Yesterday as I was walking with my two daughters from the car to the church for Mass I saw a small figure sitting on the pavement of the driveway with a sign in front of her saying "Homeless Vet. Please help." I saw eyes looking out from the blanket that was wrapped around this person meant for warmth and/or hiding. I groaned a little inside at what appeared to be a well maneuvered attempt to get money from Christians at the very doorway of their faith that would most certainly want for them to give alms to the poor and needy. It was a bold, and from what I could see by the way others were handing out money, and well calculated move.
You see...I worked with the homeless and poor for ten years. Many of them were veterans. In the hope of helping them alter the cycle of homelessness I worked directly with Veteran Service Officers and Homeless Veteran staff. Most of these professionals who were veterans themselves talked very openly against this type of attempt at getting quick aid because it was viewed as an undignified act for a person formerly in the military and an undignified act that presented the view that service providers were not helping or doing what was needed to help these individuals. In reality it usually was those individuals who did not want to change their lifestyle or who were severely mentally ill and were not thinking about "dignity" that were panhandling in this way. Whatever this situation was, though, it brought me back to the recognition of possible manipulations that in this case appeared to be very dramatic and successful.
A sin occurred during this Sunday walk from car to church. I didn't stop walking at least not until I was almost to the door. I saw this cold figure and kept walking on holding hands with my daughters. My mind started to race with memories and mental checklists. I hadn't worked with someone impoverished in this way for a long long time. For a few seconds I did not know what to do. Then, God's grace overcame my sin and jolted me into turning around and going back. I said "hello" and was greeted with a woman's toothless grin. Another parishioner who had been standing and staring at the figure handed her a $5 bill. I asked her why she wasn't at any of the shelters where she could be warm and she said they "were all full". I told her I had worked at the shelter and thought that it would be nice if she would let me take her there for a warm Sunday breakfast. She declined. I asked her what branch of the service she had been in and she said the "Navy". I told her that staff from the VA frequented the shelters and they would help her. She did not seemed surprised and still declined. I invited her to come into church and sit with us in Mass and she told me she was from Arizona and as an Indian could not enter the church. Like so many others before her I knew when the questions needed to cease so I told her that if she changed her mind, we would drive her to the shelter after Mass. She thanked me and I returned to my family and went into the church.
My heart was troubled. I didn't "feel" that I had handled things well and I was disappointed in myself that I almost walked on by. I asked God to open my heart and let me know if I was to stay worshiping Him or return to talk with this homeless woman. I didn't really get a sense of His direction but I had my daughter go and check to see if she was still there because I was going to go and re-engage her. She was gone, nowhere in sight. I was left with the memory that I hadn't even asked her her name. I didn't even tell her mine. Outside of Christ's house and I didn't even engage her as my sister in Christ. It was a very poor response on my part. I have become lax in my "seeing" and "hearing" and am in need of God's grace to stay focused on those around me who need me to be His comfort. It is a sin; a sin as cold and demeaning as any other sin. She wasn't at fault for my sin. It was me...quick, distracted, fragmented, disconnected, measuring need. God, please forgive me! and may this woman with her "yes ma'ams" forgive me for my inward groan at coming across her. She may not even have needed the money. She may be getting a pension. She may have a home. She may have a ride waiting to pick her up at 10 a.m. when Mass begins. The sin is mine because I did not even dignify her life by asking her her name!
Monday, March 24, 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Spiritual Healing For Women Within the Church
On Sunday, while at Mass, I found myself staring at the altar and wondering what it would be like if all women and girls attending were invited up the steps to its holy place as an attempt at healing the affects of the disconnect that has been purported over generations. I could feel within me the beginning sensations of a possible happiness; happiness to belong to a Church that truly believes in healing experiences, forgiveness, and the destruction of compartments. I do not belong to such a Church for women and girls continue to experience the suffering of separation and placement within the current order. This statement is not about "women priests"; this statement is about the actualized dignity of each female person within the Church created by God and having the life giving breath of the Holy Spirit within her. She is called to know this person and her beautiful gifts to be given to the Church and the world but is left with stunted choices that do not speak to the spirit within.
I know from experience that there are many convents where the sisters tend their altars and preach from their ambos to one another. I know from experience that there are many priests who have the desire to help heal this fraction within the Church but because they do not enter into dialogue with the women who could assist them, they do not know what to do. I know from my continued research that there are women who are writing daily about this necessary healing between the co-stewards of God's creation. I just can't seem to place my finger on the fear that is keeping so many eyes and ears of faith closed to the well-documented movement of the Spirit of God.
