Putting Flesh on our Faith

In 1500, Albrecht Durer painted a self-portrait that at first glance resembles the classic image of the Christ.  I have tried without success to post a copy here, but if you want to google "Durer Self Portrait," you will see what I mean.  This is one of the most unusual self portraits I have ever seen, because of the deliberate modeling of the picture on that of Jesus Christ.

In that year, the general worldwide feeling was that the Apocalypse was expected; anxiety had spread throughout Christendom.  In response to this and in a spirit of humility, Durer painted himself in the attitude of Jesus Christ.  (You may be more familiar with his famous painting of The Praying Hands.)  His work was inspired by the book Imitatio Christi (Imitation of Christ) by St. Thomas a Kempis.

In the most familiar painting of Christ, Jesus extends one hand slightly in blessing over the world.  In Durer's portrait, the same hand points rather to himself, as one who accepts the gift from God and whose hand imitates the divinely-created world.

As I pondered the serenity and peace of Durer's portrait, I thought about the theology that seems to have inspired such a work.  In 1 Cor., Paul writes, just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we (or let us) bear the likeness of the man from heaven (15:49).  And I think Durer has captured that idea in his portrait.

We are all familiar with the shape and appearance of our bodies, much to our chagrin, for most of us.  However, we are less familiar with the shape and appearance of our souls, because they are immaterial.  If we think, however, about what constitutes the soul, it becomes easier to "see" whether or not we bear the likeness of the Man from heaven.

Our souls are comprised of our minds, our hearts/emotions, and our wills---and these qualities in us are so closely connected that it is hard to speak about them individually.  However, it we look at the "shape" of our minds -- or whose image we bear in our minds, or in our hearts, or in our wills -- it is less difficult to see whose image we bear: Adam's or Christ's.

Abraham Lincoln once rejected the suggestion that he choose a particular man for his cabinet: "I don't like his face," said Lincoln.  "Surely," Lincoln's advisor said, "a man is not responsible for the way he looks."  "Before 40, no," said Lincoln, "but after 40, yes."

If our souls bear the image of Christ, surely we will physically begin after 40 to reflect that image in our physical bodies also.  St. Paul's list of the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 can actually be seen in us, even by strangers:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  These belong to the Spirit of Christ, and they are called "fruits" because they grow in us only through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  No one of us can "give" himself love, or joy, or peace......This is the Gift of God given to us so that we begin to resemble His Son.

God's Workmanship

For we are God's workmanship, 

created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10).

When I think of "workmanship," I immediately think of those who do great work -- carpenters, painters (both artistic and mundane), repairmen, teachers, seamstresses, roofers, nurses and doctors, lab technicians, IT managers, and so forth.  How greatly we appreciate those who are careful and knowledgeable in their work!  And how frustrating it is to be at the mercy of shoddy workers!

Recently, our house phones were knocked out by a lightning strike in the neighborhood.  The phone/cable company sent out a worker who could not find the problem, and who finally said we would have to call the home security people.  The home security representative worked for several hours on the problem.  First, he discovered weak battery connectors.  Then he checked every connector in the house, even those we have never used.  Finally, he found the one connector that had been fried by the lightning strike.  And presto! Once again, the phones worked!

We tend to think of God as having finished His work on the 6th day of creation, and now He is eternally "resting," watching us work and judging how well we do our jobs.  But St. Paul tells us that not only are we God's "workmanship," but that we are His "field," His "building" (I Cor. 3:9).  Jesus was a carpenter; I think He is still at work, shoring up the broken-down areas of our lives, doing finishing work on the rough spots, and knocking down walls to expand the narrow spaces of our souls.  He continues to plant the seed of God's word, and to water it, cultivate it in our hearts and minds until it bears fruit.

