Hide and Seek in the Garden (Re-post)

Hide and Seek in the Garden (Re-post)

John 20: 14 - 16 .... she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,^[a] “Rabbouni!” (which means Master). 


Above is the Biblical scene I meditate upon most while praying the first Glorious Mystery of the Rosary, The Resurrection. I favor this conversation between Mary Magdalene and our Risen Lord, because it illustrates how powerful the sound of one's name is when called by Jesus.

In the preceding verses we learn that M. Magdalene has already announced to Peter and John that the Body was missing. Not finding Jesus in the tomb, both Apostles return home to their hideouts. M. Magdalene, however, will not leave. She shall continue looking for Her Lord, seeking Him in the garden where she had left Him three days before.

M. Magdalene is distraught with the idea that someone could have carried Jesus' Body away and nothing will break her grief-filled preoccupation with finding her beloved Jesus. Jesus, Himself, compassionately approaches M. Magdalene and inquires why she is crying and for whom she is looking. Empathy & consolation is not what she seeks and therefore does not rest in her search to listen.

Though M. Magdalene addresses Jesus, she does not see Him for who He is...The Resurrection! She speaks with Jesus, yet does not hear His Voice. Once His humanity veiled His divinity from so many strangers. Now, His glory veils His humanity even from the closest of friends.
"Mary." 
Jesus names His creation! Suddenly, in that instant His creation knows Him! Only now, by the familiar call of her name is  Mary aware of Jesus. When Jesus pronounces, "Mary", the Word communicates the fullness of their relationship.  He is recognized and they are reunited! Only Jesus: Her Lord, could speak her name in a divine tone.....the sweet sound of God calling to attention and in His direction one of His own.

Jesus doesn't want to offer comfort, aid, and charity to His Mary Magdalene. His intention is to reveal Himself to one who seeks Him. Beginning here, here in a garden....in a garden, just where Adam played the first game of hide and seek with God...Jesus begins the " finding game" ANEW!

Happy are the poor!

“None were left among the people of the land except the poor.”     2 Kings 24:14

The line above immediately reminds me of the third beatitude as recorded in Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the land”. From the 24th chapter of 2 Kings (below is the reading in its entirety), we learn that Jerusalem was besieged by the King of Babylon. The King of Judah, his mother, his ministers, his army, and all those who worked for him were suddenly “deported” from their kingdom. All who held political power and/or economic security were forced to abandon everything and surrender. The poor, however, remained unmoved. They remained firmly planted in the land of their ancestors. They had nothing to abandon, nothing to surrender, and nothing to to fear.  No one could threaten the one thing that was provided them...abundant poverty.

 

I have heard many homilies encouraging the American Catholic to share his wealth with those who are less fortunate. On occasion the preacher may also reassure the wealthy that there is nothing wrong with having great material treasure; tagging on the warning," just don't be attached to it." (Unfortunately, what has lacked is instruction on how to exercise true detachment.) In my experience, there has been plenty of preaching about the poor, but little proclaiming of The Good News to the poor. Do our shepherds not notice the poor people sitting in the pews right beside the rich?  

 The Good News (to poor and soon-to-be poor alike), is that achieving holy poverty requires letting go of comforts, position and social esteem that could besiege our interior castle. It means ceasing our search for pleasures, security and reward so that our egos become disarmed and unable to conquer the the reign of Christ in our hearts. That Good News that tells us that they; the poor servants totally dependent on our Eternal King's fore-seeing goodness, are both free to love God alone; and, by abiding in His love, will remain unmoved by the empty promises of the world. 

Why do we not hear more of this happy news?  Why are we not told about how living free is granted only to the those captured by Christ's Love?  Is it assumed that poverty does not exist inside our churches? Is it thought that Holy Poverty is so difficult, that no soul could really love Jesus enough to abandon all and surrender to the Gospel (and do so with rejoicing)?

Though encouraged to be thankful and generous; we are rarely reminded of the call to become like the One who became poor for us. Would we be truly happy if all we had to offer Jesus was to love Him back in the one same poverty with which He loves us? His Poverty?

Can Holy Poverty be acquired by the disciple?  or is it Holy Poverty that makes one a disciple? (and fit for the Kingdom, I might add.)

Is spiritual poverty a gift to the disciple? Or is the disciple that gives himself over to Spirit of Poverty?