This morning in my reading I came across some information and writings by a woman theologian, Phoebe Palmer, who wrote in the the 19th century about women and finding their identity at the altar "She finds her life and her power to speak in surrendering to the Word of God." Now, how beautiful is that; how beautiful would it be to draw all of our senior women, who knew only distance from the altar unless they cleaned it, and draw them in to its holy placement while telling them "You, O Sister, belong here; you are a daughter of Christ whose identity as human woman comes from this place. Now, please tell me, what does your spirit tell you from within?"
Why, O Church, do you continue to teach one thing and practice another? As a mother I know this would cause chaos in my home. My children would be confused and ultimately angry or depressed that they would not be able to trust my reactions and my directions. They would see me as hypocritical and lose respect for me as their mother. Are their correlations here? This isn't rocket science; this is looking inward at Church and self and finding the truth of God within. We can do this and do this well so that "all will be well and all will be well".
Lord, if it be Your will, help us to get here soon so that Your Church may enter more fully into its fruitfulness and the song of a woman's heart will be one of joy and dancing. With lyre and harp she will go, her and her little ones, down from the altar and into the aisles, head held high and voice sweet with worship. She will be strengthened by Your witnessing to her identity as child of Yours. Her spirit will grow in the grace of Your Spirit and she will be strengthened in all ways to do Your will. Help her, O God; Help me, O my God, to do what I can to make this happen. AMEN.
I know from experience that there are many convents where the sisters tend their altars and preach from their ambos to one another. I know from experience that there are many priests who have the desire to help heal this fraction within the Church but because they do not enter into dialogue with the women who could assist them, they do not know what to do. I know from my continued research that there are women who are writing daily about this necessary healing between the co-stewards of God's creation. I just can't seem to place my finger on the fear that is keeping so many eyes and ears of faith closed to the well-documented movement of the Spirit of God.
This morning in my reading I came across some information and writings by a woman theologian, Phoebe Palmer, who wrote in the the 19th century about women and finding their identity at the altar "She finds her life and her power to speak in surrendering to the Word of God." Now, how beautiful is that; how beautiful would it be to draw all of our senior women, who knew only distance from the altar unless they cleaned it, and draw them in to its holy placement while telling them "You, O Sister, belong here; you are a daughter of Christ whose identity as human woman comes from this place. Now, please tell me, what does your spirit tell you from within?"
Why, O Church, do you continue to teach one thing and practice another? As a mother I know this would cause chaos in my home. My children would be confused and ultimately angry or depressed that they would not be able to trust my reactions and my directions. They would see me as hypocritical and lose respect for me as their mother. Are their correlations here? This isn't rocket science; this is looking inward at Church and self and finding the truth of God within. We can do this and do this well so that "all will be well and all will be well".
Lord, if it be Your will, help us to get here soon so that Your Church may enter more fully into its fruitfulness and the song of a woman's heart will be one of joy and dancing. With lyre and harp she will go, her and her little ones, down from the altar and into the aisles, head held high and voice sweet with worship. She will be strengthened by Your witnessing to her identity as child of Yours. Her spirit will grow in the grace of Your Spirit and she will be strengthened in all ways to do Your will. Help her, O God; Help me, O my God, to do what I can to make this happen. AMEN.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Which Spiritual Gift Should Be Exalted?
A few days ago I went to my daughter's school for parent/teacher conferences. As I was waiting for another parent to be finished I roamed the halls looking at art projects, a prayer corner, scientific symbols, etc. As I turned a corner I noticed a large colored poster listing the pictures and names of all of the priests of the diocese and the pictures of seminarians and the places where they are studying. I couldn't help but feel a little disconnected from them as my brothers in Christ. I began thinking of my own journey in my theological education and wondering how helpful it would have been for me to be noticed by my parish and the diocese as one following her calling by the Holy Spirit to study and write theology. I also thought about the four spiritual discernment students who have so couragiously faced the differences between their False Self and their Authentic Self and what sacrifices this has cost them. They, too, would certainly have benefitted from the prayerful support of the parish and the life affirming comments that their brothers and sisters in Christ could have greeted them with. They are lay leaders of the Church going forward into the uncertainty of faith and they do not even know how the Holy Spirit is using them to bring Him to the church and to the world.
