PROMISE TO FULFILLMENT (2)

PROMISE TO FULFILLMENT (2)

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD!

Be in your prayer space, follow the usual steps and settle into silence.

Sit still…..Relax…….Do not rush………

Take a couple of gentle, slow and deep breaths…becoming aware of your breath going in and out… stay focused on this breath of life……

Settle into silence, into peacefulness, into profound silence, into pure joy. Keep listening in such quietness and serenity. Come to that place, that space within, that place of deep silence, Solitude, to just being here and now without having to accomplish something.

Now from the depth of your heart begin to wish your mind well……….

We have been meditating on cultivating a Lenten Spirituality – a spirituality of hope that finds its fulfillment in the risen Christ. In this meditation, we continue to meditate on nurturing this hope that finds fulfillment in Christ.

The opening message of Jesus was: “Reform your lives! The reign of God is at hand!” This is the good news…this is the Gospel….the presence of the reign of God, the ‘already’ and ‘not yet’ of Christian life. We do not know how or when all things will be transformed.

On our earth the Kingdom of God is already present in mystery: it is and it is not yet. It is the beyond that is within! One who is transformed by the Gospel values will come to know the “beyond that is within”. This is our hope.

As deformed by sin, violence and war, the shape of this world will pass away. We are offered the hope that God is preparing a new dwelling place and a new earth where justice and peace meet, embrace and abide……… and the blessedness that comes from this transformed world will surpass all the longings for peace which spring up in the human heart.

Our hope is not a passive waiting for things to happen. It calls forth continual conversion if we are to hasten our journey into the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice, love and peace. The ‘kingdom of heaven’ and ‘God’s reign’ reveal the dynamic relationship we have with God, which enables us to accomplish what God wills.

To be part of that reign means to enter into a process of continually experiencing conversion. John the Baptist and Jesus called for “repentance” and that is what conversion is…an ongoing, life-long conversion!

Abide in these thoughts for some time

A necessary and integral part of this continual conversion for the disciple of Jesus, in search of a more just and non-violent world, is the conversion from discouragement and the temptation to escape the suffering of the world to an enduring commitment based on hope. The temptation we often face is to give up the struggle totally, to stop reading the newspaper, to withdraw into a privatized spirituality.

This is not the spirituality of the Gospel of Jesus. The Beatitudes, which flow from the heart of the Gospel of Jesus, lead us to ‘creative insecurity’ or ‘dynamic insecurity’. If you are secure, you don’t need grace….you don’t need prayer…. you don’t need brothers and sisters… you don’t need the power of God. If the reign of God is to be ours, we must have hope.

Our hope is rooted in the unconditional love of God for each human being. God never gives up on anyone. God’s love is everlasting…..steadfast…..unconditional. Hope in the Old Testament is centered on people like Abraham and Sarah. The Old Testament breathes an atmosphere of hope throughout — dynamic expectation, not a passive desire or wish. Even Israel’s unfaithfulness did not hinder hope. The motive of hope is the past deeds of Yahweh, which gives confidence in God’s power to fulfill his promises.

In the New Testament, Jesus announces the arrival of the Kingdom, the reign of God, in the world. It is a future near at hand…..a future present in the present!!! The believer lives in hope. The concept of hope is most fully developed by St Paul, especially in his letter to the Romans. We boast of our hope for the glory of God. (See chapter 5) In hope we were saved. But hope is not hope if its object is seen; how is it possible for one to hope for what he sees? Hoping for what we cannot see means awaiting it with patient endurance. Rejoice in hope, be patient under trial, persevere in prayer. (See Ch. 8 & 12)

Jesus’ resurrection is our most radical sign of hope. It means that the power of sin and death has been overcome (1Corinthians15) and that we share in the freedom of the resurrection. We share in it as individuals and as a people.

Believing in the resurrection means making a commitment to live in hope despite the injustices that we are aware of, despite the acts of violence that we read about or, perhaps, have experienced.

Abide in these thoughts for some time 

Hope calls us to nurture a “resurrection” attitude. To maintain a resurrection-outlook, we need to be attentive to the ‘signs of hope’ in and around us………

There are many signs of hope in myself: the good that I am already doing, moments of integrity and self-sacrifice; conversion experiences I have been open to and undergone; the past deeds of God in my own life that have enabled me to do more than I ever imagined possible; memories of God lighting my way with periodic glimpses of his presence even in the desert times of my life…

There are many signs of hope in those around me, my family, Church community members, friends, colleagues: their faith and their persevering commitment to justice and peace despite the obstacles they encounter……….

There are many signs of hope in the world: stories of heroic men and women in one’s own country and elsewhere, people who embody the Beatitudes; the great outpouring of concern for the starving people all over the world……… people, trucks, planes and helicopters from various countries work together to organize food drops to isolated villages; liberation movements of oppressed peoples; the compassionate reaction of college students and many others to the plight of African peoples in South Africa to end apartheid. There are many stories of hope…… we need to look for them and be encouraged by them, in newspapers, magazines and on television…

So, look within and around….see signs of hope, capture images of hope….keep them in your heart….cherish them…let them bless you and challenge you to be men and women of hope…

There are many signs of hope in the Church: the extraordinary growth in the number of resource organizations for justice and peace; justice and peace commissions, centers and institutes, study programs and volunteer groups that have been developed in many Churches; the growing number of people who are dedicating some of their time to work among those who are materially poor; the number of religious orders that are taking seriously a preferential option for the poor……..

Rejoice in small victories and concentrate on the good already being done rather than continually lament the absences. This disposition leads us to hope and enables us to work for further change with perseverance.

It is important to realize how you are a sign of hope for others: by your faith-filled life, by your commitment to compassion and peace, by your joyful love and by your persevering dedication, to be a person of the Beatitudes in an ongoing, continual process of conversion, transformation.

In the biblical world one hopes for the future because one has already seen the creative event taking place in the past. We are empowered to hope for our personal future and for the future of our world because we have seen and are seeing creative events stimulated by the Spirit and carried out by our brothers and sisters, carried out by us and many others around us.

Hope is hearing the melody of the future. Living the Beatitudes in a spirit of hope is to sing and dance the song of the resurrection………to be people of the resurrection……to develop a “resurrection attitude”. It is to live in the reign of God.

May your Lenten spirituality be creative, constructive, optimistic, positive – hope-filled and may all your hopes find fulfillment in the risen Christ. May God bless you and your family and keep you safe in His Love.

Fr. Gus Tharappel,msfs