Sinners, wranglers, and weaklings

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And what is our role in spreading the Good News and how are we to do it, we “sinners, wranglers, weaklings”?  Caryll Houselander, in her down-to-earth way, gives us hope.

The ultimate miracle of Divine Love is this, that the life of the Risen Lord is given to us to give to one another.  It is given to us through our human loves.  It is no violation of our simple human nature.  It is not something which must be cultivated through a lofty spirituality that only few could attain; it does not demand a way of life that is abnormal, or even unusual; it is not a specialized vocation.  It is to be lived at home, at work, in any place, any circumstances.  It is to be lived through our natural human relationships, through the people we know, the neighbors we see.  It is given to us, if we will take it, literally into our own hands to give.  It is the love of human lovers, of man and wife, of parent and child, of friend and friend.

It is through his Risen Life in us that Christ sends his love to the ends of the earth.  That is why instead of startling the world into trembling adoration by manifesting his glory, he sent the woman who had been a sinner to carry the ineffable secret, and sent the two disciples who had been bewildered by their blind inability to reconcile the Scripture and Calvary, and sent the friend who denied him, to give his love to the world, and to give it as simply as a whispered secret or a loaf of bread.  So is it that we, sinners, wranglers, weaklings, provided only that we love God, are sent to give the life of the Risen Christ to the whole world, through the daily bread of our human love.  “It is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.  Enough for you, that the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and you will receive strength from him; you are to be my witnesses in Jerusalem and throughout Judea, in Samaria, yes, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8).

The one who still burns the light of hope

Sr. Dorcee, belovedLeave a comment

{This is a repost . . .]

mary-pierced-heartHave you ever wondered why Saturday is traditionally observed as the day of Our Lady? A few years ago I was reading a book by John Saward (The Beauty of Holiness, the Holiness of Beauty), and, in a section about our Lady, he described Mary’s unfailing faith through the long, terrible day after Christ’s death when she alone kept faith in her Son.   I had never before heard of this mariological foundation for Saturday being traditionally her day:

The yes [her continued yes to the Lord that began with her Annunciation yes] of Our Lady does not end on Good Friday and [Christ’s] yielding of the spirit . . . . The faith and love of Our Lady last into Holy Saturday.  The dead body of the Son of God lies in the tomb, while His soul descends into Sheol, the Limbo of the Fathers.  Jesus goes down into the hideous kingdom of death to proclaim the power of the Cross and the coming victory of the Resurrection and to open Heaven’s gates to Adam and Eve and all the souls of the just.  The Apostles, hopeless and forlorn, know none of this.  “As yet,” St. John tells us, “they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise from the dead” (Jn 20.9).  In all Israel, is there no faith in Jesus?  On this silent Saturday, this terrible Shabbat, while the Jews’ true Messiah sleeps the sleep of death, who burns the lights of hope?  Is there no loyal remnant?  There is, and its name is Mary.  In the fortitude of faith, she keeps the Sabbath candles alight for her Son.  That is why Saturday, the sacred day of her physical brethren, is Our Lady’s weekly festival.  On the first Holy Saturday, in the person of Mary of  Nazareth, Israel now an unblemished bride, faces her hardest trial and, through the fortitude of the Holy Spirit, is triumphant.

I take great comfort in knowing that Mary always burns the light of hope for me (and you!) as well.

If today

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Sr. Dorcee, beloved's avatarWitnesses to Hope

“If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”

We have been praying that verse several times every morning during Lent.  In essence, it is a plea to not turn away when the Lord convicts us of sin.  But yesterday morning, the Lord broke into my thoughts as if to say: “What I most speak to you is My love.  Don’t harden your heart to it.”  When we think of the true meaning of sin, it is a breaking of our relationship with God–which, in fact, weakens our ability to know His love.  He only convicts in order to restore the relationship.  He so longs for full union with us, for each of us to know His love in its fullness.

So today, when the Lord nudges you with His love, don’t harden your heart.  Open it wide.

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Let it be done unto me

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Sr. Dorcee, beloved's avatarWitnesses to Hope

One of the best prayers my spiritual director ever taught me to say was Mary’s “Let it be done unto me according to your word.”  A very simple prayer, but absolutely life-changing.  The part that he particularly focussed on with me was the “Let it be done” part.  All I had to do was give God permission to do what He wanted to do, to let Him do it in me.  There are many, many times when I simply do not understand what He is about in my life.  (Now is one of them.)  I like to understand what God is about in my life.  The reality, however, is that I seldom have a real clue. With this prayer, I don’t need to understand.  I simply need to surrender to what He is about.   As long as He knows, that’s really all that is necessary.  He will guide me, even…

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Light in Darkness

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Light In Darkness

Author: Rónán Johnston

Light In Darkness

Depression, grief and unemployment: Having experience these hardships, Rónán Johnston shares how he found light in the midst of darkness and where we may find hope.

How often do things seem to be working out for us, when suddenly, out of the blue, some disaster, large or small, seems to put paid to our hopes and plans?

During my time, there have been a number of these experiences, such as the first time I was unemployed. One week, I was a national TV presenter, and the next I was collecting the dole. People pointed and whispered. In 2004, my mother died after contracting a post-operative hospital infection. Later in the noughties, the international economic downturn wiped us out for a decade.

Each disaster made us ask the questions: “Lord, are you really here? Do you still love us? Do you still have our best interests at heart?” In other words, just like in the Garden of Eden, the enemy has us wondering if God is true to His word.

It is, I fear, the human condition. We live in a “valley of tears” (Psalm 84:6), and yet we resolutely hang on to the idea that life should somehow be simple and straightforward. If we constantly run into opposition, there is surely something wrong with us.

Longing For Wholeness

However, is this viewpoint biblical? From the start, the Scriptures make it clear that life is difficult. We are told the man will labour (Genesis 3:19) and the woman will long for her husband (Genesis 3:16). This continues right through to Revelation when John sees a new heaven and earth (Revelation 21:1). Jesus promises us: “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5) We get the feeling that things are not quite as they should be in our world.

Each of us have a longing for the wholeness of Eden within us, like a great genetic imprint put into us by God. The motivational writers of the world rightly tell us that it is a sign we are made for more (true) and, in order to attain it, we simply need enough discipline and “want it enough” to follow through (false).

The scriptures, as well as the devotional writers, remind us that we will see Eden again. However, we need to learn that there is darkness in this valley, where we live and move and have our being. One of our principle needs must be to learn how to experience the redemptive light of Jesus in that darkness.

Hold Tight

How, then, can we see the light in the darkness? These three principles may help us:

1. Feel it. Allow the grief of the pain. Pretending to ourselves that everything will be okay, while secretly broken-hearted, is not the same thing as “giving thanks in all circumstances.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

2. Dig in to the promises of God. Find them-they are in there. For example:  I will never forget you (Isaiah 49:15); I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you (John 14:18); My God will supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19); Even if we are unfaithful, still he is faithful, because he cannot be untrue to himself (2Tim2:13). Learn them, inhale them and get them deep into you.

3. Hold tight! He is coming, and He will vindicate you. No pain lasts forever, and it will eventually come to an end. The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Having come through all things victorious, we develop resilience and build up trust. We press into Him, and we do not hide from Him during the most painful times.

  • Rónán Johnston is a psychotherapist, a writer of soundtrack for film, TV and theatre and a worship leader from Dublin, Ireland. Further information about his work can be found at http://www.ronanjohnston.com