Novena to St Dominic - Day 2: The paradox of the Cross

Novena to St Dominic

31^st July 2018, Day 2

“For everything there is a season,

and a time for every matter under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; …

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; …

A time to mourn, and a time to dance; …

A time to love, and a time to hate …”  (Ecclesiastes, cf 3:1-9)                        

There is never, however,

a time to despair, and no matter how challenging or

God-less the time in which we find ourselves seems to be,

we are called at all times to be creatures of hope.

St Dominic’s time was not more desperate than ours, yet more than anything it could be said of him that he was a man of hope because of his amazing confidence in God and of his reverence for the length to which Christ went, in order to save us.

The paradox of the Cross:

A place of failure and of triumph;

A place of horror and also of indescribable love.

Pope St John Paul II frequently spoke and wrote of JESUS as the answer to all the questions man seeks an answer to, in order the better to know and understand himself and how to be human.

We could say that the shape of all the answers we seek, is the shape of the Cross.  … … … Difficult to gaze upon, and difficult to understand, and extremely difficult to reconcile with love – especially with divine love.  It is, nevertheless, the shape of all the answers we seek, and St Dominic knew and understood this so well, from the many hours he spent contemplating it. For the Cross is, among other things, also the shape of wisdom, which, when we put it on, becomes the shape of the freedom which is so essential to enabling us to be truly human.

To know that we are children of God is wisdom.  To have the courage to live according to this knowledge is holiness and a grace that we have only to ask for, to receive it. 

St Dominic embraced this truth all his life and lived it in union with the Lord whom he served so devotedly in his preaching and in his unceasing prayer.

The book of Ecclesiasticus encourages us with the following ‘thought’:

            “… wisdom is like her name, and is not manifest to many.

            … Put your feet into her fetters, and your neck into her collar.

            Put your shoulder under her and carry her, and do not fret under her bonds.

            Come to her with all your soul, and keep her ways with all your might.

            Search out and seek, and she will become known to you; and when you get hold of her, do

                                                                                                                                    not let her go.

            For at last, you will find the rest she gives, and she will be changes into joy for you.

            Then her fetters will become for you a strong protection, and her collar a glorious robe.

            Her yoke is a golden ornament, and he bonds are a cord of blue.

            You will wear her like a glorious robe, and put her on like a crown of gladness”

Cf Sir 6:22-31 (RSVCE).

This is the Cross Dominic wore: a Cross of wisdom and of truth; of triumph and of glory; a Cross of Divine power and love: the Cross of Christ.

Vocations Sunday

Happy Vocations Sunday!

Here we are again, thinking about

the Lord and how He draws people

like us – or people like you??? – to

desire to do as He did, Who laid

down His life for His sheep. 

So, today is ‘Vocations Sunday.’

Everyone knows what that means,

though admittedly sometimes hearing

people speak about their vocations as somehow feeling ‘called,’ can be a little perplexing, especially if you don’t quite know how to make sense of that kind of statement.

On the other hand, you might hear people speak of an experience of love that was overwhelming and irresistible. 

Against these statements, we encounter – and very frequently – people of tremendous knowledge and intelligence and rationality, for whom a ‘call’ is too fantastic and ridiculous to be credible.

Feelings come and go, and we know that we cannot root our identity in how we feel about things or people, or even ourselves.  There must be something more, something that can transcend even our emotions, so that we can depend on it and trust in it, somehow.

So what is the beauty of a vocation?  How can a ‘call’ be irresistible to all kinds of everyone?

I think the answer must be that when God is calling/ inviting someone to a religious vocation, He is inviting you to believe in His love not only on an emotional level, but fundamentally and lastingly on an intellectual level.  Like God who is Trinity, He appeals to our heart, mind, and will – the three are inter-dependent and complementary.  He knows us better than we know ourselves and it is only at His invitation that we can be ‘called.’

So, what is a vocation?

An invitation from the Lord of Love – from a Person to a person – a very particular call, which none but you can respond to.  And it is up to you to make the choice – He won’t force a decision, or you wouldn’t be free.

The question is, do you have the courage to explore the possibility, or even to dare to say yes???

5th Sunday of the Year

 

LIGHT for the World

... YOU!

 

This morning in all the readings at Holy Mass, we heard that the effect and the fruit of all our acts of charity is light.

