- Art and Contemplative Spirituality

Fig Tree

“I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, …” (Matt 12:6-7)

Each person has their own mental or spiritual image of what Church is. For many, it is the Church of their past. For others it is what Church “ought” to be. Either way, it is personal.

In a book titled, “Models of the Church,” by Avery Cardinal Dulles he writes:

“Christians cannot agree about the measure of progress or decline because they have radically different visions of the Church. They are not agreed about what the Church really is.”

He defines five models that people typically set as their “personal” Church.

Each bring their own favorite set of images, its own rhetoric, its own values, certitudes, commitments, and priorities. It even brings with it a particular set of preferred problems:

The Church as Institution,
The Church as Mystical Communion (People of God),
The Church as Sacrament,
The Church as Herald,
The Church as Servant, or Healer

Another visage which (I believe) gets too little attention is the family unit: where we first learn who God is and prayerfully seek His will for us. In this sense, Vatican II considers the family as a “domestic” church. (LG 11).

Interestingly, the bible (RSV2CE) shows 353 occurrences of the word “temple” and 109 occurrences of the word “church” mostly referencing a physical building where we encounter the Holy. Once Jesus is raised, the locale where we encounter God changes:

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

Now to the fig tree…

Check out Monday and Tuesday

The below aerial view shows the physical distance (about a mile) between Bethany and the Temple

In the Synoptic account of Jesus’ last week, before he enters the temple, he finds and curses a fig tree, a prophetic symbol of God’s judgment on that temple that was bearing no fruit.

The significance of this scripture for us today, is that it points us to reflect upon our own selves, our families, religious institutions, social groups and to the extent in which we serve interests that would earn Jesus’ outrageous rebuke.

I find the chart offers a wonderful scriptural map to “Walk with Jesus, a bit more closely, during Holy Week.

My plan is to read, meditate, contemplate, and journal each day with the prescribed scripture passages. It will be my prayer and search for “fruitfulness,” or lack thereof.

I’ll close with a beautiful reflection from Frank Ostaseski which speaks to a grace that is modeled for us by Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection:

Suppose we stopped compartmentalizing death, cutting it off from life. Imagine if we regarded dying as a final stage of growth that held an unprecedented opportunity for transformation. Could we turn toward death like a master teacher and ask, “How, then, shall I live?” . . .

ps. Feel free to comment, or share your “Walk with Jesus,” during Holy Week.

Gallicantu

Yesterday, I was one of 80 Christian men who were gathered to listen to a man of the cloth presenting his food for thought. He shared an inspirational talk to us like-minded men titled “Know Yourself to Share Yourself.” The underlying message was about having the courage to being open about who you truly are and being present to each holy moment in your life. It was all good stuff.

He began “Who wants to be a saint?” Only a few raised their hands. Unsatisfied with the faint response, he asked again, “Who wants to be a saint?” Most everyone raised their hands.

I did not.

He went on, “Well, what is a saint, anyway. It is someone who lives with God in heaven. Who does not want to go to heaven?”

What stumps me is that most people live as though heaven and sainthood can only come after we die which is contrary to authentic Christian teaching and a form of denial of Christ.

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me (Gal 2:20)

Every baptized Christian is reborn in Christ. We can choose to participate in the divine life of God now. This is called Grace. It is no longer I, but Christ who lives in me. Each and every moment we can choose to partake in the divine life of the Living God, or not.

We are invited to participate in God’s divine life – in the here and now. Eternity, or eternal life, does not begin when I die. We are already within its domain.

We are able to hold awareness of this divine participation (sainthood) in God in short glimpses, except when in denial to the Christ who lives in me. And this denial comes in many forms. The Apostle Peter gives us a good example of words spoken contrary to one’s actions (Mk 14:29-31).

Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said vehemently, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

Later that night, Peter denies Jesus and himself. Luke notes that at the crowing of the cock, Jesus (who must have been in the high priest’s courtyard) looked directly at him. Peter immediately remembered his promises of faithfulness as well as Jesus’ prediction. He then went out and wept bitterly (Luke 22:62).

The image below is a memorial to Peter’s triple denial in Jerusalem taken while on pilgrimage. It is near the Church of St. Peter at Gallicantu on the eastern slope of Mount Zion just outside the old walled city of Jerusalem. Gallicantu means “cock’s crow.”

