Archives for May 2017

The Solemnity of the Ascension of Christ is quickly approaching on the liturgical calendar. It arrives on Thursday of this week, forty days after Easter. This day is a joyful celebration of Jesus’ victory, although the joy is so often missed; many of us are tempted to feel a bit lonely, much like the apostles must have felt as they watched him disappear into the clouds. And yet we know that our Lord consoled his disciples with the words “I am with you always, until the end of the world” (Mt 28:20). A right understanding of this heavenly feast, then, requires a closer look at its meaning.

Pope Benedict XVI, in his book Dogma and Preaching, delivers a clear response to  the common misunderstanding of the spiritual significance of the Ascension. He reminds us that we, in our humanity, also enter into heaven; man now has a permanent home in God’s presence. And what’s more, he says,

Heaven is not a place beyond the stars, but something much greater, something that requires far more audacity to assert: Heaven means that man now has a place in God. …Christ, the man who is in God and eternally one with God, is at the same time God’s abiding openness to all human beings. Thus Jesus himself is what we call “heaven”; heaven is not a place but a person, the person of him in whom God and man are forever and inseparably one.  And we go to heaven and enter into heaven to the extent that we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him. In this sense, “ascension into heaven” can be something that takes place in our everyday lives.

As we enter spiritually into Christ, then, so too do we enter heaven. And as we are certain of the indwelling of Christ in our souls, we can now truly understand the Scripture, “The kingdom of heaven is within you” (Lk 17:21)!

 

The “Work of God” is one of several names used for the Divine Office, the official prayer of the Church. All consecrated men and women, whether priest or religious, celebrate the Work of God, and by doing so partake of the prayer of Christ to the Father on behalf of the world. This daily worship is comprised mainly of the recitation of the psalms, which sanctifies each day.

In the Thesaurus Liturgiae Operis Dei, the Work of God is described as “a prayer that transcends every other kind of prayer. It is distinguished from them all because its specific character is the celebration of the mystery of Christ. Like the Eucharist, with which it is intimately linked, the Work of God is not simply calling past events to mind; it is making present that saving history whose beginning, middle and end are Christ.”

Here at St. Scholastica Priory we pray the Divine Office seven times a day. It is our main work. In it we bring with us all of the intentions and needs of the world. We thank God for the gift of his creation. It is the monastic response to all things and circumstances in our lives because the psalms themselves are the human responses to all of life. In the psalms, we find all the emotions that we experience: anger, longing, hope, despair, joy and sorrow. We bring our humanity into this prayer every day, seven times a day, year after year. It is humanity and divinity coming together. Jesus is praying for the world and we join him in his uninterrupted prayer to the Father. This is a mystery that is incomprehensible, yet I think God gives us a glimpse of this mystery through the structure of the liturgy: every single day, regardless of how difficult the day is or how wonderful, how much the whole world suffers or how much it is rejoicing, we sing “Laudate Dominum” (praise the Lord). And we don’t just sing it once, but consecutively in three psalms (Pss. 148-150). We praise God, believing deep within that he is all in all and that the world is in his loving and merciful hands. “Let everything that lives and breathes give praise to the Lord” (Ps. 150)!

In the wake of the Centennial Anniversary of the first appearance of Our Lady at Fatima, the whole Catholic world (and hopefully beyond!) is aglow. The grace that God has given the world through this miraculous event flows on, touching believers today as much as it did one hundred years ago.

Some say that Mary’s appearances in recent years are irrelevant to their lives, that they don’t see a place for private revelation. Indeed, the Church does not require that any member believe in these extraordinary events; she leaves her people free to accept or reject the message of Fatima, as a reflection of God himself who so greatly values human freedom. Yet the Church herself embraces and promotes those apparitions she determines to be authentic. What, then, should we believe?

Someone recently asked the question: “Why does Our Lady always appear to children?” Well, perhaps she approaches them in order to act as a mother, which is her most prominent role in the history of salvation. It could also be that she finds the greatest faith in these little ones who are not inclined to question the validity of what they see. “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Mk 10:14).

The Church has confirmed the gift that God has given the world: a sign of his loving presence through his Mother. Let us then become children of this gift, children of God who embrace with joy and gratitude all that he bestows!

“The love of God sometimes follows paths one could never have imagined, but it always reaches those who are willing to be found.” These words of Pope Benedict XVI for the 50th World Day of Prayer for Vocations reveal that a vocation is a gift so great that it often reaches beyond our ordinary, self-made plans—a gift that requires an open heart in order to be received. Here Pope Benedict explains what is means to experience the beauty and fullness of a life with Christ:

“[Jesus] lives now among the community of disciples that is the Church, and still today calls people to follow him. The call can come at any moment. Today too, Jesus continues to say, ‘Come, follow me’ (Mk 10:21). Accepting his invitation means no longer choosing our own path.

Following him means immersing our own will in the will of Jesus, truly giving him priority, giving him pride of place in every area of our lives: in the family, at work, in our personal interests, in ourselves. It means handing over our very lives to Him, living in profound intimacy with Him, entering through Him into communion with the Father in the Holy Spirit, and consequently with our brothers and sisters. This communion of life with Jesus is the privileged “setting” in which we can experience hope and in which life will be full and free.”

In this college commencement season, young people are searching for a direction in life, looking for the next step. The possibilites seem endless, and yet, we often feel that there must be a “right path”. There is something deep within us that wants to believe there is a unique place in the world and a special role that only one person can fulfill. Is this just wishful thinking?

St. John Paul II was a strong believer in the “uniqueness and unrepeatability” of each human person. He knew that every soul was made by God to glorify him in a particular way. If we think there is a specific path for us, we are right! But while the thought of fulfilling an unrepeatable vocation might be exhilirating, it could also be anxiety provoking. “What if I miss it? What if I mess it up?”

The good news is this: God is always in control. Our part is only to follow his lead!  As St. Paul says, “All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Rom 8:14).  He leads us when we have a good intention and a seeking heart, even if it may be misguided.  After all, look at St. Augustine! He was often off the right track, but God was leading him nonetheless—even through the twists and turns—knowing that someday he would be a great saint. Therefore, we can listen to the words of St. John Paul in his message to the youth of Cordoba, Argentina: “Pray insistently to receive the needed clarity … then reply with a joyful yes!”