So many of us are so used to being the "other" within our parish community that we do not even make note of it anymore. The body of Christ in which no spiritual gift is to be above another has created a hierarchical picture of what is important and has been so successful that the laity doesn't even question themselves about the gifts of the Spirit once it has been determined they are not being called to ordination or the religious life. This is an institutional manipulation of faithful that continues to create an atmosphere in which women and men are spiritually imprisoned and deprived of the wisdom of God.
In the 1990's Pope John Paul II apologized to women within the Church for the Church's role in denying them equality of dignity. What a wonderful thing to seek forgiveness but is it truly forgiveness that is sought when change is not expected and demanded. It reminds me of a political program that I watched one day where a homosexual speaker was talking about the need for laws changing because when left to "reason", homosexuals and others who have lived as different were not truly respected in their difference. They were still the "other".
The Church with all of its knowledge and all of its grace certainly should be able to move forward in the Spirit of Christ and open wide its doors to the different gifts that are being provided for the sake of Christ's mission. This should not be rocket science. So what is the problem here? Why are there posters with only pictures of men and the special callings that they have? Where are the women? Where are the laity? Why not a wall of faithful for the children to see as role models of faith? What is the fear here that still keeps us only affirming and celebrating a few? Do these deserve to be on this poster? Absolutely, yes. Do they deserve to be prayed for and assisted in faith and through the means of benefactors? Absolutely, yes. But so does every other person who going forth with "yes" on their lips. They need to be able to clarify their gifts and their vocations within the body of Christ or the body hurts as Scripture tells us; the Church hurts; the children hurt, and most of all of those who feel displaced and limited are hurt.
We, as the Church, need to change this. We need to be open to the Holy Spirit to speak up when opportunity comes. We need to write about our disagreement with this way of presenting our parish. We need to "see" and "hear" those who are struggling because of it. We cannot pass this on to someone else for if not us, then who? Amen.
So many of us are so used to being the "other" within our parish community that we do not even make note of it anymore. The body of Christ in which no spiritual gift is to be above another has created a hierarchical picture of what is important and has been so successful that the laity doesn't even question themselves about the gifts of the Spirit once it has been determined they are not being called to ordination or the religious life. This is an institutional manipulation of faithful that continues to create an atmosphere in which women and men are spiritually imprisoned and deprived of the wisdom of God.
In the 1990's Pope John Paul II apologized to women within the Church for the Church's role in denying them equality of dignity. What a wonderful thing to seek forgiveness but is it truly forgiveness that is sought when change is not expected and demanded. It reminds me of a political program that I watched one day where a homosexual speaker was talking about the need for laws changing because when left to "reason", homosexuals and others who have lived as different were not truly respected in their difference. They were still the "other".
The Church with all of its knowledge and all of its grace certainly should be able to move forward in the Spirit of Christ and open wide its doors to the different gifts that are being provided for the sake of Christ's mission. This should not be rocket science. So what is the problem here? Why are there posters with only pictures of men and the special callings that they have? Where are the women? Where are the laity? Why not a wall of faithful for the children to see as role models of faith? What is the fear here that still keeps us only affirming and celebrating a few? Do these deserve to be on this poster? Absolutely, yes. Do they deserve to be prayed for and assisted in faith and through the means of benefactors? Absolutely, yes. But so does every other person who going forth with "yes" on their lips. They need to be able to clarify their gifts and their vocations within the body of Christ or the body hurts as Scripture tells us; the Church hurts; the children hurt, and most of all of those who feel displaced and limited are hurt.
We, as the Church, need to change this. We need to be open to the Holy Spirit to speak up when opportunity comes. We need to write about our disagreement with this way of presenting our parish. We need to "see" and "hear" those who are struggling because of it. We cannot pass this on to someone else for if not us, then who? Amen.
Monday, March 3, 2014
It Is Just and Necessary
In her writing, “A Matter of Justice and Necessity, Women’s
Participation in the Catholic Church”, Mary Coloe PVRM presents a respectful
and educational introduction to the problem within the Catholic Church of women
being prevented from “truly being themselves”.
She begins by citing a letter written by Pope John Paul II where he
apologizes to all women for the part played by “members of the Church” in this “spiritual
impoverishment” and that this “regret be transformed on the part of the whole Church,
into a renewed commitment of fidelity to the Gospel vision.” What a beautiful and wise foundation to be
set for renewal within the Church. Ms.
