The resurrection to which Easter calls us....

The old news about Easter is that it is about resurrection. The new news may be that it is not so much about the resurrection of Jesus as it is about our own. Unfortunately, we so often miss it. Jesus, you see, is already gone from one tomb. The only question now is whether or not we are willing to abandon our own, leave the old trappings behind and live in the light of Jesus, the Christ, whom the religious establishment persecuted and politicians condemned. It is the greatest question of them all in a world that practices religion as an act of private devotion and sees law and government as an arm of God.

The resurrection to which Easter calls us — our own — requires that we prepare to find God where God is by opening ourselves to the world around us with a listening ear. This means that we must be prepared to be surprised by God in strange places, in ways we never thought we’d see and through the words of those we never thought we’d hear.

We must allow others — even those whom we have till now refused to consider — to open our hearts to things we do not want to hear. We must release the voice of God in everyone, everywhere. It means
putting down the social phobias that protect us from one another. It requires that we clean out from
our vocabulary our contempt for “liberals,” our frustration for “radicals” and our disdain for
“conservatives.” It presumes that we will reach out to all others — to the gays and the immigrants and
other races, to the strangers, the prisoners and the poor — in order to divine what visions to see with
them, what cries to cry for them, what stones to move from the front of their graves.

That will, of course, involve listening to women for a change, seeing angels where strangers are,
emptying tombs, contending with Pharisees and walking to Emmaus with strangers crying, “Hosanna” all the way.

Easter is not simply a day of celebration: It is, as well, a day of decision. What is really to be decided is
whether or not we ourselves will rise from the deadening grip of this world’s burnt-out systems to the
light-giving time of God’s coming again, this time in us.

Then the Easter Alleluia is true: God is surely “with us.”

“Ideas in Passing” from Joan Chittister:  Easter 2010

http://www.benetvision.org/Ideas_In_Passing/04_05_10.html

Good Friday’s Reflection

Good Friday invites us to set aside our regular routines to enter a sacred time of quietness and reflection. Today beckons us to delve deeper into the depths of the unfathomable Paschal Mystery, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We are invited to see its sacred cycle inherent in the very pattern of our lives within our personal ups and downs. Our prayer seeks to draws us reverently into this mystery. The events of the Passion are an integrated segment of a whole: part of the unfolding mystery of God’s design. Thoughts can easily go awry if we too narrowly try to find the meaning of Jesus’ death apart from his ongoing incarnation and resurrection.

I propose that one might consider the writing style of Matthew, Mark and Luke akin to reporters of the daily news. Whereas, John’s approach more closely resembles the writing style of a documentary writer who wishes to convey to his audience a central message.

Sandra Schneider describes John’s central message in this manner:

“In the fourth gospel, events are not put forth in terms of sacrifice or retribution but in terms of self-gift: God so loved his own in the world that he laid down his life for them. Jesus’ self-gift was an act of friendship: “no longer do I call you servants…you I have called friends.” John’s gospel’s trilogy of –life, light, and love- captures [this] entire dynamic.”

In God’s unfolding design the Word became flesh and lived among us. Jesus graciously took upon himself all that human life entailed. Faithfulness to his mission and message brought him face to face with opposing forces. Opposition strong enough to demand a death sentence with capital punishment meted out in accordance with the methods of the day.   

We should not be too myopic in our view of Jesus’ death on the cross but see it in the context of Jesus’ whole life. Let us rather treasure the image of the crucified Jesus not as one defined moment, but as a sacrament of Jesus’ total life among us, Jesus’ fidelity to his mission without limiting the cost, and our example of a life of total self-gift.

Nancy Wales, CSJ

We Are God`s Tents

As I sit in my office awaiting a client, my attention is drawn to this picture on the wall before me. It was given to me as part of a >thank you’ gift at the conclusion of a weekend retreat. The givers of this gift will never know the depth of meaning this picture has for me.

It is a powerful reminder of a profound insight I received many years ago when I was studying Scripture. In the Book of Kings we read that AGod pitched God=s tent among us@ (1Kings 8) and as our professor stated, “and never took it up again”. The word used for God in this passage is “Shekina”- a feminine word for God. - the ONE who gives life to and dwells within each one of us. We carry Sacred Presence within us whether we know it or not. But what a gift it is when we are cognizant of this reality as we make our way along life`s path with its various twists and turns.

This Indwelling Presence of the Divine has become the heart and centre of my spiritual life, and the One to whom I turn when my ego suggests less loving reactions to the person(s) or situations before me. Shekina, thank you for your abiding Presence.

Doreen Kraemer CSJ

God and the Evolutionary World

Recently I had the opportunity to experience the Stratford, Ontario production of "Fiddler on the Roof." Teyve’s questionings “One time you pull out a prop and where does it stop?" reminds me of the huge change that is happening in our understanding of the universe, ourselves in that universe, and God. As these understandings change, we are challenged to align ourselves to look at life through a new lens. In embracing this evolving universe as revealed by science, it stands to reason that our theology of God is undergoing vast changes. We are no longer dealing with a static entity removed from our life experiences, but rather with a creative loving force that chose to manifest himself in the person of Jesus. Gone then is our preconceived notion of a God in the sky who orders all things rightly to be replaced by a God who is present in all of creation as all creation is present in God. (Panentheism is not pantheism)

Our oneness in God takes on unimaginable proportions when we put it into this perspective of God's insatiable desire to connect with us.

Joan Chittister in her interview with Michael Dowd "God and the Evolutionary World"  (transcript of audio in "Evolutionary Catholics" series) states that good theology is not so much now of giving pat answers but of asking questions.

If it is the nature of nature to change, then who is God now? What does my image of God have to do with how I live my life? What if I am no longer relating to a harsh judgmental God but one who continues to evolve in relationship to all of creation? What if my kind of God is now the one who wants fullness of life for me, for creation and not one who seeks to control the universe and rule in fear?

"The traditional notion of Creation was that everything on Earth had been created separately, uniquely, individually discretely.  Evolution says Creation emerges; it didn't come all finished." (Joan Chittister's interview).

This begs the question "Is creation still emerging?"

In an evolutionary theology, free will is key and we have a responsibility to be co-creators with God. In summary, Joan Chittister states." What I come out with at the end of evolutionary theology is growth versus perfectionism—a sense of ongoing creation instead of faith, participation in God's life, and God supports. God doesn't decide. God supports and stands by as we grow.....evolution is both the promise and possibility. It promises that we will keep on growing right up to the measure of the fullness of the spirit of God.  And my possibility is that I can participate. I can become a better self. I can participate in making a better world, and together we can all grow into God."

And so the answer to Teyve's question, "where does it stop when you pull out a prop," is, from an evolutionary lens, "The props are replaced by new and life-giving questions into which we are invited to live."