June 13, 2009

He Who Sees Me Sees the Father

In answer to our deepest longings for contact with God, Jesus says, "He who sees me sees the Father." This is what sets Christian faith apart from every other religion. We look upon Jesus on the cross and see not an ordinary man dying in ignominy but the Son of God reconciling all of humanity to himself. Christ crucified is God paying the price of our redemption from slavery to the destructive forces of this world.

And Christ crucified and risen from the dead remains with us through the power of the Holy Spirit, freeing us from the bonds of the flesh and the world and creating us anew in his own image. Through the gracious love of God we are restored to the innocence in which we were first created and assured of the promise of eternal life.

April 12, 2009

Easter 2009

April 11, 2009

Holy Saturday

Today is a day of bitter desolation. It is the day on which we keep watch at the tomb of Jesus and feel something of the abandonment of God.

The onlookers at Calvary who scoffed at the crucified Jesus seemed to have it right: "He saved others, but he cannot save himself!"

Jesus, who was God from all eternity, long before Good Friday had emptied himself of his divinity and became not just the appearance of a man but a true man with all the vulnerability of the human condition. And as a real man he experienced on the cross the utter abandonment of God as no one had ever felt it before. He drank the bitter cup of human suffering to the dregs. And now in the silence of the tomb it all seems to be for nothing.

But although Jesus was very much a man, he was a man perfect in faith. He knew by faith that God never abandons anyone. When we experience what seems to be the absence of God, it is really the hardness of our own heart that we are feeling. But Jesus' heart belonged to his Father completely, so he knew to the very end that God was with him.

Jesus died for us. He laid down his life so that we could know how deep God's love runs. So in the end this is not a day of bitterness at all, but a day of hope. God is with us forever through the life-giving Spirit of the Risen Lord. The darkness of the tomb will give way to the light of Easter.

March 25, 2009

Let prayer bring peace to your soul

In being raised up, the soul arrives at regions untouched by the agitation of transitory things. All movement ceases or grows less. The passions are calmed, the noise of the world, its cares, even our thoughts fade into the distance, and our attention is concentrated on Him alone who is silence, repose, and the God of peace. We feel invaded by calm and clothed in the divine immutability, which seems to communicate itself to our whole being. This is where prayer flourishes - that prayer which is a devout upsurge of love, which draws us toward God, who is unceasingly inclined toward us. His Spirit enfolds us, penetrates us, descends into our depths, and says, "My son...." Then, returning from the depths of our being, which he turns back to its Source, he answers for us: "Father." There is no greater or more profound moment.

Augustin Guillerand

February 17, 2009

The Humility Prayer

February 16, 2009

Winter

February 15, 2009

Authenticity

February 14, 2009

Valentine's Day

January 22, 2009

Brotherly Love

Watch an inspiring documentary about Garry and Harry Giroux, twin brothers and Catholic priests. Father Harry was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers disease in 2004 and Father Garry became his caregiver...



Garry and Harry by Steven Madeja from The Nonsense Society on Vimeo.

January 17, 2009

Trinity

There is but one reality and one alone, the community of life which exists at the heart of Being between the Father and the Son in the unity of the Spirit. That alone is; and it is within this community of life that the man who is has his existence.

Abhishiktananda (Henri Le Saux 1910-1973)

December 7, 2008

The Birth of the Savior


God so loved the world that he sent his beloved Son to dwell among us as a man and lead us to salvation. May the birth of Jesus fill you with wonder and bring you peace at this holy season and throughout the year.

Watch a video essay on the birth of Jesus the Savior.

August 16, 2008

Waiting in Silence

As time goes by I find that I use fewer and fewer words when I pray. I still say the prayers of the Catholic liturgy, the Psalms and other prayers of the Bible, and a few traditional prayers. And sometimes I just talk to God, especially when something is troubling me or when I need something. But for about the past two years I have been drawn into a different kind of prayer, one that does not use any words or thoughts at all.

This wordless prayer is not something I thought up on my own. I have read quite a few books on the subject, and while there are some differences in the methods described in these books, they all agree on the basic idea that being silent in the presence of God is a form of prayer - perhaps the highest form.

Based on all of this I have begun to cultivate a practice of silence. I do not have a name for this practice. I hesitate to even call it prayer. All I do is sit and try to be as quiet as I can and watch and wait - for God.

I try to do this twice a day for periods of half an hour or so. I usually do it in church where it is quiet and I am surrounded by religious symbols that are very familiar to me. I close my eyes and sit perfectly still. I try to ignore the constant stream of thoughts that runs through my mind. I breathe softly and focus my attention on the silence that envelops me. Then I just sit and wait.

I sit and wait for God. As I mentioned, I have been doing this every day for about two years, but so far nothing has happened. I have not had any visions or heard any voices. As far as I can tell, God has not revealed himself to me in any way. But in spite of this, I am not giving up. I have become convinced that waiting for God is what I have to do. And if I have to wait until the end of my days, I will wait. This has become the way I have to live my faith.

Of course I have wondered at times whether this practice is a good idea, whether I should keep doing it, whether I am getting anything out of it. But then I remind myself that it does not matter whether I get anything out of it. What matters is what God gets out of it.

This is actually true of all forms of prayer. Prayer is not about us; it is about God. And we can be sure that even if our prayer does nothing for us, God gets a lot out of it as long as we are sincere.

So I know with the certainty of faith that when I sit in silence longing to see and hear and even touch the God who means everything to me, he is there. I know that even if I cannot see or hear or touch him, he is closer to me that I can ever imagine.

God created every one of us for no other reason than to love us. He must be very sad indeed when he looks down from heaven and sees us all running around on earth never giving a thought to him. Imagine how happy he feels when someone actually stops and thinks of him. What a pleasure it must be for God when someone leaves the bustle of human activity and withdraws to a quiet place and sits with undivided attention waiting for a sign of his love.

It reminds me of an experience I had from time to time when my children were infants. Sometimes late at night I would sit in a rocking chair and hold one of them. He would rest peacefully in my arms and I would rock him. He did not have to do anything but just lie there and let me love him. It seemed at those times that the whole world stood still, and nothing mattered but my love.

The time I spend waiting for God in silence is much like this. I do not have to do anything during this time; in fact the less I do the better. I just rest in God's arms and let him love me. It really does not matter what it does for me; for God it is a moment of sheer delight. It is a moment that makes the world stand still, even for God. It is a moment when nothing matters but love.

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