Coloe goes on to write that despite Pope John Paul II’s prophetic words, there
has been little transformation that has taken place within the Church to bring
about “real equality” as “a matter of justice and necessity.”
I appreciated her article enough to have my 14-year-old daughter
read it so that she would be introduced to the historical writings of some affirmed
within the Church such as Tertullian, St. Ambrose, St. John Chrysostom, St.
Augustine, and Martin Luther who wrote words so disrespectful to the spirit of
women, relegating all of our sex to be used by males for higher ideals. I told
her that I felt it important that she begin to be aware of the “other side of
the story”, the “female experience”, that has not had opportunity within the
Church and within the world to be heard.
My hope and prayer is that she will see within her generation an
expectation, a demand for these stories of faith lived giving us God’s
revelation of Himself through the lens of His created female. I have to say that she was somewhat
distressed to discover that what she has been given so far within her faith
formation is so lacking in God’s justice; that the words told to her about love
and charity and God’s goodness have been so misconstrued within the body of her
faith community that it is almost unnoticeable until one comes face to face
with its injustice.
As I was reading Ms. Coloe’s article I wrote at the bottom of
one of the pages a question that summed up my own distress, “Would the
institutional Church truly acknowledge injustices within Herself and
spontaneously spring forth within Her spirit to express Christ’s compassionate
love and change what it is that needs changing?” My daughter answered my question for me when
she stated “Mom, you know the answer is “no” otherwise this article would not
have been written”. We then talked about
how hard it is to know that your Church is sinful in this way.
This sin that keeps girls, young women, mature women, and
elderly women from engaging their “true, authentic selves” in which the Spirit
of Christ touches their spirit with His gifts and vocations and stunts them
from being fully fruitful within the Church and the world is a sin against the
Spirit of God, Himself. It isn’t just a
question of right, or justice, or equality, it is a sin of creating an
impenetrable wall against the movement of the Holy Spirit. When we have recognition by our Holy Father
and we have his apology on behalf of the Church, Herself, then what do we call
it when it continues to exist? What do
we call this lack of noticeable transformation?
We have to ask the question “Why are women still knocking at the door of
the Church and not allowed or desired to come in and express their own spirit
within?” It cannot be called anything
less than sin and its continued existence within should cause us to go back and alter all of our ecumenical
writings that the Church has done in regards to its pursuit of truth within
difference. For truth is beckoning at
the door to be desired, not feared. The
Holy Spirit that moves one to live in a way that is counter cultural, in a way
that is leaven for the world, in a way that is a light upon a hilltop will also
show the Church, through the fullness of its members how to move forward in
penance for past and present wrongs.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Comment Diffiuclty
I think that I have finally fixed the difficulty with the "comment" section of this blog so please feel free to share your reflections.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
NO MORE SIN, MY BROTHERS!!
No more sin, my brothers! I write this and the words on the screen just lack the intensity of my emotion. NO MORE SIN, MY BROTHERS!! I scream this out to you with the fierceness that Christ, Himself, yelled to the moneylenders in the temple. STOP this sinfulness of lust and sex, lies and deception that has seeped into the house of our God. This house belongs to us women, your sisters, too, and His altar is our altar and you, as the powerful male leadership, have allowed our brothers to defile our families of faith and cause trauma to those beautiful children held up at their baptisms for all of us to claim as ours and those vulnerable adults whose trust led them into the backs of sanctuaries and broom closets. And, as if this was not enough, we are deluged with stories of coverups, payments, threats, legal stalling, etc. that continue to emerge even after the initial stories of abuses have faded; stories that carry with them the names of priests, bishops, archbishops, and all the way to the Vatican. This has to stop! We are not above the judgment of God that He has brought upon other cities before us. Yes, the Holy Spirit was given to us to guide us and be with us throughout the ages but never forget that all that is needed for this Church of His to continue is to have two or three gathered in His name and as Noah and Moses and Abraham and Mary all lived, a holy "yes" can carry its faith, its hope, and its love forward.
Last night I watched a Frontline documentary on the abuses of children and adults within the Catholic Church. I did not want to watch this. I had just happened upon this show while flipping through channels and within a few minutes of listening my emotions were jumping between feeling like throwing up, sadness, embarrassment, shame, etc. This is not the first time that I have listened to stories of rape and violence, for I worked with the homeless and poor for ten years, but it is the first time that I have listened to stories like the one where a young 8-year-old girl was raped on the floor of the church by the parish priest and had to wash the blood off of her legs with water from the Baptismal font. He has since died but she is left one among hundreds whose story has not found peace and healing within the Church; one among hundreds who, if fortunate, have found some priests and other pastoral people willing to meet with her regularly to lift her up and affirm her despite the ridiculing of other leadership.
