown man, in full swing of his preaching and teaching the people the love of God, while crowds surrounded him. Mom and brothers come to find him, while Jesus is doing the will of His Holy Father.
I humbly feel that maybe why Jesus had to make a distinction to the people was to point out the UNIVERSAL meaning of "Mother" and "Brother" or "Family" ALL in the One Body of Christ.
Versus the "one body" of Christ as a son or a brother, CONDITIONALLY here on earth. Yes, Jesus has two natures, but Jesus used both natures in such perfect and mysterious ways to teach us, by a living and dying and resurrected example, of the infinite depths of UNCONDITIONAL love, which only comes from our Lord our God.
In Jesus making this distinction, I feel that His divinity, His universaltality, takes precedence, this is why such the answer from Christ. At first, to me it is harsh, but really when we reflect on it a little more, Jesus' whole purpose was to save souls and bring us all home. As stated in (Luke 4:43) "To the other town also, I must proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God, FOR THIS PURPOSE I WAS SENT." For the salvation and redemption of souls and the forgiveness of all our sins and its consequences, so we may have ETERNAL LIFE. To me, this means all of the families become all one.
What do you guys think?
God Bless,
Tyree
This I feel is why that His death on the cross is the perfect act of love. Using his humanity, his person as the way, the truth and the light to teach us all about our Holy Family and the love we have in them, through Him, Christ Jesus.
Human Family: Jesus, Mary, Joseph, All Past ancestory/lifetimes/generations from the line of David, and of the ancestory that is to come.
Divine Family: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Angels and Saints, Mother Nature/Cosmos, The universality of all existance, for all of time.
I wanted to also comment on the discussion we had Monday night regarding, Luke8:19-21, Jesus and His Family. Jesus is fully human and fully divine, 2 natures in 1 being.
You know, it reminds me of the Finding in the Temple. The parents looking for their child for a few days, come to find Him in His Father's house, preaching and teaching. When found, Jesus as a boy, was obedient to his parents from then on.
In this scene, Jesus is a grown man, in full swing of his preaching and teaching the people the love of God, while crowds surrounded him. Mom and brothers come to find him, while Jesus is doing the will of His Holy Father.
I humbly feel that maybe why Jesus had to make a distinction to the people was to point out the UNIVERSAL meaning of "Mother" and "Brother" or "Family" ALL in the One Body of Christ.
Versus the "one body" of Christ as a son or a brother, CONDITIONALLY here on earth. Yes, Jesus has two natures, but Jesus used both natures in such perfect and mysterious ways to teach us, by a living and dying and resurrected example, of the infinite depths of UNCONDITIONAL love, which only comes from our Lord our God.
In Jesus making this distinction, I feel that His divinity, His universaltality, takes precedence, this is why such the answer from Christ. At first, to me it is harsh, but really when we reflect on it a little more, Jesus' whole purpose was to save souls and bring us all home. As stated in (Luke 4:43) "To the other town also, I must proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God, FOR THIS PURPOSE I WAS SENT." For the salvation and redemption of souls and the forgiveness of all our sins and its consequences, so we may have ETERNAL LIFE. To me, this means all of the families become all one.
What do you guys think?
God Bless,
Tyree
This I feel is why that His death on the cross is the perfect act of love. Using his humanity, his person as the way, the truth and the light to teach us all about our Holy Family and the love we have in them, through Him, Christ Jesus.
Human Family: Jesus, Mary, Joseph, All Past ancestory/lifetimes/generations from the line of David, and of the ancestory that is to come.
Divine Family: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Angels and Saints, Mother Nature/Cosmos, The universality of all existance, for all of time.
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