When Pope John Paul II took his final journey to his own death, he meditated upon the Stations of the Cross. In recalling Christ’s courageous act of dying, perhaps he found strength to face his own act of dying. As he took his last breath, his soul reached out from within him to our Lord Jesus Christ, who was forced to walk a miserable road to his death on a cross.
The Christian walk is a hard one. We ignore the fact that the world is temporary, and that the soul is eternal. With our backs to the Lord, we waste an awful lot of time on the fruits of this world. Our sinful state keeps us occupied on our humanness, rather than on the Lord dwelling within us, who made us and loves us. Some people go through their entire lives and never listen to that outcry from within them. Quite a few go to great lengths to block it out, and some even project onto others so they don’t have to face it. That outcry is their soul longing for The Lord, but trapped by a will which lacks true knowledge of itself. Our souls are inconsolable, except for the Lord.
A few months ago I provided music for a day of reflection. I love being a part of these events, because I learn so much. Fr. John discussed with us the saving power of our Lord as he walked his way of the Cross. He reminded us that it wasn’t just Christ’s death that saved us. It was how he lived his dying. We know the story—leaders saturated with pride sent Christ to his death, deaf to the voice within them, and refusing to see themselves for what they really were. All of that pain, hurt, betrayal, humiliation, the horror that is a crucifixion, went to the cross with Him, and he let it all die with Him. “Forgive them,” He said, “for they know not what they do.”
If our God is a just God, then His justice must be mercy.
Lord Almighty, Father of justice and mercy, help us overcome whatever obstacles that prevent us from wanting to know our true selves. Let us hear that voice within that longs for the Love and Peace that is You. In your great mercy, fill us with a desire to know ourselves as we truly are--as your creation, here to love and serve You, to love and serve each other. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
A Voice From Within
“…he who knows not himself cannot truly know me and my justice. Would you have me show you how much the world is in error concerning my mysteries? Then open the eye of your understanding and look at me.”
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6 comments:
Thank you for the wonderful reflection. Sometimes it really is hard to see the forest for the trees.....prayers
Thanks for reading! Yes, I for one get way to wound up in the pitfalls of this world.
gina, first of all, the quote at the beginning could be reflected on for an entire retreat. it is that powerful, yet that simple and true also...we are all so wraped up with what we want that we never even see what we had and threw away..... we are so afraid to see what is truely behind that mirror we look in to. perhaps that is part of the reason i am so terrified of masks, mimes, etc. because they appear to be one thing on the surface, but you cannot tell what lies underneath that mask. is it wonderful or is it horrific...the only dilema is that we must be willing to trust and be brave enough to look under our masks to see what we truely look like and are......does that make any sence to you????you know i sometimes can't say properly out loud what your contimplative stories produce inside of me.....this one was definately a "shivers" one. wonderful writing today...thankyou for sharing your "underneath" mask with us each day...you are certainly one very brave soul... love always, janet
Janet, as usual, your support and love just fills me up. I'm very blessed to have you in my life. What you comment here makes TOTAL sense. You took this to a logical point...when we are living for the world, we can't show our true selves, because we are always so afraid of not being accepted. That's the challenge we face as Christians--not being afraid to be ourselves completely.
Love you too, woman!
hi again gina, i just re-re-read your article and forgot to mention one thing about what i loved in it.....when you wrote about JESUS saying, so simply and quietly, "forgive them"....how many of us cannot even forgive being cut off on the freeway by another car, yet he was so quick to "forgive" our barbaric, torturous selves....i do pray to GOD that you are indeed correct. that GOD'S justice for all of us selfcentered, greedy, hateful people is indeed MERCY... i don't think anything less would ever cleanse us of ourselves!!!!!!! love always, janet
For sure...I've been listening to this CD of a mission talk on Confession by Fr. Larry Richards. I got you a copy-it's fantastic. Really opens up the eyes to just how much Jesus loves us! Love you!
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