The place of this attack was an intimate place for me for being Catholic all of the churches are our home, blessed and carried within them the Body of Christ in the Tabernacle that was probably only feet away from this mortally sinful attack. Her tears would have pooled on the marble where many of us walk to recieve Communion. I couldn't help but look at her and say out loud as one Catholic woman to another "I am so very sorry". When I watched as much as I could and then went to bed, the prayer that was on my lips was "Father, do You really want us to forgive these priests and the hierarchical system of clericalism that provides a breeding ground for these atrocities?"
This morning I remain saddened at what is happening within the Church that I have loved all my life but my thoughts remain with this woman and how I, as woman and mother, would have wanted to take her in my arms and try to soothe her pain away while scanning the horizon for the one who hurt her as a lioness watches out for her cubs. She spoke of how the priest told her after his vicious attack that "If she told anyone, no one would believe her and her parents would both burn in hell". She talked about how she had been raised in her faith formation to believe that the priestly vocation was the closest one could get to God in this human lifetime. I recognized those words from my youth and I am glad that I witnessed her saying them for I have struggled in my adult life with wondering about God's calling to me, a lay woman, and where in the world I fit among the "greater" callings. I know now that there is no greater calling than one who hears and follows with a holy "yes" and a pure heart. Her story, horrible as it is, has brought wisdom to me in the awareness that God has truly called me to be present within this Bride of His, the Catholic Church, to those who suffer and this is no less than the hands of those who stand at the altar.
In the course of my professional work sitting next to thousands whose life experiences have placed them on the periphery of the "normal" I came to understand that none of this takes place in a vacuum. When children are abused, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews are aware. When wives are beaten, friends and family know. When poverty strikes and a family begins to suffer, there are signs. We are communal and within this we share responsibility. Why? Because God gave us to each other as co-stewards of His creations. As co-steward this morning, I say no more! Your money changing table is being overturned. May all of us women who have stood on the sidelines for so long feel compeled to put on our "big girl" panties, step over that line in the sand and bring cleanliness back to this House of the Lord. We are His daughters and our daughters and sons are being harmed. We need to put a stop to this in the Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. If it means the end of clericalism, then let it die a quick death. If it means that women need to enter into all facets of leadership within the Catholic Church, then may the will of God be done. If it means that we must fight with a fierceness of faith like that of the lioness, then may St. Joan of Arc be at our side. But may God have mercy on our souls if we go one more day with this occurring right under our noses and we do nothing to assist the children and adults in our care. AMEN!
Last night I watched a Frontline documentary on the abuses of children and adults within the Catholic Church. I did not want to watch this. I had just happened upon this show while flipping through channels and within a few minutes of listening my emotions were jumping between feeling like throwing up, sadness, embarrassment, shame, etc. This is not the first time that I have listened to stories of rape and violence, for I worked with the homeless and poor for ten years, but it is the first time that I have listened to stories like the one where a young 8-year-old girl was raped on the floor of the church by the parish priest and had to wash the blood off of her legs with water from the Baptismal font. He has since died but she is left one among hundreds whose story has not found peace and healing within the Church; one among hundreds who, if fortunate, have found some priests and other pastoral people willing to meet with her regularly to lift her up and affirm her despite the ridiculing of other leadership.
The place of this attack was an intimate place for me for being Catholic all of the churches are our home, blessed and carried within them the Body of Christ in the Tabernacle that was probably only feet away from this mortally sinful attack. Her tears would have pooled on the marble where many of us walk to recieve Communion. I couldn't help but look at her and say out loud as one Catholic woman to another "I am so very sorry". When I watched as much as I could and then went to bed, the prayer that was on my lips was "Father, do You really want us to forgive these priests and the hierarchical system of clericalism that provides a breeding ground for these atrocities?"