It is my prayer that I may go beyond counting my financial blessings. May I not be hesitant to accept fully what Christ meant when He proclaimed, "It is blessed to be poor!"  It is worth exploring this truth about Holy Poverty: there is a unique happy-gratitude, joy, and interior freedom possessed by those who do find the greatest treasure is in having nothing at all...having nothing that could steal you away from Jesus. 

May we remain happily unmoved in His poor Heart, forever.

Reading 1 2 Kgs 24:8-17 

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
His mother’s name was Nehushta,
daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
He did evil in the sight of the LORD,
just as his forebears had done.

At that time the officials of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
attacked Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
himself arrived at the city
while his servants were besieging it.
Then Jehoiachin, king of Judah, together with his mother,
his ministers, officers, and functionaries,
surrendered to the king of Babylon, who,
in the eighth year of his reign, took him captive.
And he carried off all the treasures
of the temple of the LORD and those of the palace,
and broke up all the gold utensils that Solomon, king of Israel,
had provided in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had foretold.
He deported all Jerusalem:
all the officers and men of the army, ten thousand in number,
and all the craftsmen and smiths.
None were left among the people of the land except the poor.
He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon,
and also led captive from Jerusalem to Babylon
the king’s mother and wives,
his functionaries, and the chief men of the land.
The king of Babylon also led captive to Babylon
all seven thousand men of the army,
and a thousand craftsmen and smiths,
all of them trained soldiers.
In place of Jehoiachin,
the king of Babylon appointed his uncle Mattaniah king,
and changed his name to Zedekiah.

" I was Thinking of You."

I have made it a habit to immediately pray for the priest who hears my confession. My most recent confession was heard by a priest I had never talked to before and may never talk to again.  Not wanting to divulge the personal content of our encounter, I will only add that this particular Reconciliation with my God, though very ordinary, included an answered prayer and spiritual condolences for which I had long waited. :) 

Placing my heart (spiritually), at the door of the Tabernacle I whispered my thanksgiving for such a sweet encounter with my Lord, through His priest. The Child Jesus responded , "I was thinking of that particular confession when I called him. I was thinking of you when I called Fr. __ (my pastor), too." 
All things are of Divine Providence. There are no coincidences. May we continue to Trust that we are just where Christ wants us. God knows how to put us in our place. :) 

Who do they say you are?

The Gospel of Luke
Chapter 9,18-24


Now it happened that as He was praying alone the disciples were with Him; and He asked them, "Who do the people say that I am?" And they answered, "John the Baptist; but others say Elijah; and others say, one of the old prophets has risen." And he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered, "The Christ of God." But He charged them and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
And He said to them all, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake, he will find it."


Ponderings:

• Does Jesus call Himself "The Son Man" to remind them of the promise God made to Adam to send a savior?
• When Jesus asks, "Who do you say that I am?" is He prompting them to consider who, once believing that Jesus is The Christ of God and follow...will make them....especially to the unbelieving world!

Jesus is the Christ of God and the Son of Man. As I prayerfully imagine myself in this scene I wonder if Jesus, Peter, and the others weren't praying together, for the first of many nights, in a garden. Could they be in the Garden of Gethsemane tonight?  It makes (beautiful) sense to me, that the first time Jesus prays with His Chosen Men as the revealed Christ could be in the very place that they would pray together for the last time as Jesus awaits His betrayal. Oh! And could this first confession of Peter; when he saw and proclaimed that Jesus will save and triumph, be in the same place that Adam confessed his fall and God saw Adam needed saving?


 It was from the soil of the Garden of Eden that God created His beloved man and breathed His life-giving love into His body. It makes sense to me that God would want to begin again where The Beginning began. Perhaps, Peter would boldly proclaim Jesus as The Christ in the same place Adam hid from God's beckoning.


Peter and the disciples know Jesus is the Christ of God and have been commanded not to share the divine knowledge they have been given. This revelation will change everything for Peter and the others. They have now entered into a new relationship with the Trinity.
I wonder if there wasn't a second, nonverbalized question asked by Jesus, "If You know and proclaim  that I am the Christ...who will people say YOU are?" I imagine Jesus gave them plenty of time to ponder the social consequences of being His friend and proclaiming that God the Father was ready to fulfill His ancient promise to those who would follow after Him.




To those who would answer the call the follow Him, he gave this prescription:


And He said to them all, "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake, he will find it."

