Like St Paul, we must keep “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead” (Phil 3:13).   We have a tendency sometimes to examine our consciences or our pasts too closely, and then we risk becoming terrified that we are missing something, that we have done nothing pure in God’s sight, even that we need to confess again what we’ve already confessed because we see it more clearly now and it seems even worse than we thought; as if we need to explain every nuance of our sin before it can be fully forgiven, or that we will never move forward unless every scrap of the past is “cleaned up.”

But no. This is only a temptation to remain focused on ourselves and distract our attention from God, from His will, from His work. Because God truly does cast all our sins behind His back (Isaiah 38:17), so we should not keep running back and holding them before us again. He does not demand that our past remain our present; He calls us forward to walk in newness. He does not demand that we go back again and again to scrutinize every detail of our motivation and culpability in each sin; He tells us simply, “Go, and sin no more” (Jn 8:11).

We should simply go, and sin no more.

There is no room in a heart that has accepted the grace of forgiveness for looking back or trying to convince others (or herself) how horrible her sins have been; in embracing the gift of mercy, our hearts are too filled with grateful rejoicing in love. This gratitude and love spur us on to praise Him and joyfully serve others.

Looking back at the sins already forgiven, wondering if we are really free, only keeps us in bondage to them. This new “slavery to sin” (Jn 8:34) constricts our ability to move forward on the path to Him, to serve others for love of Him, to seek His Kingdom first. It keeps us small and crawling.

But He wants us to soar.The freedom offered to us is so complete that even the TRUTH about our past cannot obstruct the radiant Truth of now – right now, He is loving us; right now, He is saving us; right now, He is calling us into the light of His presence and into the peace of His Kingdom, where His Heart – human and divine- reigns with mercy eternally.

Right now, we must reject the temptation to look back.

Right now, we must ask for the grace to keep our eyes on HIM.
…………………………………………………… ………………..

I chose this for my Carmelite name: “of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” It’s all there. Everything we need to know, all that draws us, is contained in that wounded Heart, poured out for us. It encompasses the Incarnation, Mercy, the Eucharist, the whole of salvation history. I won’t wax poetic, or I’ll destroy what good sentiments you might have (some things are so sublime, words only crush them).

I want to remind you that this day is also the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. That was John Paul II’s doing, and a profound doing it is.

Because St Therese is one of my patrons (have I already said how it seems I should be a lot smarter, having been named after the only three women to be designated Doctors of the Church?!), I will share her prayer for today:

‘O Holy Father, may the torrents of love flowing from the sacred wounds of Thy Divine Son bring forth priests like unto the beloved disciple John who stood at the foot of the Cross; priests: who as a pledge of Thine own most tender love will lovingly give Thy Divine Son to the souls of men.

May Thy priests be faithful guardians of Thy Church, as John was of Mary, whom he received into his house. Taught by this loving Mother who suffered so much on Calvary, may they display a mother’s care and thoughtfulness towards Thy children. May they teach souls to enter into close union with Thee through Mary who, as the Gate of Heaven, is specially the guardian of the treasures of Thy Divine Heart.

Give us priests who are on fire, and who are true children of Mary, priests who will give Jesus to souls with the same tenderness and care with which Mary carried the Little Child of Bethlehem.

Mother of sorrows and of love, out of compassion for Thy beloved Son, open in our hearts deep wells of love, so that we may console Him and give Him a generation of priests formed in thy school and having all the tender thoughtfulness of thine own spotless love.’

Amen, my sister in Carmel.

Today, I cannot bear
the sky’s accessible glory
or its brilliant refraction of pure light,
drawing me from where I crawl,
upward, soaring,
eyes searching all that might yet be,
far from the dark law of gravity
that I must temporarily obey; burden of light
 

Yesterday, I could not see.
Today, Your bright wing has lifted me.

Cana’s drought of wine
     might abrupt the feast, and Your time is not yet come, but
     You are eager to give in full measure, pressed down,
              running over -
the water of our sustenance,
the water of our cleansing,
the water of our offering,
     becomes the richest wine,
                       the wine of celebration,
                        the wine of joy.
Because of the eagerness of Your love,
    Your time, which has not yet come -
           the glorious Feast, which is our eternal Wedding -
                    is NOW.

The Bridegroom is here.
Let us surrender with joy.

Every action appeared human, but because He is God, those actions could do what no merely human activity could do: reach the Throne of God, because they have infinite value. Only the actions of the God-Man could span the infinite chasm between God and man.

And because this Second Person of the Trinity became one of us (I think we have gotten so used to this stupendous fact that it fails to ring stupendous, too often), we have been given a new dignity, have been lifted up as God’s true children in Him. Sons in the Son. Our dignity and value comes from Him.

From the very beginning, from Adam and Eve, we have been trying to elevate ourselves to a false dignity. Adam and Eve reached for “godlikeness” by reaching for a fruit that promised knowledge. In Babylon, they built a tower to show how big they were. The pharaohs of Egypt were worshipped and their images reverenced. Ancient kings historically demanded this adoration by the masses, putting themselves in a divine position.

Modern times have seen a less obvious but even more pathetic self-aggrandizement, our insatiable need for affirmation turning some into tyrants and murdering megalomaniacs, others into sex objects or philanthropists who blow their own horns before them. There is every gradation in between. And “the masses,” who must adore something, often adore them. We build monuments to us, temples to us, proclaim “how great I art.”

But we are not gods and cannot become gods, no matter how much the devil promises us.

But God can become man!

In stupendous and stupefying condescension, in a perfect balance of justice and mercy capable only of Love Itself, God became one of us and lifted us higher than we could even aspire to be. Because He took on flesh, our flesh is glorified. Because He is one of us, one WITH us, we can participate in the very love-life of the Trinity Itself. We can share God’s life, share His sentiments, walk in His footsteps, love with His own Heart.

He is the Vine, we are the branches; He is the Head, we – the Church – are the Body. Our union, our identification with Him is so true and so complete that the risen Christ knocked Saul off his high horse and asked, “Saul, why do you persecute ME?” Not “My followers” or “my brethren,” but ME.  What is done to one member affects the whole body, including the Head. And no member of the body can act meaningfully or effectively unless directed by the Head (some part that acts out of control of the head is in need of healing!). We are so closely bound with Him that His own divine Life flows through us, animates us, courses through our bodies and souls, giving new value to all we do, making us one with Him and participating in His own activity.

In this mysterious union, we are loved by the Father in a new way. A father does not love only the head of his son, but every part. So by assimilating the whole human race to Himself, Christ has insured that as the Father loves and embraces Him in paternal love, He also loves and embraces all of us.

All of us, but not as a collective. All and each. Each one of us.

More on the Mystical Body soon….