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Tag Archives: universal love

Deeper Knowing

23 Tuesday Apr 2019

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inner change, Jesus, John, Mary Magdalene, mission, recognize, renewal, resurrection, surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unconditional love, universal love

During this Easter season the lectionary readings are worthy of some serious pondering. That’s no surprise, given the events of the past week recounted in Scripture. Today (JN 20:11-18) we read a good example in two ways of how the passage through death has changed not only Jesus himself but also his relationship with his beloved disciple.

First, on the day of Christ’s Resurrection, Mary Magdalene, the faithful and well-loved companion of Jesus, encounters him near the tomb and thinks he is the gardener! How could she not recognize him??? I’m always reminded with this story of the day I didn’t recognize a priest who used to come often and help me with high school retreats. He had been on a year’s sabbatical during which he had studied spirituality for a semester, done a 30-day Ignatian retreat, lost some weight, shaved the mustache without which I had never seen him, and in addition sported a new “buzz cut” on his head. As he processed down the church aisle at a celebration for one of our Sisters, I wondered who he was. It was not until he began to speak that I knew him. I heard his voice and was shocked immediately into recognition. And he was also different inside – a softer, more humble and gracious “self” that could be felt to those who really saw the result of his “renewal.”

Secondly today, when Mary moves toward Jesus because he speaks her name with a tenderness that only love can express, he stops her (“Do not cling to me…”) and gives her a missionary task (“Go to my brothers and tell them…”). Evidently Christ’s”resurrection body” is somehow different; his journey through death changed him in some significant way both physically and spiritually. Surrendering everything he was then ready to manifest his divinity to the one who loved him faithfully. The relationship was deeper than a physical connection.When Mary realized her new role of messenger/missionary to her companions and to the world, she understood that her surrender was just beginning. Living from the heart had become her mission.

We would do well to contemplate these passages, these calls to unconditional and universal love presented to us today. What inner change must accompany such a shift in our life?

Epiphany Today

07 Sunday Jan 2018

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Christ, compassion, epiphany, essential meaning, experience, insight, intuitive, occurrence, perception, recognition, Revelation, success, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, universal love

aepiphanyI just read my post from yesterday to refresh my memory of what I said or didn’t say about Epiphany. As it happens, I think that post turned out to be a bit of an example of the meaning of the word. As celebrated in Christianity, the Epiphany is the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles represented by the Magi: a moment of great revelation. In a modern dictionary definition it is seen as “a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.”

I was talking yesterday about the possibility of overcoming fear through simple, commonplace practices of eating, walking and talking to a friend. It isn’t the practices themselves, however, that overcome the fear. It is rather our recognition of our ability to achieve success in those things that gives us new confidence in facing what frightens or stops us.

It is all well and good for us to celebrate the revelation of Jesus to the larger world 2000 years ago but that revelation is only “activated” in our day if something related to the event is triggered in our lives. If we consider the most important lessons we have learned from the life of Christ, which I believe to be universal love and compassion, it would seem that our job is to manifest the reality of those lessons in our daily lives.

What does love of neighbor mean in 2018? How are we able to practice compassion when we see a need – either spiritual or physical? It takes keeping our hearts open and, yes, “eating our vegetables” to push us beyond our limits – one step at a time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Zeal Quotient

25 Sunday Dec 2016

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Advent, Christmas, faith traditions, holy work, Isaiah, Jesus Christ, light, Nativity, Peace, Prince of Peace, universal love, zeal

anativityThe prophet Isaiah has had a lot to say during the season of Advent and today, when Christians celebrate the feast of the Nativity of Jesus the Christ, there are four different possibilities from the Roman Catholic lectionary for reflection on those prophecies. Whether from the vigil Mass, the Mass during the night, at dawn or during the day today, this prolific book of the Hebrew Scriptures is a call to attention, recognition and renewal in God’s love. My favorite is always IS 9:1-6, which speaks of the light seen by the people who have been walking in darkness. I should remember to read it more often for the sheer poetry of it. This morning two things stand out.

  1. For a child is born to us…They name him Wonder Counselor…Prince of Peace…I have received news of four new babies recently with names I had never or rarely heard before. I have saved the texts with pictures of these wise-looking beings shining out from my phone. I look at and share them often to the delight of everyone. They are unspoiled as yet by this world’s dangers and woes and it is my prayer that they will be instruments of peace and love as they grow.
  2. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this! Zeal is such an active word and although I am reminded by this last line of the quoted text that it is God’s work to bring the peace of Isaiah’s vision, it seems so contagious as to be irrepressible – flowing out to “infect” all those who catch its meaning. Here are some dictionary synonyms for the word zeal: passion, ardor, love, fervor, fire, avidity, devotion, enthusiasm, eagerness, keenness, appetite, relish, gusto, vigor, energy, intensity… How is it possible that those who experience God’s zeal for this world’s ongoing creation would be able to remain indifferent to the ongoing achievement of God’s task?

So on we go. Basking in whatever the celebrations of our faith traditions bring to us during this holiday season, may we be renewed in optimism and hope for our world and confident that we are equal to the task of peace and universal love if we are willing to join with all others in this holy and essential work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life Lessons

23 Tuesday Sep 2014

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Jesus, Luke, Mary, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unconditional love, universal love

maryjesusToday Luke’s gospel snippet (8:19-21) sounds as harsh as it is brief, but Scripture scholars interpret it differently. It’s the scene that takes place when Jesus is preaching to a large crowd and someone tells him that his mother and brothers are outside wanting to see him. In reply he says, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”

My guess is that if it happened this way, Mary wouldn’t be at all offended by this remark because she understood her place in the mission and life of Jesus and what he was trying to teach about universal and unconditional love. For Mary, ego held no place in their relationship; her “yes” to God early on was lived out each day and she taught Jesus to be that kind of person too.

 

 

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