Don’t Cling On

‘Don’t cling onto to me’, the risen Jesus had said to Mary Magdalene. I have always found this strange, rather mean of Jesus to deny a woman, who obviously loved much, to touch him.She stood by him when the others abandoned him and she went to the tomb when the other dared not. So why then did Jesus deny her such an intimate moment with him?

It is all about clinging on to the past, I read from Richard Rohr’s reflection. Mary was trying to hold on to the Jesus she knew, but this risen Jesus is not about the past anymore. He is new life.

Jesus offers new life, new experiences in all situations But we continue to want to hold on to the past, especially past hurts and wounds. But how do we move forward if we are burdened by need to hold on to what we are used to. Our leaden past. Our need to remain ‘secure’ in our zones of false comfort.

Instead we need to keep moving. If we have experienced him, then we must be eager to move quickly. Others need to hear what we know.

When plans are changed

They say that the only constant is change. And I know that change is necessary for growth, and even for the possibility of new life stemming from new challenges and a journey through the unbeaten track. Unbeaten track for me, others have taken this path before. Some found life and others didn’t.

Right now I am being asked to leave what I thought was my path, for another. It is a change. A change right now I cannot process, simply because the world is so uncertain. And I am not even sure any plans can be materialised for now.

I have moved to unfamiliar places before and I have always taken the challenge. But this time, something has changed.

God’s wonderful world

This week’s readings remind us that we do live in a wonderful world. A world of life, and despite the sufferings that we encounter, we still can find beauty in the life that God gives us. The readings from Isaiah, Paul’s letter to the Romans and the parable of the sower from Matthew’s Gospel, employ images of nature to teach us to have hope. God’s blessing will not be deterred, Isaiah promises us. The Word of God, Jesus, came forth from God to nourish our lives. Once nourished by Jesus, we become fertile grounds for the blessings and goodness of God that are harvested for others. But the Gospel reminds us that our grounds are not always fertile. Sometimes they are rocky and full of thorns. Sometimes we get so distracted by things that are of no value that we do not even realise that we are not harvesting goodness anymore.

I approach this parable of Jesus with my own experience of having a ground that does not always allow the word of God to be planted and to grow. There have been many occasions when I allowed my ground to be barren, with my own insecurities and my lack of depth. When that happens, my prayer life becomes shallow, yielding nothing. And sin of course can push the word of God out. My communion with God risks being lost.

Paul, writing to the people of Rome, uses creation to explain something that is really worth our time to hold on to and to reflect deeply. We are part of creation that is sometimes disconnected to God. Sometimes we make choices that destroy relationships and creation. And that is not the original plan of God. This plan of God has been disrupted by sin, Disrupted by not deterred. For Paul, we do not focus on what is only temporary. Suffering and pain will give way to new life. And we feel that hope within us, within our bodies. Our yearnings, our longings and our desires are really for God and God alone. But when we get impatient, when we get distracted and take our eyes off our redemption, all our longings are turned towards everything that is ungodly.

So much hope is given to us in these readings. We are God’s fertile ground indeed. But if we ever find ourselves like a rocky ground, or like a ground with many thorns, and that our faith has been taken away by distractions, let us remember that we have the Spirit within us, as Paul encourages us to remember. And with this Spirit within us, we live in hope.

Finding

I am a conditioned Catholic. I have been conditioned to believe that there is only one way of practicing my faith. And that is often doing, rather than being. My childhood faith taught me that I had to meet conditions in order to access God. Unfortunately, even as an adult now, I sometimes feel that way. There are days when I don’t know how to talk to God because of the unworthiness that I feel. My language, my spirituality would fail me. My relationship with God is often one of searching endlessly for some answers or for peace within my soul. There have been many dark moments in my life when I felt that God and I were disconnected. I found it hard to to see God in the darkness and the sinful situations of my life. I run away from my darkness, finding solace in things that drag me further into confusion, forcing me to lose my identity as a child of God.

I need to enter into my darkness in order to find God there. Not run away from it. Face it and see that God does exist in the darkness of my life. I am not alone. I do not need to feel that God will only be with me and walk me through my darkness if I fulfil certain conditions. God is waiting for me. And I am comforted knowing that. No fear.

Christianity is a relationship, not a set of rules, pope says | CNS top stories

By Cindy Wooden  Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians must follow the Ten Commandments, of course, but Christianity is not about following rules, it is about having a relationship with Jesus, Pope Francis said. “A relationship with God, a relationship with Jesus is not a relationship of ‘things to do’ — ‘If I…
— Read on cnstopstories.com/2020/05/15/christianity-is-a-relationship-not-a-set-of-rules-pope-says/

Power in powerlessness

Is there such thing as power in powerlessness? Many people are facing such powerlessness in today’s pandemic situation. There is perhaps a sense of a loss of control. Plans have been derailed and there is a real anxiety about the future. While I cannot compare my situation with others who have more existential anxieties, I feel equally lost because I do not have my hands on the steering wheel. The vehicle is moving and I do not have any control over where it is going. Spiritual gurus like Richard Rohr OFM have come up with excellent writings that can certainly help us deal with this period and attain much spiritual growth. Ultimately it is our decision to make this work for us.