Take This and Eat It

"Take and Eat; this is My Body", (Matthew 26:26)
"...whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." (John 6:51)

Genesis 3: 1 - 5 reads;

            Now the snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He asked the woman, "Did God really say, 'You shall not eat from any of the trees in the garden'?" The woman answered the snake; "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree there in the middle of the garden that God said, "You shall not eat it or even touch it, or else you will die.' But the snake said to the woman, "You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it you will be like the gods, who know good and evil." 

            11- 12 ".....(God asked Adam) Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat? The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with me -- she gave me the fruit from the tree, so I ate it"

I once noticed a parish priest, while praying the institution narrative (aka the "words of consecration"), in the Anamnesis (great prayer of remembrance) emphasize the THIS when speaking Jesus' instruction to,"Take this and eat it." This profound emphasis taught me that these words (and food they transubstantiate) of Truth and Life perpetually undo the lie that led Eve and Adam to death of body and soul.

Eve reasoned "that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it." (Gen. 3:6). She did not believe trust that eating the forbidden fruit would kill her. She did not understand that her disobedience would darken her search for a way back to God, make her children heirs to confusion and bring death into the world.  

Do we believe with trust that the perpetual Holy Sacrifice and its fruit; the taken and consumed Eucharistic food; illuminates the Way, generates the Truth and brings the world back to Life?

Hide and Seek in the Garden (Re-post)

John 20: 14 - 16 .... she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,^[a] “Rabbouni!” (which means Master). 


Above is the Biblical scene I meditate upon most while praying the first Glorious Mystery of the Rosary, The Resurrection. I favor this conversation between Mary Magdalene and our Risen Lord, because it illustrates how powerful the sound of one's name is when called by Jesus.

In the preceding verses we learn that M. Magdalene has already announced to Peter and John that the Body was missing. Not finding Jesus in the tomb, both Apostles return home to their hideouts. M. Magdalene, however, will not leave. She shall continue looking for Her Lord, seeking Him in the garden where she had left Him three days before.

M. Magdalene is distraught with the idea that someone could have carried Jesus' Body away and nothing will break her grief-filled preoccupation with finding her beloved Jesus. Jesus, Himself, compassionately approaches M. Magdalene and inquires why she is crying and for whom she is looking. Empathy & consolation is not what she seeks and therefore does not rest in her search to listen.

Though M. Magdalene addresses Jesus, she does not see Him for who He is...The Resurrection! She speaks with Jesus, yet does not hear His Voice. Once His humanity veiled His divinity from so many strangers. Now, His glory veils His humanity even from the closest of friends.
"Mary." 
Jesus names His creation! Suddenly, in that instant His creation knows Him! Only now, by the familiar call of her name is  Mary aware of Jesus. When Jesus pronounces, "Mary", the Word communicates the fullness of their relationship.  He is recognized and they are reunited! Only Jesus: Her Lord, could speak her name in a divine tone.....the sweet sound of God calling to attention and in His direction one of His own.

Jesus doesn't want to offer comfort, aid, and charity to His Mary Magdalene. His intention is to reveal Himself to one who seeks Him. Beginning here, here in a garden....in a garden, just where Adam played the first game of hide and seek with God...Jesus begins the " finding game" ANEW!


More on Adam, The New Gardener and the Garden of Eden another time........:)

John 15: 7 Abide in Me, and I in You.

Sacred Heart of Jesus
This is the picture that hung in my grandparents home, my parents and now mine. It was brought from Poland by my great-grandmother Margaret Pollick.

In prayer before the commencement of the Sunday Holy Sacrifice, through prayerful imagination I placed myself within the shelter of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the same moment, in the blink of God's eye, Jesus and I sat together in one heart. Awed, I realized we were not resting in His heart, but mine.  By stepping into the abode of Jesus' love, He entered my heart. And there was only room for two in the heart of this child. Servant and Master filled it completely.
I was reminded of that yesterday afternoon, my attention was pulled to the sky where I noticed the a cloud formation of a big heart and within it was a smaller heart. The small represented my broken, flawed, human heart longing to love with abandonment and beyound myself.
By seeking the divine protection of holy Trust in Jesus' teaching providence, I discover  my heart is found both hidden and revealed.
With an unspoken prayer to love generously all the souls surrounding me; my meditation drew a picture of the sword piecing His heart through into my own. By abiding in Him, both our  hearts are emptied down and out to the low world; a world hoping to be refreshed by Love. 

See my illustration below. (I doubt I'll ever be this childlike again. I am publishing with out second thoughts for the 1st time.)