Peter could have become a man filled with despair. Seeing his own weakness so directly, knowing that Jesus had seen it and now even his fellow apostles knew about it, how could he still enjoy anyone’s respect? Yes, Peter (like most of us) could have packed away the burden of his sin eroding his soul through self-criticism, depression, and spiritual pessimism. He did not and neither should we.

And soon after, Jesus comes back to Peter and his companions on the shores of the Galilee, at Tabgha.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” (Jn 21:15-16)

Jesus’ never abandons his Beloved, and neither should the Beloved abandon the Lover. Sadly, even as we claim ourselves Christian, we still do.

Especially during this Lenten season, I find it useful to consider how easily and often I deny Jesus?

Now getting back to yesterday: Our most entertaining talk is over, most everyone is in a “gung ho” spiritual mood and it is now time for lunch. Someone grabs the microphone and announces, “Let’s say blessing before we eat! A loud chorus responds, “Bless us, O Lord and these thy gifts,….”

We all hurry to stand in the lunch line and I whisper to one of my buddies who enjoys philosophical discussions as much as I do, and I ask him,

“If all of God’s creation is already holy and blest – what are we humans blessing???”

Ps. I suppose that is a topic for another day

Tabgha

Ever stop and wonder who was around to write down the conversation between Jesus and the devil in the desert?

“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” And Jesus answers: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matt 4:3)

Most scholars indicate Matthew was (re)framing the Israelite failure to overcome their temptations during their Exodus in the desert. In Matthew, Jesus does not fail. He knows who he is and trust in the Father’s will for his life.

We too are tempted on our desert journey. In this life we face constant temptation to grab for the lessor things which can never fill us: sensual pleasures, power, and honor.

The good news is that we come by this biblical truth without ever reading scripture. We have received our “first translation” of God’s Word simply by listening to God’s Spirit throughout our own lived experiences.

Lent is a time to wake up – again. Yet, Lent (for me) is also a time of contradiction. Perhaps it is a byproduct of the Mardi Gras culture in which I grew up.

I remember as a young child my mother taking us kids – to a local Mardi Gras parade. I would see people on the float throwing trinkets and desperately wanting some for myself, but was too introverted to even raise my hand and frantically yell “throw me something.” It took me many years to realize that was the necessary behavior for people on the floats to throw something my way.

When I was 17, I tagged along with my uncle to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We had to scheme a lie to my parents for their approval to let me go. Some of the things I saw are still seared in memory. I do not regret going but once was enough. It was my first glimpse of this world’s level of craziness.

Nowadays, Mardi Gras is even bigger. Local newspapers and TV begin their promotion weeks in advance, showing pictures of all the Carnival Royalty and their Courts. The white folk get their promotions and the blacks get theirs. Civic leaders do their similar promotions since the more people who participate over the weeks that come to the various parades and parties spend money in town. The Mardi Gras flag flies at City Hall. Hotels and restaurants are making money and sending their tax receipts to government. Bakeries and donut shops are selling thousands of king cakes, with or without the baby. Even Fedex and UPS get to play.

Come Ash Wednesday, the promoted debauchery is over. Media now promotes where you can donate all the beads that you clamored for but never really wanted. There is even a front page article to show where you can go get your holy ashes in a drive thru. Before the week is over the local media now shifts to promoting the message that during lent “Seafood is King.” Restaurants advertise their Friday Lenten menu of meat abstinence: Fried and etoufee Shrimp, Crawfish, and Catfish: po-boys and plate lunches. It’s our opportunity to fast on Friday. Even the Knights of Columbus selling fried catfish dinners over eating meat on Friday.

Its all about worshiping our great idols.

A week into Lent, and our local newspaper runs a front page article of our Lt. Governor pardoning a crawfish for its sins. How cute is that?

Mardi Gras is history and soon Lent will be over. Next up: Easter season. We can go to Walmart or Hobby Lobby and purview all the pastel Easter decorations that are available to spice up our homes. Something to put us in “the spirit.” And tons of chocolate rabbits and baskets of candy for our children.

