"My Lord and My God!"

Thomas, called Didymus, has done all of us a great favor.  He could not accept the testimony of others, but needed to see for himself.  He needed to put his own finger into the side of Christ, and touch for himself the print of the nails.  "I will not believe unless...." he said.  And did Jesus get mad?  No.  "Come, Thomas, He said; "come and place your hand here and your finger here."

And Thomas believed when he touched for himself the Living Christ: "My Lord and My God!"

When I was younger, I used to wonder what "Grace" was, what "Faith" was.  I kind of knew, in a rational way, what the words meant; it's just that the words referred to some abstractions that I could not put my finger on.  I could not touch grace and faith; I could not put my hand on the experience, the definition, the "flesh" of these words.  I would hear people say we need faith, and I was trying to "believe" in what I heard, but how does one conjure up "belief" when doubt is uppermost?

Jesus rose from the dead?  "Give me a break," Thomas must have thought to himself.  "What have they been smoking?"  "I SAW them put His body in the tomb and roll the stone across the opening.  That I know!"  "What I don't know is what they saw when I wasn't with them."

"Come here, Thomas," says the Lord.  "Come, put your finger here.  Touch Me and believe!"  And the love which originally drew Thomas to Jesus caught flame once again.  Everything else had disappeared with the Crucifixion, but the love remained, and once more, the energy between Jesus and Thomas flowed between them.  What Peter had seen and experienced in the Person of Jesus some time previously, Thomas experienced in full measure now:  You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!

In New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton tries to explain his own concrete experience of faith--not unlike that of Thomas:

First of all, faith is not an emotion, not a feeling. 

 It is not a blind subconscious urge toward something vaguely supernatural. 

It is not simply an elemental need in man's spirit. 

 It is not a feeling that God exists. 

It is not a conviction that one is somehow saved or "justified" for no special reason except that one happens to feel that way. 

It is not something entirely interior and subjective,

with no reference to any external motive.

It is not just "soul force."

It is not something that bubbles up out of the recesses of your soul and fills you with an indefinable "sense" that everything is all right.

It is not something so purely yours that its content is incommunicable. 

 It is not some personal myth of your own that you cannot share with anyone else, and the objective validity of which does not matter either to you or God or anybody else....

 

[My note:  the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, for example, had to be objectively true,

not just a "feeling" or "sense" that that "must have been true."] 

 

[Continuing with Merton:]  Too often our notion of faith is falsified by our emphasis on the statements about God which faith believes, and by our forgetfulness of the fact that faith is a communion with God's own light and truth.  Actually, the statements, the propositions, which faith accepts on the divine authority are simply media through which one passes in order to reach the divine Truth.  Faith terminates not in a statement, not in a formula of words, but in God. [End of quote.]

 

Thomas could not accept the others' experience of encountering Jesus of Nazareth, whom he had seen die a horrible death.  His faith had to be a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus, the Jesus he had seen crucified.  And Jesus did not disappoint Thomas, as He will not disappoint us, either.  He did say, "Blessed are they who have not seen and yet who believe," but I don't think His words rule out a personal encounter with the Risen Lord.  That encounter may not take place in the flesh, with physical fingers and hands in the physical wounds of the Lord, but it can and will take place in a spiritual encounter.    On the road to Damascus, Paul saw a blinding Light, but he also encountered the Risen Lord. 

 

God will come to each of us at the most unexpected moment, but He will come. He will come through locked doors, if necessary, because He desires the communion with us that only "faith" -- a communion with God's own light and truth -- can bring to us.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



"Ah, Bright Wings!"

...in one moment,

the earth shook...

for the woman at the well,

and Teresa of Avila;

for Mary Magdalen,

and Thomas Aquinas.

For Peter, James, and John

at the Transfiguration.

 

"Let us build three tents here

and dwell in the glory."

 

"But first, the Son of Man

must be crucified

and so enter into His glory.

 

Tell no one

until He has risen from the dead."

 

But they did not understand

what He said.

Passion

Live Today with Passion!

 

One of my favorite coffee mugs bears the quote above.  It was given to me by one of my students, and so I love it even more for that reason.  It always reminds me first thing in the morning that God is not so much interested in our beliefs, but in our Passion.

 

Jesus took on our flesh to restore Passion to lives that had been burned out through abuse, suffering, discouragement, disillusionment, or rejection and abandonment.  The woman at the well, the lepers, the woman caught in adultery -- all had little or no hope left for real Passion.  They were existing, but not really tasting life to the fullest: "I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly," said Jesus, reflecting the deepest desire of the Father toward us.