This morning I remain saddened at what is happening within the Church that I have loved all my life but my thoughts remain with this woman and how I, as woman and mother, would have wanted to take her in my arms and try to soothe her pain away while scanning the horizon for the one who hurt her as a lioness watches out for her cubs. She spoke of how the priest told her after his vicious attack that "If she told anyone, no one would believe her and her parents would both burn in hell". She talked about how she had been raised in her faith formation to believe that the priestly vocation was the closest one could get to God in this human lifetime. I recognized those words from my youth and I am glad that I witnessed her saying them for I have struggled in my adult life with wondering about God's calling to me, a lay woman, and where in the world I fit among the "greater" callings. I know now that there is no greater calling than one who hears and follows with a holy "yes" and a pure heart. Her story, horrible as it is, has brought wisdom to me in the awareness that God has truly called me to be present within this Bride of His, the Catholic Church, to those who suffer and this is no less than the hands of those who stand at the altar.
In the course of my professional work sitting next to thousands whose life experiences have placed them on the periphery of the "normal" I came to understand that none of this takes place in a vacuum. When children are abused, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews are aware. When wives are beaten, friends and family know. When poverty strikes and a family begins to suffer, there are signs. We are communal and within this we share responsibility. Why? Because God gave us to each other as co-stewards of His creations. As co-steward this morning, I say no more! Your money changing table is being overturned. May all of us women who have stood on the sidelines for so long feel compeled to put on our "big girl" panties, step over that line in the sand and bring cleanliness back to this House of the Lord. We are His daughters and our daughters and sons are being harmed. We need to put a stop to this in the Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. If it means the end of clericalism, then let it die a quick death. If it means that women need to enter into all facets of leadership within the Catholic Church, then may the will of God be done. If it means that we must fight with a fierceness of faith like that of the lioness, then may St. Joan of Arc be at our side. But may God have mercy on our souls if we go one more day with this occurring right under our noses and we do nothing to assist the children and adults in our care. AMEN!
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
On Our Own Authority
Scripture, as quoted above, tells us that we are the only ones capable of clarifying the movement of our spirits. This is our authority, our diginity, that only we can explain fully from the knowledge of our selves in relationship to the Holy Spirit of God. No other human has the ability nor the knowledge to express in a most intimate way to us who we are, what our purpose is, and how it is that God loves us.
There have been many occasions within the Church and the world where those who have entered into a deeper revelation of themselves through their relationship with God have had to stand up for what it is that they knew to be the truth. Writers have recorded their speaking with an authority that appeared to be otherworldly. Jesus was one of those written about whose noticeable difference as prophet came from His depth of understanding of the Jewish people's covenant with God and subsequent law and the way He opened up this divine knowledge with authority as one "who was God". It is St. Paul in 1 Corinthians who expresses to all the faithful that we, too, have His same authority for our spirit within gifted to us through the grace of His Holy Spirit has the capability to enter into an awareness of our complete fruitfulness and reason for living.
So, how is it, that on so many occasions we allow others to diminish our authority and by doing so diminish our very selves and the worthiness we have of being alive and in relationship to God, others, and the world? How is it that we, as women, have allowed our very dignity to be distorted and compartmentalized so sufficiently that we have played a role in the enculturation of our daughters and granddaughters into this same imprisonment of spirit? Is it that we have been convinced that a woman's life is supposed to be filled with suffering and rejection for imperfections brought about by Eve's sin? Is it that we have been convinced that we are to sacrifice our very selves for the sake of all who appear to be in need of something from us? Is it that we have allowed ourselves to think that God loves us just a little less than the men whom He created for we are weaker? less knowledgeable? less powerful? I write these words and I cannot help but wonder how we have been able to take this authority of Christ and bury it for He has lifted up our worth and told us in His words that we are to "Love one another AS WE LOVE OURSELVES". He has told us to "Rise, go, and sin no more". He has loved us by teaching us that Mary, who placed herself at his feet to listen and to learn, was in the better place than the kitchen busy with work. He has opened His arms to us by lifting up and affirming His mother as first apostle, first woman, healer of Eve's wounds through her "yes" in the breath of wills. And here we stand in this most affluent of ages with our ability to know and instruct with all the authority and dignity that we have been given from God above and, instead, so many of us choose "tidbits" of ourselves to be shared frightengingly behind the smoke screen of social media. We have been blessed with the availability of reaching so many with so much graced knowledge of Him who loved us to His death and instead there are so many times that we focus on "selfies" and hope that others will find them worthy of the superficial relationship that they imply. How is this happening?