Today is the business of corporate executives in our consumer society to assure advertising and merchandise for the next (commercial) holiday is on its way for our consumption. Or, as we find ourselves in the old traditional “Courir de Mardi Gras,” …we hide our faces and keep chasing the rooster.

“Our noise, our business, our purposes, and all our fatuous statements about our purposes, our business, and our noise, … these are the illusion.”.

Thomas Merton

I do not automatically abstain for Lent but this year I need less consumption of this world’s noise which only distracts me from God’s Word for my life. I also need to be “less noise” for others. The latter is most difficult

ps. The title of this reflection “Tabgha” which is the name of an area situated on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. It is traditionally accepted as the place of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (Mark 6:30-46) and the fourth resurrection appearance of Jesus (John 21:1-24) after his Crucifixion.

The site’s name (Tabgha) is derived from the Greek name Heptapegon (“seven springs”). Its was eventually changed to “Tabgha” by Arabic speakers. St. Jerome referred to Heptapegon as “the solitude.”

The featured art is a representation of the mosaics in front of the altar at the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, at Tabgha Israel. The charred rock is where tradition says Jesus ate fish with his disciples after the resurrection (see below).

pss. feel free to comment on your Lenten journey.

The Chew

In one sentence, how would you describe evil?

In the primordial story, male and female were both naked, and were not ashamed. Then follows the voice of evil laying its trap of self-doubt unto Eve. She yielded, ate the fruit and gave it to Adam who also ate.

As the story goes, God turned him out of the garden and guarded the way to the tree of life, that is to say, God prevented Adam from getting back as a fallen being.

Why, to this day, do we continue to chew the fruit?

After the Fall, God called out, “Where are you?” Adam answered, “I heard you in the garden, but I was afraid… for I am naked”

Why did being naked (now) make Adam afraid?

Adam, was saying, “Because I feel shame and guilt, I fear and must hide.” Then God asked Adam: “Who told you that you were naked?” That is, “Who told you that you were bad, …who told you that you were less than what I created you to be?

Adam chose to judge good and evil. To be independent from God. To be “boss” over himself. He wanted to be his own god and his first judgment is against himself. He lost his true identity.

Adam’s plight is universal to all humanity. We can see in this primordial story, of man’s original sin, the connection of “self-worship” which leads to fear and self-alienation.

Adam (literally, “the one from the earth”) in answer to God’s question as to why he had hidden himself, said simply, “I was afraid (Gen 3:10). Seeing himself as guilty and mistakenly thinking God would see him the same way, Adam became afraid and passed judgment on himself. Adam (humanity) was afraid God would punish him for his “sin” so he hid himself. In other words, he moved against himself, he acted contrary to who he was.

Which of us has not acted upon that same voice – tempting us to believe that we are somehow “less than what God created us to be.” And who has not judged oneself and others “to be less than what God created them to be.” It is the personal and social sin of this world.

It is certainly difficult to avoid since we are tied to our judgmental world with its guilt and punishment. It is where we developed our model of good and bad, of what “should be” and what “should not be.”

If this earthly life with unavoidable suffering is all there is, then so be it. If not, then to what end should we direct our free will? How are we to restore our personal “God-given” identity?

In Galatians 2:20, Paul says that his destiny is no longer self-realization, but Christ-identity, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

Perhaps we all have our say in what this means, but for me it means that new life is found by understanding my life in conformance to Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. It is not a sentimental journey of prosperity. Its validity is only proven through a lived experience on the grounds of what Our Lord did on the Cross. It is the great paradox which confuses the mind.

To most, the cross symbolizes pain to be avoided. To others, it symbolizes a shedding of pain. On its other side is found new life.

With no intention to boast, I have experienced this passage several times and quite convinced that every other human has, as well. It is just not easily recognizable. I accept it as God’s promise, as a beloved child, who is invited to experience divine and human nature in its fullness. It is to participate in the unity of God’s divine life. I can only recognize it when putting on “the mind of Christ.”

To put on “the mind of Christ” is to accept God’s Word that I am good enough, exactly as I am (warts and all). I do not need to be more than who I am, in order to be loved. And yes, I need to constantly remind myself of this.

Through our Lenten experience, let us take off our Mardi Gras mask with confidence that we can live our remaining days accepting our true selves, as God created us to be. Let us stop chewing on the forbidden fruit of self-judgment and condemnation and rather “put on the mind of Christ.”