,

The Prodigal Son evidently left home seeking adventure.  At home, he had everything except excitement.  He craved 'passion' in his life; he wanted 'something else,' so he set out to find whatever the world had to give him.  And he found what the world offered--abuse, indifference, hostility, "friendship" that was only revelry for the moment.  He found himself alone, in a pigsty, craving the food that his father's servants ate for free. 

 

When he returned to his father's house, he discovered the very thing he sought--passion.  From that day on, he could live his life with gratitude and thanksgiving for safety, for provision, for love and acceptance.  All these things previously had seemed routine, boring, without passion -- but now, he knew what it meant to live each day with joy.

 

Jesus said, "I have come to cast fire on the earth, and what would I but that it be kindled!"  The deepest desire of his heart was to share with us the fire that burned without cease in his bosom.  God wants children who burn with the fire of His own love, those whose spirits go out to all the earth to restore justice, to right wrongs, to heal the sick and sorrowing, to gather the homeless and to feed the hungry.  He wants children with His Spirit, with His Passion.

 

And it can happen!  Yesterday, I wrote that God is a "Verb," a word that expresses action or state of (dynamic) being.  We are not supposed to run out of energy because life beats us down every day, every moment.  The very etymology of the word 'enthusiasm' is 'en-Theos,' or "God within."  His Passion in us propels us forward with love and joy.  If people only knew the heart of God, the heart of Jesus Christ to restore ZOE, LIFE, ENERGY to a world that has gone dry, they would run to the Source of Living Water. 

 

If our "beliefs" do not fill our hearts with joy, if our cups do not run over on a daily basis, our religion is in vain, for we have not yet met the Living God Whose Passion fills the earth and the hearts of those who come to Him.

Gratitude

"God, it seems to me, is a Verb."

--Source Unknown

 

We, it seems to me, want to make God a Noun -- a Proper Noun, to be sure, with a capital letter, out of respect, but a Noun, nevertheless.  But He is not a Noun, that is, a Name that defines, that stands for something we know and understand, for something that can be boxed in and identified.  His Name is Yahweh:  I AM.

 

The bible is not only a record of God's unexpected action in history, but also a revelation of what He is doing now, at this moment, in our history.  What God "did," He "does."  He is the God of the living, not of the dead.  If we look to the Law, to the letter of the Law, and to our obedience, for righteousness, we are dead men; we must be at every moment "quickened" by the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, if we would know righteousness.  The word "quickened" has somewhat fallen out of use in modern English, but it is still a useful idea -- to raise up, to give life and movement, to move within.  There is nothing static, stale, stagnant about this concept.  "Quickened" water is not a pond, but a river of life; it is the "living" water which Jesus promised to all who come to Him.

 

I have a friend who says often, "When I feel the Spirit 'a-movin,' I feel afraid."  Of course, those are the words of an old Negro spiritual, but they express beautifully the quote above:  "God, it seems, to me, is a Verb."  He moves, He pulsates, He is not 'asleep,' but awake and aware and active.  Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is "living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  We would like to think of the Word of God as dead, as non-moving and non-active, something we can take or leave, or interpret as we will, according to our own intelligence and insight.  But the Word of God is a breathing, living, Person -- it judges us and interprets us, not the other way around.  We should be afraid when we feel the Spirit of God moving in us, around us, and through us, for we are sinful men, in the words of St. Peter.

 

But the fear is for a moment, until the Word speaks to us as it always does:  Be not afraid!  I have come to heal and to save, not to judge and destroy (cf. John 3:16).  The Word of God, Who is Jesus Christ, has come to reveal to us the face of a Father, One Who loves us beyond measure and Who knows how to speak to us and to deliver us from evil.  The poetry of Chiara Lubich, Founder of the Focolare,* is a powerful example of the living movement of the Spirit in us and toward us and for us:

 

Gratitude

 

I love you

not because I learned to tell you so,

not because my heart suggests these words to me,

not so much because faith

makes me believe that you are love,

not even for the sole reason that

you died for me.

 

I love you

because you entered into my life

more than the air in my lungs,

more than the blood in my veins.

You entered

where no one could enter

when no one could help me

every single time no one

could console me.

 

Each day I have spoken to you.

Each hour I have looked to you

and in your face

I read the answer,

in your words

the explanation,

in your love

the solution.

I love you

because for so many years

you have lived with me

and I

have lived of You.

I drank from your law

and I did not realize it.

 

I nourished myself on it,

gathered strength,

I was restored,

but I was unaware

like a child suckling at its mother's breast

but not yet knowing how to call her

with that sweet name. 

