Hills, Valleys and Rough Roads

 

"Make the rough ways smooth."

A friend sent me a refection on the readings for the 2nd Sunday of Advent by Louis J. Luzbetak SVD, of the Catholic Theological Union. In it he does a simple but striking job of creating similes out of the mountains, valleys, rough and crooked roads we hear in these readings. He writes:

"How do these images from Isaiah/Luke... invite us to reflect upon the implications of “preparing the way of the Lord” for us as Christian individuals and families during this time of Advent? What are the hills of self-centeredness and pride that need leveling and the deep valleys of depression, addictive patterns, and poor self-esteem that need to be acknowledged and filled? What are the rough ways of broken relationships, loss, and trauma due to COVID, that need to be smoothed out and healed?

"I suggest that we are invited to move from not only a personal and family level of reflection to include also the broader context of our society and church when we reflect on the implications of “preparing the way of the Lord.” Can we apply the “level ground” of Baruch to “creating a level playing field,” in our common language today? The past twenty months have made us more aware of the “age-old depths and gorges” of racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of prejudice from our “us-them” categories in our institutions, country and Church itself."

When we take the first steps in tackling these challenges, we are not acting alone. "The One who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion..." (Philippians 1:6)

Spiritual Reflection – World Day of the Poor 2021

 

Selection by Deacon Steve

“The poor, always and everywhere, evangelize us, because they enable us to discover in new ways the true face of the Father.

“They have much to teach us. Besides participating in the sensus fidei, they know the suffering Christ through their own sufferings. It is necessary that we all let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an invitation to recognize the salvific power of their lives and to place them at the centre of the Church’s journey. We are called to discover Christ in them, to lend them our voice in their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to understand them and to welcome the mysterious wisdom that God wants to communicate to us through them…what the Holy Spirit mobilizes is…above all an attentiveness that considers the other in a certain sense as one with ourselves.

“The poor are not people outside our communities, but brothers and sisters whose sufferings we should share, in an effort to alleviate their difficulties and marginalization, restore their lost dignity and ensure their necessary inclusion….acts of charity presuppose a giver and a receiver, whereas mutual sharing generates fraternity…mutual sharing is enduring…strengthens solidarity and lays the necessary foundations for achieving justice. In short, believers when they want to see Jesus in person and touch him with their hands, know where to turn. The poor are a sacrament of Christ; they represent his person and point to him.”

Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the Fifth World Day of the Poor, p. 2 & 3

The Desire for Charity

 

Reflection selection from Thomas Merton by Deacon Steve

The first thing we must do when we recognize the presence of God’s grace in our hearts is to desire more charity. The desire for love is itself a beginning of love, and from the moment we desire more we already have more: and our desire is itself the pledge of even more to come. This is because an efficacious desire to love God makes us turn away from everything that is opposed to God’s will.

It is by desiring to grow in love that we receive the Holy Spirit, and the thirst for more charity is the effect of this more abundant reception. 

The desire for charity is more than a blind hunger of the soul (although in certain circumstances it is very blind and very much of a hunger). It is clear sighted in the sense that the intelligence enlightened by the Holy Spirit turns to the Father and asks for an increase of love in the name of the Son. That is to say that the desire for charity in a mature Christian soul is a lucid, deep, peaceful, active, and supremely fruitful knowledge of the Holy Trinity.

Thomas Merton, “No Man is an Island” p. 180