What do we actually possess?

Every spring is an opportunity to review what is important in our lives and to empty out our closets. It may be that the lengthening of the days or the change in the way that the light is present to us that we are called to see things differently. This taking stock allows us to discover what truly brings us joy and what burdens we carry. This is not just about material things which can clutter up our lives but also those attitudes which hold us back. Fundamentally it calls us to reflect on what draws us to the light and what drives us away from that light? How are we called to live in the light of the Gospel and the dream that God has for us? This is not by making us in our own image and likeness but allowing God to mould us into what we are truly called to be. This is not solely our own work but our cooperation with God who seeks to create through us more than we can ask or imagine. It calls all of us to discover what truly brings life to us and our communities. 

Playing games with God

The Eucharist is at the centre of our lives who seek to enter into a relationship with Jesus. This is not just simply a matter of receiving him in communion but by becoming what we receive. This is not just a reward for the good but a way in which we are called to come alive in Jesus. His flesh and blood is called to course through our veins. This is where we can struggle to be ourselves. We often think that either we have to be someone else or that we are not worthy of such a gift. We can start to play games with God. We can try to hide from this gift, we can walk away from what is on offer or we can pretend that we do not need this gift. Even when we are present to God in the Eucharist we can tend to distance ourselves from what is offered to us. We tend to sit at the back of churches for fear that the relationship may become too real or too demanding. We arrive just in time and leave as soon as we can. Yet if our Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives it calls all people to a deepening relationship with God and each other. It calls us to see Jesus not only in ourselves but also those who seem to be far away from Christ. Eucharist changes the way we see life and how we are called to live. No longer is it centred solely on what we want but on what God desires for us: to be in communion with God and with each other.

What is God's dream for us?

How do we open our hearts to Jesus? One of the questions that I often wrestle with is how do I help Jesus to know me? There can be a tendency to work hard at doing the things that Jesus did but without a personal relationship with the person who is at the heart of the work. It is why our faith is sacramental, it engages both our bodies and our spirits. There is an importance in recognising that our work as Christians flows from this living relationship with Jesus. Too often we think that it is by working harder that we draw closer to Jesus. The truth is that it is when that we draw close to Jesus that our work has purpose and thinking.

This relationship is called to be intentional where we set aside regular times to be present to Jesus in prayer. This calls us to establish a routine where we join with each other at Mass but also discovering where we can present to Jesus in our own prayer time. There is also a call to act in a way which lives out of that prayer in way we are present to others and how our actions cooperate with the charism entrusted to us for the whole of the community. By discovering how God is present to us in our prayer and in our reflective action we discover where we find life. By living our lives to the full we discover a God who sustains us and works with us. The place where we are known by God and can cooperate with God’s dream for us.

God will wake you up not put you to sleep!

The Gospel is a living word which is called to wake us up not put us to sleep! We live in such a literate age that often reading can become solely a way of receiving information or opinions. The words become shifted and reshaped until they suit us rather than what the author intended. However, the living Word of Jesus is called to strike our hearts, wake us up and set us on fire with God’s dream for us rather than our dream for God. This can often be deeply disturbing because it stirs up old certainties on which we have relied to give us meaning. God does not want to limit our vision but expands it beyond ourselves. If our God is there solely to make us comfortable, peaceful and relaxed we will cocoon ourselves in our own private world. Yet God calls us persistently and insistently into a relationship which is great than our own needs to discover a deeper longing which cannot be bought and sold.

In our own world, we can often rely on things that substitute for this living relationship with God. We can start to manufacture our own idols which we worship but leave us feeling empty and alone. God does not want us to experience this destitution or poverty of heart but to discover what truly brings life to our world. We have never been abandoned by God but he does want us to wake up from our own dreams and to live his dream for us.

Like a thief in the night

At times we can become fearful of people breaking into our homes. Initially, we put locks on the doors, then alarms and finally maybe even video cameras. We want to ensure that what we own is not taken from us and that we want to make sure that our life is secure. However, we are aware that in many cases these are only deterrents. If a person is determined enough they will find a way in. This sense of invasion can bring with it a sense not only of intrusion but also that the place we call home has been violated by the presence of another.

Yet this is the image that the Gospel presents to us. That God will come like a thief in the night and break in at a time not of our own planning. This sense of intrusion into the normal events of daily life can deeply disturb and unsettle us. It may be something that we had not planned to happen and at times we feel incredibly vulnerable. Yet the Gospel calls us to stay awake and alert to these times when God may break through our hard built defences. This is an intrusion which is not called to rob us of something but rather to show how much we are loved and known by God. The preparation for these times is not difficult. We need to be people of prayer who listen for his voice. In our prayers, in scripture and in our daily life. By sitting and waiting on the Lord we become more awake and aware of how God may already be present. The places where God has taken residence in the home of our hearts.