 

Let me be grateful

---at least a little---

in the time that is left to me

for the love

you have poured upon me

and that has compelled me

to tell you:

I love you.

 

How can we tell others of what God has done for us, in us, through us?  His breathing action must be in each one of us before we can know Him as "Verb," or action, rather than as "Noun," or Name. 

 

(*Focolare is a movement that includes people of all ages, races, and vocations who promote unity, reconciliation, and the spirit of love.)

 

 

 

 

 



The Seed of Truth

As you do not know the path of the wind,

or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,

so you cannot understand the work of God,

the Maker of all things (Ecc. 11:3).
***************************************
 

...He called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

His disciples asked him what this parable meant.  He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,

"though seeing, they may not see;

though hearing, they may not understand" (Is. 6:9).

 

This is the meaning of the parable:  The seed is the word of God.

Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they cannot believe and be saved.  Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.  They believe for a while, but in the time of testing, they fall away.  The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by life's worries, riches, and pleasures, and they do not mature.  But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop  (Luke 8:8-15)

****************************************************************************

 

I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.  But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth...the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you (Jn. 16: 12 & 15).

******************************************

 

When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me (Jn. 15: 26).

************************************************************

It is not enough for us to read the Bible--the Word of God-- and to assume that we can understand it. In fact, 1 Cor. 2:14 tells us that the "natural" man, or the "man without the Spirit" cannot understand the things of God unless they are given to him (revealed to him) by the Holy Spirit.  The "things of God," the mysteries of God, the Truth, is "foolishness" to the man without the Spirit. 

 

Scripture was written by inspiration, or breathing in, of the Holy Spirit, who alone knows the things of God and who alone reveals them to mankind.  The ways of God are not the ways of man, and His thoughts cannot be apprehended by the human mind alone....but they are given to us by the Spirit of Truth.

 

It is not that we cannot know truth; we can know it, but it must be "received," not "grabbed."  The difference is a relationship with the Holy Spirit, who willingly and generously wants to pour out on us everything that belongs to Jesus Christ, as soon as we are able to bear it.  In the passage above from Luke, the disciples asked Jesus to explain His words to them.  How many of us "ask" for explanation and understanding of the word of God?  To be a "disciple" means to be a student, one who wants to understand, one who asks questions and who perseveres in searching out the Truth.

 

If we cannot ask for help, if we cannot seek guidance and understanding from the Spirit of Jesus, who loves to teach us, there is not much chance of us knowing the Truth.  Jesus IS the Truth; the Spirit of Truth "goes out from the Father" and "testifies" about Jesus.  The role of the Holy Spirit is to make Jesus real to us, so that we know the Truth.  Anything else is like the shadows on the back wall of Plato's cave; it has the appearance of reality, but is only a shadow of the eternal and everlasting Truth of God.

 

"Hearing" the Word of God requires that Jesus open our ears just as He opened the ears of the deaf 2000 years ago.  Those of us who cannot ask will not receive and will go on their way thinking they understand, but they cannot retain the Word in their hearts.  A good place to begin is by slowly chewing and digesting the Scriptures above, reading them over and over until the seed begins to germinate in our hearts and minds and eventually produces a harvest of belief.  Jesus said, "Blessed is the one who hears the word of God and keeps it."  He said this of His mother, who allowed the seed planted by the word to grow in her heart, in her mind, and in her body, until it produced a rich harvest for mankind.

 







Conversation

All love begins in conversation.  If we have no communication with someone, it is impossible for us to love that person, except in some generic way:  I love all people because they are people.  But communion, spirit to spirit, results in a different kind of love-- a love that engenders laughter, comfort, and understanding.

That is why it is so important for us to know God as Person, rather than as some generic idea of "God," whatever that might mean to us.  For conversation can occur only between persons; there can be no communion -- Spirit to spirit -- between individuals and energy, for example.  And therefore, there can be no exchange of love, except between persons.

From the beginning, God has desired to communicate with us so that we know Him, not just know "about" Him.  He wants, no -- hungers -- for laughter, comfort, and understanding with us, spirit to Spirit.  Without that exchange of love, real love, I find it impossible to love my neighbor also, as we are commanded to do.  For it is God's love for me, and in me, that overflows to love of my neighbor.

The Bible is not a book of commands and rules so much as it is a book of stories.  It is a book of persons -- the Person of God meeting and greeting a person of man.  It is the stories of saints and sinners who met God "on their way" and "in their way:"  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, kings and prophets, men and women, even children like Samuel.  In the New Testament, He walks right up to people and says, "Follow Me;" even after He rises from the earth, He will continue to appear in light to individual men and women like Saul of Tarsus.  And always, He initiates the conversation that continues to the end of time and eternity.