I suppose I can answer my own question through my theological knowledge of sin and satan's ability to address our imaginations. He, through his cunningness and subtle ways of using tidbits of truth, can bring to our minds images of pain and suffering and disempowerment and poverty and subsequently bring about feelings of dread and fear. What we have learned as Christians, though, is that there is nothing that he can truly do that will bring us further away from God. It is only us, through our decisions and actions, that bring us away from the One who relieves all fear and turns us back inwards to self knowledge and the discovery of His Spirit within desiring so much to be in deeper relationship with our own. Only then does our fear and despair diminish and we, once again, know the comfort of our loving God and the ceasing of all anguish.
With all this knowledge of the promises of God what shall we do with these opportunities to be in dialogue with one another such as e-mail, facebook, twitter, blogging, etc.? Ask God in your prayers today how He wants you to use these informational advancements for His glory? Ask Him what it is that He wants for you to share in your interactions today? Ask Him how you can use all of your powers and gifts to affect your experiences today with all of your created dignity and authority and then pray unceasingly for His protection and strength so that you may overcome the resistances and fears that you will surely encounter. Then, go out and serve the Lord as one more fully alive in the Spirit of God who knows and loves your very special spirit for He made you in His image and likeness. AMEN.
There have been many occasions within the Church and the world where those who have entered into a deeper revelation of themselves through their relationship with God have had to stand up for what it is that they knew to be the truth. Writers have recorded their speaking with an authority that appeared to be otherworldly. Jesus was one of those written about whose noticeable difference as prophet came from His depth of understanding of the Jewish people's covenant with God and subsequent law and the way He opened up this divine knowledge with authority as one "who was God". It is St. Paul in 1 Corinthians who expresses to all the faithful that we, too, have His same authority for our spirit within gifted to us through the grace of His Holy Spirit has the capability to enter into an awareness of our complete fruitfulness and reason for living.
So, how is it, that on so many occasions we allow others to diminish our authority and by doing so diminish our very selves and the worthiness we have of being alive and in relationship to God, others, and the world? How is it that we, as women, have allowed our very dignity to be distorted and compartmentalized so sufficiently that we have played a role in the enculturation of our daughters and granddaughters into this same imprisonment of spirit? Is it that we have been convinced that a woman's life is supposed to be filled with suffering and rejection for imperfections brought about by Eve's sin? Is it that we have been convinced that we are to sacrifice our very selves for the sake of all who appear to be in need of something from us? Is it that we have allowed ourselves to think that God loves us just a little less than the men whom He created for we are weaker? less knowledgeable? less powerful? I write these words and I cannot help but wonder how we have been able to take this authority of Christ and bury it for He has lifted up our worth and told us in His words that we are to "Love one another AS WE LOVE OURSELVES". He has told us to "Rise, go, and sin no more". He has loved us by teaching us that Mary, who placed herself at his feet to listen and to learn, was in the better place than the kitchen busy with work. He has opened His arms to us by lifting up and affirming His mother as first apostle, first woman, healer of Eve's wounds through her "yes" in the breath of wills. And here we stand in this most affluent of ages with our ability to know and instruct with all the authority and dignity that we have been given from God above and, instead, so many of us choose "tidbits" of ourselves to be shared frightengingly behind the smoke screen of social media. We have been blessed with the availability of reaching so many with so much graced knowledge of Him who loved us to His death and instead there are so many times that we focus on "selfies" and hope that others will find them worthy of the superficial relationship that they imply. How is this happening?
I suppose I can answer my own question through my theological knowledge of sin and satan's ability to address our imaginations. He, through his cunningness and subtle ways of using tidbits of truth, can bring to our minds images of pain and suffering and disempowerment and poverty and subsequently bring about feelings of dread and fear. What we have learned as Christians, though, is that there is nothing that he can truly do that will bring us further away from God. It is only us, through our decisions and actions, that bring us away from the One who relieves all fear and turns us back inwards to self knowledge and the discovery of His Spirit within desiring so much to be in deeper relationship with our own. Only then does our fear and despair diminish and we, once again, know the comfort of our loving God and the ceasing of all anguish.
With all this knowledge of the promises of God what shall we do with these opportunities to be in dialogue with one another such as e-mail, facebook, twitter, blogging, etc.? Ask God in your prayers today how He wants you to use these informational advancements for His glory? Ask Him what it is that He wants for you to share in your interactions today? Ask Him how you can use all of your powers and gifts to affect your experiences today with all of your created dignity and authority and then pray unceasingly for His protection and strength so that you may overcome the resistances and fears that you will surely encounter. Then, go out and serve the Lord as one more fully alive in the Spirit of God who knows and loves your very special spirit for He made you in His image and likeness. AMEN.
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