Let us be open and kind to ourselves, and love others “only in truth.”

Feel free to offer any comments

…but do no harm

Christian theologians propose that natural law is the “light of understanding placed in us by God” which suggest that we should be able to source within our being an understanding not taught by man but rather by God’s Spirit. That through reasoning and experience we are able to articulate personal conviction in a Transcendent Creator of Life and Light, including the dignity of the person, and its fundamental rights and duties. This very aspect of God’s Incarnate Law (in me) has been a central focus of my contemplation toward a deeper spirituality: “according to the whole.”

To believe in a God who is Love is to believe that I was brought into existence by Love and I am to reflect that Love. This is the central core of my identity and I hear its obligations echoed in Paul’s words to the Galatians (5:26):

“Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another.”

Paul’s words resonate within me (not) because I have accomplished it but that it speaks to me from an Incarnate Wisdom experienced and illuminated by God’s Spirit through life itself. Although, this illumination is often and easily blinded by one’s own egoic self-deception – of being someone we are not. In this blindness, I am not alone. The very beginning of scripture records first man, woman, and offspring succumbing to this same temptation of self-conceit, envy and provoking each other to sin – only to distance themselves from God’s divine presence. And for Cain, it leads to the extreme of taking of another’s life.

Paul is speaking to the early Church in Galatia about what Christ’s death on the cross reveals and offers to them (and us). Because of God Incarnate, we can now see much more clearly the source of Good and the effects of evil in our lives. Because of this sacrificial act – we have been freed to participate much more deeply in the law of God’s divine Love and to encounter beatitude not only in the hereafter but in this very moment of our life. It is free gift of a Loving God, but it is not without obligation.

In my own experience of formation for public ministry, I’ve experienced internal amplifications of conscience directly correlating to Paul’s statement: “Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another.”

The idea of standing in front of anyone and suggesting how they should live their lives challenged my own sense of worthiness. I am no example for anyone, nor do I wish to be. Not until I identified with the two sinners that were crucified with Christ did I understand that discipleship is not about self-worthiness. As long as I accept my “true” self, a beloved child of God (warts and all): I am enough.

Another was facing the sobering realization that people will come to me in their pain and need of healing. What and how I do, or fail to do, directly impacts their spirit, soul, and journey towards salvation. My prayer and petition is to speak Truth in Love, …but do no harm. When and where my actions fail to that end (and it does), I am to receive the wounded with a compassionate ear and contrite heart. In other words, to Love as God Loves, …not as I love.

By grace, I (we) have been given a life, an intellect, a conscience, a free will, and redemption in which to enter beatitude. In those most intense and personal moments, I find the gift of Wisdom and Understanding (not in books) but in walking with Christ through the Paschal Mystery.

ps. Feel free to offer personal comments, or forward a link of this website to a friend in need.

Kata holos

The word “catholic” conjures in each of us a unique and personal mental image. Whether positive or negative, it carries much baggage. Personally, I hope to never stop challenging my own biases and assumptions of what it means to be Catholic.

This ongoing challenge of metanoia, or repentence, is our baptismal calling. Metanoia means change in one’s way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion. It rings in the ear of each and every Christian.

As a method of practicing metanoia, I rather contemplate the origin of the word “catholic” which is a construction of two Greek words: “Kata” and “holos,” which literally means “according to the whole.”

This brings me to the next question: How am I to understand and live a “Catholic” spirituality that is “according to the whole?” This does not come from a book, or a human teacher.

The first order is to recognize the primacy of my own conscience which stands above the authority of any man; religious or political.

For the Church teaches that no one is to subordinate their conscience to human authority. Because it is precisely the conscience which upholds [human] dignity: “A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience” (CCC1433, 1800).

Our conscience is our most secret core and sanctuary where we are alone with God whose voice echoes in our depths. In this conscience the person “made in the image and likeness of God,” may faithfully reflect its model which is both Wisdom and eternal law (CCC 1143, 1795).

Have you ever wondered where our consciences come from, …Or the soul for that matter. Is it a movement of the intellect, or one’s soul, …or both?

We are gifted with conscience by the Holy Spirit.