God wants to communicate with us even more than we want to speak with Him.  He wants to warn us of danger, teach us what is good and holy, guide us into good paths, and make of us a blessing on the earth.  Eventually, every one of us will be either a blessing or a curse on this planet.  If we allow God to guide us, if we allow His Spirit to speak to us, and flow through us, we cannot help but be a blessing to those around us.  If we insist that we can do it without His guidance, His conversation with us, then our own energy, for good or for evil, is all that we have.

God's conversation with us blesses us: "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future..." (Jer. 29:11).  And it blesses others as well.  If we receive direction from the Lord and follow it, it always leads to joy and prosperity of our souls and bodies. 

God promised to lead the Israelites to a "land overflowing with milk and honey."  Will He promise us any less?  I think we can trust Him to do good for us always.  How do we begin the conversation?  If we desire to communicate with Him, it is because He has already begun to communicate with us.  All we need do is to open our hearts to listen, to dwell in His Presence to us, and the conversation begins.

In Praise of Wisdom

Every day for the past 35 years, I have used my favorite translation of the Bible--the New International Version.  At the time I bought it, it was the most accurate translation that also preserved the beauty of the Hebrew Bible in English prose and poetry.  (Recently, a Catholic writer bemoaned our "clunky" translations that fail to inspire beauty and wisdom in the mind of the reader.)

I will always be grateful to my husband, who picked up my bible off the floor before Katrina.  Though I had lived through many hurricanes in New Orleans, I had never experienced flooding as a result, so when I left Metairie for Long Beach, I left my beloved Bible on the floor beside my "prayer chair," thinking I would return in a couple of days.  When he came into the house after I was gone, he picked up things off the floor and lower shelves, thinking we might have flooding.  Amazing!

Anyway, despite my great love for my Protestant version of the Scriptures, I return again and again to my original Bible -- the Confraternity Edition of the old Douay-Rheims translation.  I think I may have had to buy this one as a college textbook, although I don't really remember how I acquired it.  Nevertheless, I am most grateful to own this beautiful Catholic translation also, because it contains the precious Wisdom books omitted in the Protestant Bible. 

The two versions of the Bible originate in the Greek Bible used by Jesus and the disciples.  During His lifetime, Greek was the international language; Hebrew was used by the Jewish scholars so they could read the ancient works -- just as is true today of both Jewish and Christian scholars.  But most of the non-scholars read Greek, even as they spoke Aramaic.  Both Jews and Romans conversed in the common language of Greek.  Before the birth of Jesus, 70 scholars in Alexandria, Egypt, translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek for the common man.  And that translation included the Wisdom Books, originally written in Greek 300-400 years before the time of Jesus.  So the "Septuagint," as it was called for the Seventy who translated it, became the common bible used by Jesus, the synagogues outlying Jerusalem, and eventually, the early Christian church -- which consisted of Jews and Gentiles, who would have known only Greek and nothing of the Hebrew language.

The New Testament, of course, written for the early church, was written in Greek so that all could understand it.  But after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, the Hebrew scholars met in Jamnia to determine the canon, or sacred text, to be used by the Jews, who at that time were scattered everywhere after the crushing blow by the Romans on Jerusalem.  Because the Greek text was so vital to the early Christian church, the Jewish rabbis determined that only books originally written in Hebrew would be included in their canon, even though they still considered the Wisdom books "inspirational" and worthy of reading for the Jewish people.  (There is even now a difference between books considered "inspired," or "breathed by God," and those considered "inspirational," or "moving and beautiful.")

The early church considered all of the books, both Hebrew and Greek, to be inspired, and they continued to use all of them in their liturgies.  When the Catholic Church defined their canon some 300-400 years after the time of the apostles, they accepted the Wisdom books as inspired.  However, at the time of the Protestant Reformation, with new access to the Hebrew canon and with the interest in ancient texts, the Reformers elected to embrace the Hebrew books only -- thus, the "Protestant" Bible.  Most modern Protestant translations now include the Greek/Wisdom books as the Apocrypha, or Deuterocanonical, Books, determining them to be "inspirational," as did the Hebrew scholars at Jamnia in 70 A.D.

Anyone who opens these Wisdom books and reads with thoughtful attention will know for himself whether these books are simply "inspirational" or truly inspired by the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of Wisdom coming from the mouth of the Most High, the One Who directed the writing of these books, will also illumine our minds and hearts as we read them.  For true Scripture is not only written at the direction of the Spirit, but is also read and understood under the anointing of the Spirit within us. 

Tomorrow: more on Wisdom itself.