Today I heard the words from Matthew’s Gospel (6:34) “so don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today”. My religious life has never given me any reason to worry about food or a roof over my head. Sure, I had worries about whether my solemn vows and ordination would be approved or that I would not have a good working relationship with the other friars I worked with. But I never felt the impact of these words from scriptures. Until now. Live today. And I believe that that is the power that lies in being powerless. We decide that we are not going to worry about tomorrow when we have today to live for. And each day is different for each of us. For me, there is no point worrying about what path I will take. Let me live this day and treasure whatever it brings.

The power not to give in to despair but to keep on hoping that love and life will prevail. Jesus showed us that power when he stood before the powers of the world. He showed us that power when he stood before the darkness of hatred that had no love for life. He was powerless and yet powerful, because he chose to hope that love will prevail. God is our hope.

Where the head is, the body will be

Today we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. I admit, I have never quite understood this solemnity. The Resurrection of Jesus after all sums up everything. He defeated death and he rose again. That should be enough for us believers to hold on to as we make our pilgrimage here on earth. So why the Ascension? Do we need to know that he was taken up? Is he therefore no longer with us? The historical Jesus perhaps is no longer with us. But his body remains, not his physical body. But us, the body of the Church. So he remains with humanity. And we are asked to continue what he did during his last three years of his earthly life. The Ascension is therefore for me not about Jesus disappearing, but that he continues his life with us and in us. But, he has ascended to a place of total and absolute communion with God – a place of no pain, no tears and no fear. If we are indeed his body, then we will be there too. His body will be where he is. Except that we need to act like his body. A body that carries the scars of life, and yet remains hopeful because of Easter.

The Eucharist is an act of communion

So I have been thinking – I guess there is plenty of time for that these days – about how we have been celebrating the Eucharist. I do enjoy getting the benefits of a full, active and conscious participation of the people. When the clergy and the people do their parts well, it is really like a beautiful symphony, an orchestra that is without a single wrong note. Hence I often wonder why presiders would hijacked the role of the people, especially those presiders who love hearing their own voices. So the memorial acclamation for example, which is clearly the people’s part, has often been forcibly taken by the presiders when they bulldoze the entire acclamation without giving the people a chance even to start proclaiming it. They use that moment to show off their karaoke kills, drowning out the people’s voices by singing loudly into the microphone. Now that we have not been having any public masses, I hope that this is the best time for us to re think how we celebrate the Eucharist. It is an act of communion. But often, it can be only about the presider’s role, which over rides all other roles. We risk also making the Eucharist a time for personal sanctification, a ‘me and my God’ moment. The gathering for the Eucharist is about the community’s approach to the triune God, a community of love. If love does not exist in the community, then our celebration of the Eucharist is nothing but a parody of that one act of intense love and service – the Supper of the Lord.

Others are having it worse

I have heard these comforting words being said often these days. It is a way of comforting ourselves. And perhaps it is true. Many of us have roofs over our heads, some with personal garden spaces, we are spending time with our families, we have time to clear the cupboards out of old things and basically, we are not sick and we still have food. Yes, there is much to be grateful for. But I wonder if this is all relative. Having a roof over our heads, having food and the comfort of friends and family, do these really make us happier than others who do not have them? They make us safer and more comfortable, that is for sure. But this can also be a good time for us who are not overly anxious about many things to work on things in our lives that we didn’t have the time for. We may have avoided issues before by putting ourselves into our work as a form of escapism. So I can avoid my issue of loneliness by becoming very busy with my work. And now that things have slowed down, these issues are staring at us in our faces and saying ‘deal with us’. And because we are now staying home, we are forced to deal with them. Or are we? We can avoid them of course. Social media, Netflix binging and an obsessive cleaning of our homes, well, perhaps we are still avoiding. For me it is taking one issue at a time. I look at the things that I have been avoiding. I take the easier ones first. Then I start dealing with the harder ones. Self care. And God does give us a helping hand, if we ask for it. For me, I dream the issues that I have to deal with. Sure I do not have to worry about having a job tomorrow, or whether I will have money, or be anxious about my children’s future. But for me to be of value to others, I need to sort things out. And sorting out these things, and yes I don’t have an existential crisis, can be rather daunting. Because looking into the mirror can be difficult. Change is always difficult. But this is a good time for the inner journey to being.