God is a careful workman.  He does not give up on us because we are resistant to His efforts.  He is not careless in His work, but "perfects all that concerns us."  He has taken up all the causes of our lives, leaving nothing unfinished.  That is why we so much need purgatory to finish what could not be completed in this life.  He cannot allow us to enter the presence of the saints with simmering anger or resentment or deeply-held grudges against one another.  His lovingkindness must search out every last bit of the yeast of sin that remains in our hearts, so that we might be indeed a new creation, created in His Image and Likeness (Jesus Christ).

I am grateful that so great a Workman has taken up my case!  It is as if I had found the best doctor in the universe to diagnose and treat my illness.  It gives me so much hope to know that mine is not a hopeless case -- because God Himself is working on me, and what is impossible for man is possible for Him.

40 Years

Our God is not in a hurry.  He spent 40 years preparing the children of Israel to enter the Promised Land.

Our allotment is 70, or 80, if we are strong, according to the biblical span of years.

We grow impatient with ourselves and with one another.  St. Therese of Lisieux once remarked that the hardest thing for a child of God is to put up with our own failings. And yet, our patient God knew that it would take 40 years for the children of Israel to be ready to trust Him in an unknown land.

How long does it take for a fearful heart to grow calm and confident that God is with us?  I would say that it takes at least 40 years to begin to trust -- 40 years of seeing God work on our behalf, of knowing that time and time again, He has come to our rescue, that He has not left us alone in our sorrow and fears.

The purpose of our faith is not to make us "good people;" neither is it to earn us a place in heaven for all eternity.  The purpose of our faith journey is that we finally come to DEEPLY KNOW GOD!  This knowledge is personal, direct, and intimate -- far beyond the knowledge that comes from living a moral life.  When we have truly experienced that our God is "with us" for 40 years or more, we begin to praise and thank Him for His lovingkindness towards us.  At that point, we have become what Jesus called "True Worshippers in spirit and in truth" (John 4).

The advantage of "old age" is that we can finally look back over our lives and see for ourselves where God has helped us, where we have been led, though we could not see it at the time. And then we begin to praise Him, to thank Him from our hearts.  Now we know for ourselves Who Our God Is, and Who He has been for us all our lives.  And now for the first time, we begin to worship in spirit and in truth.

5 Loaves and 2 Fish

"You, yourselves, give them something to eat!"

How many times have I myself felt the total helplessness of the Apostles when I face the hunger of others, when I have nothing to give them.  And He says to me the impossible command: "Give them something to eat!"  Where, O Lord, will I get the bread I need to feed them?

What do you have at hand? He asks me.  Bring it to me, and I will bless it, and then I want you to hand it out freely.

I have nothing but a few pitiful words to give, but how many times have I been blessed and strengthened by the words of others --- I have seemingly randomly picked up just the right book at the right time and read words that have strengthened my soul.  And I have known that You are with me, that You Yourself have fed my hunger.

Here, O Lord, are my pitiful words.  Take them and give them to whoever can use them!  They are Yours.

Grief and Horror

Mass shootings in El Paso and Ackron, Ohio, have once again left this nation reeling in shock and grief.  What has happened to us?

I am instantly reminded of Jeremiah 9.  When Jesus told the women of Jerusalem who were weeping over him, "Weep not for me, but for yourselves and your children," He was referring to the forthcoming destruction of Jerusalem, but His words immediately recall also the words of the prophet:

Call for the wailing women to come: 
send for the most skillful of them.
Let them come quickly and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears 
and water streams from our eyelids.....

Now, O women, hear the word of the Lord;
open your ears to the words of his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.
Death has climbed in through our windows
and has entered our fortresses;
it has cut off the children from the streets
and the young men from the public squares.

Say, "This is what the Lord declares:

'The dead bodies of men will lie
like refuse on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.'"

If we want to know the reason for our grief, the Lord tells us:  It is because they have abandoned my law...They have not obeyed me or my law (Jer. 9:13).  We have desired to go our own way; we wanted to be a godless nation, following our own laws--- and so we have!  This is the result.  Now the NRA tells us we all need our own assault rifles for protection.  Where does it end?