When we remain open to the Holy Spirit operative in our lives, we encounter the Word of God and it changes us. “When a person is touched by the Word, obedience is born, that is listening, which changes life.” (John Paul II).

There are several ways I construct an image of “wholeness.” I am sure there may be more, so you feel free to share them in the comments:

Our Individual wholeness: intellectual, emotional, spiritual, physically (body and soul), as one
The family unit
“Totus Christus” ( the total Christ: Head and Body) Christ as Head and all baptized as the Body of Christ, or The People of God as Church.
All that exist: Creator and creation

We can see this clearly , the context of wholeness of the individual but also the corporate body and its form of governance, in the Acts of the Apostles chapters 6 thru 8. It is one of many biblical models that further illustrate an individual and corporate spirituality “according to the whole.”

As the early Christian Church increased in numbers, there was an inequality, or injustice amongst its members. The Apostles acted in accordance with the whole community. They did not ignore but listened to their murmurings with compassion and respect. The whole community participated in its solution to a real problem that if left unattended would have likely split the Church. The Apostles approved what the community offered and appointed seven deacons to restore and maintain justice. And not only was the community pleased:

“the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7 RSVCE).

This past week, I found this 1965 papal decree by Pope Pius VI, and consider it relevant

“Superiors, as those who are to give an account of the souls entrusted to them (Heb. 13:17), should fulfill their office in a way responsive to God’s will. They should exercise their authority out of a spirit of service to the brethren, expressing in this way the love with which God loves their subjects. They should govern these as sons of God, respecting their human dignity. In this way they make it easier for them to subordinate their wills. They should be particularly careful to respect their subjects’ liberty in the matters of sacramental confession and the direction of conscience. Subjects should be brought to the point where they will cooperate with an active and responsible obedience in undertaking new tasks and in carrying those already undertaken. And so superiors should gladly listen to their subjects and foster harmony among them for the good of the community and the Church, provided that thereby their own authority to decide and command what has to be done is not harmed (Perfectae Caritatis 14)”

Two of the first seven deacons that were appointed: Stephen and Phillip are each given a narrative which gives all including servant leaders a model to follow.

Stephen, speaking with Wisdom and Spirit, doing great work in grace and power was brought into dispute with a select group of religious authorities. They seized him and set up false witness against him. His response was to courageously speak the gospel truth to the authority of his day. He not only upheld his dignity and conscience, he paid the price with his life.

Then Phillip, leaves Jerusalem and begins preaching Christ to the Samaritans who were a people considered foreign to the Jews of Jerusalem. He likely was on the receiving end of a lot of pressure from all sides. The gifts of the Spirit was his strength and guide. In the end, Phillip’s ministry brought great joy and conversion to the people who had never received the Word of God. Even the Apostles from Jerusalem had to come see for themselves. Phillip was then told to go south of Jerusalem on the route to Gaza where he encountered the Ethiopian Eunuch hungry for understanding of Scripture. Phillip catechized and baptized. Later in Acts 21, Paul meets up in Phillip’s home along the Mediterranean coast where reference is made about Phillip’s four daughters who are considered prophets.

In closing, Our command to living a Spirituality “according to the whole,” is to love God above all things and love our neighbor as ourselves.

When we live in accordance, we will still find suffering and grief in our lives but also find that Abba is a life giver,… never a destroyer.

Therefore, anything which gives life “according to the whole,” is catholic spirituality. We hear this echoed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:26

“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

Of course we fail this at times which requires an ongoing formation and examination of our conscience regarding any behaviors that debase or destroy this “wholeness.”

When we do this well, we effect personal and community conversion, …a metanoia.

Feel free to comment on your take…

To keep and to let go

The featured image is a personal reflection that I wrote to my parents on their 50^th wedding anniversary. I have five siblings, and we each wrote our own reflection and gave it to them as our gift of gratitude. As you read further, you will understand why I have chosen to share it in my blog.

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One evening, a few weeks ago, I received an anonymous phone call from a young man who said that he needed to talk to a priest or deacon and had found my number on a website. I asked him how I could help.

He shared that he was raised in another part of the state and had grown up with parents who felt free to walk around the house nude and that he would sometimes see them go beyond that. And now, as a young man, he is struggling with these “feelings.” As he continued, he began to unravel and reveal his struggles with sexuality, shame, isolation, and fear of rejection.