And throughout the books of the Bible, we come across this idea or image of light as being always something by which we can see the truth, see in truth. 

Light and truth, then, go together ... and when we meet Jesus, at last, in the Gospels ... and when we are aware of His nearness to us in our own lives - we know that Light and Truth are a Person:

the One who is our God.

 

So, God who is Light, is also the Creator of all light, and in this morning's Gospel, Jesus said to His disciples:

 

"You are the light of the world ...

No one lights a lamp

to put it under a tub ..."

 

These words are very striking and powerful if we put God in the place of the "one" who "lights a lamp," because in doing so,

you see ...



 

YOU are the lamp He has lit - YOU are the light of the world ...  God did not 'light' you up so as to hide you under a tub!  God created you to shine, and to shine for everyone.

 

So, it seems that in a world where belief in God is not often highly regarded and is at times even scorned - for us who believe, Jesus is setting before us an invitation and a challenge. 

 

 

We are to believe fearlessly and unashamedly in the Light - Light that is Him, and also Him in us.  We have been so filled with Him that He cannot be contained in us.  He dares us to know, to believe and to accept, that despite all the sin and imperfections, He has made us to shine for His glory:

for His love embraces all our weakness

and fear and makes us to shine ever more

brightly,

offering to us and to everyone around us life, hope and divine love.

 

 

      

 May the LORD grant us to dare

     to do and to be

        goodness:

     in a world that seems

     overwhelmingly attracted

      to darkness and to death.

 

     May the Light who is Christ,

     the Light in us who is Christ,

    grant us to see the way of Truth

    and hold fast to His promise

     of light and life without end.





Something about JESUS

We’ve come out of Retreat (well, a week ago now) and I’ve noticed again how it happens that the sense that I haven’t even begun to know the Lord, is so strong. How do you meet Jesus, at that level or in that place where we most need to know Him, and to meet and be reached by Him?

The Sermon on the Mount (cf Mt 5) – I decided to start again at the ‘beginning’ and try and meet Him again. … ‘his fame spread throughout all Syria …’ (Mt 4:24); … ‘And great crowds followed him …’ (Mt 4:25) What would it have been like to have been one of the crowd? How did it happen that a person became one of the crowd: if they followed him not because they were sick or in need of any kind of healing? What was it about Him that drew so many people to Him?

It can be a lonely business, choosing God even when at the same time, on the other hand, it is a most wondrous and joy-filled experience – that moment when you say ‘yes’ to Jesus, because you just know that what He wants is not anything you can do or be, but purely and simply you. And He understands the loneliness: He’s in it too.

There’s something about Jesus.

There – on the ‘Mount’ – surrounded by the crowds of people, telling them who they are: building them up and encouraging them to keep reaching out for what it was they sought, that something that compelled them to go after Him. And He said:

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit …; those who mourn …; the meek …

those who hunger and thirst for righteousness …; the merciful …

the pure in heart …; the peacemakers …; the persecuted …

Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account …’

Someone in the crowd was there, because you had heard Jesus, or maybe only heard about Him – and it wasn’t easy to come. You came alone because when leaving home, you hadn’t been able to put words on this force within you, drawing you powerfully on. It was hard to leave, but not possible not to. If they could only see what you saw – down there where you now know how everything at last fits, everything matters immensely – Jesus seems to have all the answers: more than that …
He is the answer to everything.

You were expecting them, maybe, to be full of joy for you, or at least to be happy for you; and at times, instead, the reverse seems to be the reality. And then the questions and even doubt begin to chip away at the certainty. Maybe they’re right. You know what you’re walking away from, you belong there; there you are acceptable, loved, happy.
… But there’s something about Jesus. …

He has changed the colour of everything and now the only way to live is by going after Him, though only He knows the way, and you don’t even really know what lies ahead. … But you do … He it is. And He is there on the mount, looking at you: speaking to you – ‘Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you … rejoice and be glad …’

He can see into your soul, He knows exactly how you long to follow Him, and yet want to stay – He knows how agonising the choice can sometimes be (though there really isn’t a choice). But maybe, … just maybe, He wants to be the One you lean on; the One whom you turn to for support; the One who understands.
His loneliness is greater than yours, because it’s not really you who is misunderstood, sure it isn’t?

… It’s Him.