I spoke with him over two phone conversations. I offered him several thoughts to consider. First, as Christians, we hold faith that we are created in original holiness, in the image and likeness of our Creator, who is Love. This is our core identity, and that we are to love ourselves as God loves us into being. This is not easy for anyone. Even in the biblical story of the first man and first woman, their first response to sin was to hide in shame.

This is often what we do: we see ourselves as something less than who we are and then fail to uphold this confidence of original holiness. And it is made worse when others project their own shadow onto our being or when we do it to others.

I was limited in how much I could help this young man, so I encouraged him to become aware of his internal thoughts of self-condemnation and work towards a language of love and self-acceptance. And to join a church community near his home (without expectation of others) and (in time) make an inquiry with the pastor for more guidance.

As he shared his childhood upbringing, I could not help but recall my own reflection about parents. Simply, that none of us get to choose our parents. It is God’s gift. This idea of a gift is not a sentimental thought. None of our parents were perfect in themselves or their parenting of us. And as parents ourselves, none of us are either. It is a recognition that regardless of who our parents were to us: they were our example of how to live and how “not” to live.

As we move from childhood to maturity, we are to discern what good of our parents we are to carry forward in our lives and what “not” good to leave behind (in forgiveness). I hope that my own children do no less for themselves in regards to their mother and me.

When we fail to do this, we carry forward that which was harmful and then onto our own children and spouse. Maybe that is what is considered a generational sin. It is certainly a cause of sickness in our human society and relationships.

We are not bound to the trauma of our past. If we strive beyond the unthinking routine of our behavior to make deliberate choices of human good: we break the cycle. It is hard and sometimes painful work. It is also, I believe, the road less traveled.

I feel acceptable in sharing this story primarily because the person to whom I spoke never identified himself to me. I have no idea who this person is and besides, I simply choose not to judge him. What he is struggling with within his life is no different than what most everyone struggles with.

I’d like to close with a passage from Sirach 15:14-20.

It was he who created man in the beginning, and he left him in the power of his own inclination. If you will, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. He has placed before you fire and water: stretch out your hand for whichever you wish. 

Before a man are life and death, and whichever he chooses will be given to him. For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything; his eyes are on those who fear him, and he knows every deed of man. He has not commanded any one to be ungodly, and he has not given any one permission to sin.

Through God’s Love, we have a conscience and free will to participate in that divine relationship with God. It is another gift by which we come to know that we are loved.

Feel free to comment

Naturally

“The most important thing of all is to get some realization of what God is doing in your soul.”

Thomas Merton, What is Contemplation?

In a recent course on Christology, the class was asked to respond to the following question:

Identify the most important information contained in the gospels that bear on the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

I was quite excited about this because it offered me a chance to share an insight from something I heard from a Scott Hahn lecture on the gospel of John. Below was my response to the class assignment:

The virginal conception reveals that in his divine nature,…Jesus has only God as his father. It reveals that he is the natural son of God so he is fully divine.

At the same time, he’s born of the Virgin Mary. So he receives his human nature from Mary, his mother. So he is naturally the son of his mother.

In other words, Jesus is (NATURALLY) the son of the Father, according to his divine nature, and he is (NATURALLY) the son of his mother Mary, according to his human nature. Fully human, …Fully divine.

The virgin birth speaks of Jesus Christ in whom is united full deity and full humanity – and the atoning action of (full deity and full humanity) on the cross for the reparation of the broken covenant.

Surprisingly, I received quite a bit of push-back from my classmates who were challenging my use of the word “naturally.”

Classmate 1

I get your point but I think we need to be very careful in the use of the word “naturally.” As Jesus was begotten which is of course not natural perhaps it would be better to say He is undeniably Son of God and son of Mary.

Classmate 2

When I read your post I thought of the word”supernatural” when it came to the incarnation. Something”natural” in the spiritual realm, such as an action of the Holy Spirit with the Blessed Mother, strikes me as “supernatural.” CCC1998/1722 defines supernatural as surpassing the power of created beings; a result of God’s gracious initiative.

To my further dismay, my two professors failed to defend or clarify the issue as it is supported by Church teaching (CCC 503), as follows:

Jesus has only God as Father. “He was never estranged from the Father because of the human nature which he assumed . . . . He is naturally Son of the Father as to his divinity and naturally son of his mother as to his humanity, but properly Son of the Father in both natures.”

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I am sure every one has moments when someone shares an innovative perspective on some issue and it cause you to realize, “I never thought about it that way.” It resets the mental or spiritual point of view to a fresh way to see and understand. Well, that is what Scott Hahn’s comment along with its validation in the catechism about the mystical conception of the Incarnate Word: Jesus Christ, did for me.

Contrary to the groupthink of my classmates and professor, I held my ground. I suspect there is a reason the Church uses the term “naturally” equally to both the full divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ. Supernatural and Natural suggest two radically distinguished realms: one of the created order and the other of God; one of nature and the other of grace. In essence, supernatural suggest a sphere of reality that is sharply opposed to nature suggesting a stark duality in Christ and ignoring our able participation with the universal divine immanence in humanity and in the creation.

This may all seem a bit foolish or abstract so I will get to the point: The words we choose to communicate are simply pointers that direct our intellectual reasoning. When our reasoning is misdirected so is our walk in faith and contemplation of Truth.

As scripture points us to faith of being created in the image or likeness to God. So, to what ever degree we get God “wrong,” we get ourselves “wrong.” When we divide God into parts, we also divide (or fracture) ourselves into parts. This is the condition for sin in our lives and simply not our true identity In Christ, With Christ, and Through Christ.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are. (1 Cor 3:16-17)

Phillip Sherrad’s “Christian Understanding of Man,” unpacks it well:

[M]an is not merely other than God, irreducibly alien to God, but is on the contrary the specific expression of God’s creative energy and participates in this energy as a condition of having any existence whatsoever. Grace, that is to say, is not something extrinsic, not something added to man’s nature; it is inherent in the conditions of his birth…the idea of divine immanence – of the indwelling of God in the creature is foreshadowed…In this thought the presentiment of the immanence of the divine principle is expressed above all through the concept of participation.

With a confidence that God is With Us, let us meditate upon a most important thing of all:

to get some realization of what God is doing in our soul. Not what I am doing but what God is doing.

It is the action verb that precedes our proclamation:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour

The featured image is from the icon of the Annunciation that I wrote a few years back. I am particularly drawn to the representation of Jesus positioned near the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Allow it to help you see this same “Christ-mystery” indwelling within you.

For some reason…

We humans prefer manageable complexity to an unmanageable simplicity

-Fr. Bruno Barnhardt, OSB Cam.

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It was 2am and I awoke in a such a high state of anxiety. Almost a panic.

In my dream I was standing at the edge of the cliffs of a Great Canyon overlooking the magnificent and broad expanse of the night sky. In its darkness was beautiful light of the deep cosmos. It was all before me and my sense of eternity went beyond anything I’ve ever held in conscious thought. At the same time, my human mortality was exposed.

As I awoke, its intensity followed me into wake-full consciousness. The night moon was large and full. Its light shone bright allowing me to see like the day but at the same time suffocating. My thought of being alone was frightening and to endure this heightened state till daylight was dreadful. I needed to talk to someone.

Interestingly, my first thought was calling my mom but chose not to call anyone. It just seemed all too complicated. There was a chill in the air and I began to shiver. I needed to get back under the warm bed covers but was convinced that there was no way I could lay still, much less fall asleep. I walked around my place for awhile wondering if I was literally going crazy. I eventually returned to bed and lay under the covers but continued to shiver uncontrollably. I started reciting the Our Father and I kept saying the Lord’s Prayer over and over again….The next thing I remember is waking up in the daylight. I was OK.

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I experienced this dream back in 1995. There was a lot of turmoil and grace going on in my life. I was six months into a marital separation and had attended a Cursillo six weeks earlier. During my Cursillo experience, I had an intense opening and profound encounter of God’s Love and Mercy.

Before I go on, I consider my dreams nothing more than my subconscious ruminations. For me, my dreams are not supernatural events, just a reflection of what is stirring within my intellectual, emotional and spiritual state and consciousness. I do not consider anything in my life outside everyday human experience and common to every human soul.

Regardless, this particular dream of 23 yrs ago continues to form and teach how I think of myself and to what happens in my life. This dream experience helped me to see my life into a much larger context and its co-relationship with the Truths of mortality and eternity. It is a contemplative approach to which St. Thomas gives the broadest possible definition of contemplation when he calls it simplex intuitus veritas, “a simple intuition of the truth.” The anxiety of my dream was not to be feared but embraced. It is by this Grace which sustains my contemplative outlook and prayer.

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Once again, I find myself experiencing a very sharp edge in human relationships. It is one of the motivations of why I am sharing reflections of my life’s experiences, intellect and spirit: It is my way to remain open, vulnerable, and present to others especially when my wounded-ness is pulling me otherwise.

For months, I had been working on an artistic expression of my dream but only recently completed a rendering that I thought was close. Last week with the art piece in hand I began composing my written reflection with a sensitivity to the movement of God’s Spirit in my life. Now comes this past Sunday, and I am standing to hear Jesus’ gospel. It was from (Luke 21:25–28, 34–36)

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

“But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare; for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man.”

The multiple thematic connections with my dream and the gospel may be simple coincidence. I do not know. And there is no value in making a personal claim either way. I just consider it as another “holy happenstance” among many that never fails to leave me in Awe and Reverence.

ps. May we take this moment to recognize:

“God With Us”

God With Us

“We divide in thought what is undivided in nature”

–Alan Watts, The Two Hands of God

As part of a class assignment, I was asked to submit a written reflection to the following question.

What most appeals to you, Jesus’ humanity, or divinity?

As the professor was walking out the door, I asked him, “Do we have to choose, one over the other?” He answered, “Yes.” His assignment was due in two weeks, and this is a version of what I wrote:

God is not divisible.

I am unable to offer a response to your line of questioning. Jesus is not “part God and part Man,” …available to me as an object that I can break apart then pick and choose which most appeals to me. This is a path toward imagining a (false) god created in my own image. I will only contemplate holding the mystery of Jesus’ humanity and divinity as “both/and.”

Rather, what is most appealing to me; is to experience daily life “aware and receptive” of God’s Holy Spirit living in me, and I in it. And to recognize my identity “With Christ, In Christ, and Through Christ” as a reality and invitation to participating within the divine life of the Most Holy Trinity. My spiritual path is to seek and patiently await God’s Wisdom and Understanding in the joys and hardships of my life.

As it turned out, the professor was absent for the next class and never picked up our reflections. I did not learn his purpose for the assignment.

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Granted, the mystery of the Incarnation is difficult for our intellect. It takes conscious effort to suspend the mind’s intent on judging, controlling, and analyzing what it means to be fully human and fully divine (at the same time). Even when Jesus walked the earth, most of his contemporaries saw him only as a human being and missed who he was and most of them were religiously observant people.

So much depends on our idea of God. Our intellectual tendency is to split and divide Jesus’ humanity and divinity but, doing so has consequences. No idea of Him, however pure and perfect, is adequate to express Him as He really is. Our idea of God tells us more about ourselves than about Him. When we are unable to balance humanity and divinity in Jesus, we are unable to balance it within ourselves distorting our own identity.

Jesus came to model the full integration for us and, in effect, told us that Divinity looked just like him – while he looked ordinarily human to everybody! Consider, (1 Cor 15:45-47)

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

As Christians, when we fail to honor the incarnate mystery of Jesus “fully human, fully divine” at the same time, …we fail to honor that same mystery inside ourselves or in one another.

Let us not desecrate our own natural unity by dividing ourselves, soul against body, as if the soul were good and the body as less so. If the two are separated from one another, we can no longer self-identify ourselves as a subsisting reality made in the image and likeness of God.

Suggested Reflection

An all-loving God who only desires union with man would not hesitate to offer himself to bring us back to Him.

Imagine what society, your belief systems, and your personal life would be if Jesus; fully man, fully divine had never come to earth.

What do you think would be different?

The featured image was done with egg tempera on watercolor paper in the style of manuscript illumination.

ps. My resources for this reflection is from Scripture, the Catechism and “The Naked Now, Learning to See as the Mystics See, by Richard Rohr.