The Holy Spirit and the "Groaning" of Our Times

The wars that have intensified during this decade continue to escalate, widening the circle of those under imminent danger, and suggesting that the world is likely to face new perils and catastrophes in the near future. We will all have to face these burdens in some measure, on top of our own personal struggles, failures, frustration and grief. What prevents us from being overwhelmed by fear?

As Pentecost 2024 approaches, it is good once again to ponder prayerfully certain passages from Romans, chapter 8. There is much here that resonates with our own personal sufferings, as well as the sufferings in our world so full of desperation and violence and yet so immensely loved by God.

The Holy Spirit brings hope that transforms our own seemingly inexplicable sorrows into prayer. The Spirit is also at work—profoundly and mysteriously—in the midst of the often-confused, obscure, sometimes hesitant, sometimes ardent longings of people all over the world who seek the truth, who seek healing.

The truth remains that every human heart belongs to God.

Every human heart belongs to God, to the Father who lovingly creates and sustains the heart; to the Son—Jesus—who redeems the heart from sin and enters into the depths of every human burden and misery; to the Holy Spirit poured out as Gift of Love and the power to live as children of God, in abandonment to Infinite Mercy who holds us and carries us through all the agony and danger and terrors we might be called to endure in our lives, in this moment in history.

We must offer our “groaning within ourselves” in solidarity with all those who search for light in the darkness—a search that the Spirit awakens and sustains in the depths of their hearts. Thus we can share our hope for salvation, knowing that the same Spirit who works with us is calling and drawing every person. In the Spirit, our patience, our endurance, our sufferings will bear fruit in Jesus Christ, according to the wisdom and love of God.

“We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.

“In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit ­himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.”

~Romans 8:22-27

Shouts of Joy

“All peoples, clap your hands.

Cry to God with shouts of joy.”

~Psalm 47:2

Lying in this bed, letting my joints ache in the humid wet days of May 2024.

The News is full of conflict, and it's all been heard before and it's all passing away. "The love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10).

Everything changes. Everything is changing. The resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of a New Creation. Creation groans with eager longing. We groan inwardly as we await the redemption of our bodies. (see Romans 8:18-23)

So much groaning in travail, so much eager longing...

Come, Holy Spirit, transforming Fire, Light dispelling all darkness, Love ever greater.

Christina Grimmie: “People Grow Stronger, Little by Little”

“People aren’t born strong. People grow stronger little by little, encountering difficult situations, learning not to run from them” (Christina Grimmie).

I designed and posted this “meme” seven YEARS ago, according to Facebook. The impact of this young person on my life only grows with time.💚 And I know that I am far from alone in saying this.

The "Farewell Discourses": What Does Jesus Mean?

In recent weeks, the Gospel reading for the day has been taken from what are sometimes called the "farewell discourses" of Jesus in the Gospel of John, chapters 14, 15, and 16.

Many classic verses are found here. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (14:6). "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (14:9). "I am the vine; you are the branches... apart from me you can do nothing" (15:5). Then there are those words about His gift of His peace, and bearing abundant fruit, and exhortations to "abide in Him" and "keep His commands," and especially "this is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you" (15:12).

These "discourses" are a profound exchange between Jesus and the disciples. As is so often the case, however, the disciples don't understand. Jesus uses these great images that are familiar to us, but the disciples are confused. Jesus speaks of Himself, His Father, the Spirit, the world, and the disciples themselves, but they are not sure what He means by all of it.

When we read these texts, we are dazzled by their depth and inspired by all the often-heard themes. Still, perhaps we sympathize with the disciples in a certain way.

Maybe we have studied the Bible for years, but do we really "get it"?

"We do not know what he is talking about" (16:18) the disciples are saying near the end of chapter 16. Two thousand years later, we can still appreciate their perplexity. We too may wonder, "What is He talking about?"

We have the benefit of the apostolic witness to Jesus Christ after the resurrection and Pentecost, as well as the development of doctrine, the tradition and the Fathers, the teaching of Christ's Church, many good modern commentaries, and our own prayerful reading in the light of the Holy Spirit. These resources assist us, but the heart of the text remains an awesome and beautiful mystery, and it brings us more and more to a simple gaze full of silence, adoration, and love. We are drawn to "abide" in Him, and allow Him to dwell in us, with the Father and the Spirit.

Here is one of the powerful moments in the New Testament when we encounter the Infinite Mystery made flesh, the One whose presence is decisive for the destiny of every human person.

Within the narrative, however, the disciples remain confused.

But just then comes a moment in the text when the clouds seem to open for them. Jesus says something that strikes the disciples in a different way, that breaks through and appears clearly, even if only for a moment, in their minds and hearts.

Jesus says:

"I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God" (16:25-27).

And then He says a single verse that sounds like something He has already said many times. Yet this time it stands out; it seems to touch the disciples for the first time in all its richness. If we ponder it for awhile, we might be touched by it too. Jesus says:

"I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father" (16:28).

The hitherto bewildered disciples seem suddenly awakened by these words. Perhaps they don't know what they are saying, and yet they are impressed with a luminous certainty, as if they are standing before Jesus transfigured. They seem to be greatly consoled and enlightened. Suddenly they rejoice, and cry out with a newly found joy.

"His disciples said, 'Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God'" (16:29-30).

Perhaps we reach this point and wonder what we've missed. What did Jesus say that suddenly made it all clear?

I wonder if these words might indicate the very heart of the matter. The Eternal Mystery -- source and fulfillment of all things -- is the Holy Trinity, in which the Son is eternally generated by the Father. And the Father and the Son eternally breathe forth the Holy Spirit.  The Trinity is, of course, the transcendent, "super-dynamic" and "always" realization of the exchange and overflow of Love, a mystery that transcends words like "coming" and "going."

Yet this is why the Son of the Father has been made flesh. Jesus has come into the world above all to reveal and glorify the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the mystery of the God who is Eternal Love. "I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father."

Earlier in the discourse, Jesus told them, "If I do not go, the Advocate [the Spirit] will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you" (16:7). Now He appears to be synthesizing everything in a few words that refer to His "coming-from-the-Father" and His "going-[returning]-to-the-Father."

Perhaps these words open the hearts of the disciples to Jesus's relation to the Father in the Spirit. Perhaps they grasp for a moment His whole mission: He who is forever generated from the Father is sent by the Father into the world to "open up" the life of God so that those who adhere to Him might share that life through Him, so that they might be raised up into the Father's glory in the Holy Spirit.

The Voice and the Dove at Jesus's baptism. The luminous Glory of Tabor and the Voice again. Transfiguration. Infinite Love who is Father, Son, and Spirit, revealing His Trinitarian mystery and freely pouring forth His glory and His love and His mercy upon the world.

Is this what stirred the ardor of the disciples and drew forth for a moment their joyful affirmation of faith?

Still, in the "farewell discourses," Jesus knows that His coming-and-going has not yet reached its definitive moment. The Cross remains before Him:

Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!" (16:31-33)

Pope Francis: Jesus Calls Us His “Friends”

In his Wednesday homily for May 8, the Pope noted the importance of the fact that Jesus calls us “friends.”

I Feel Like a Soggy Worn-Out Stiff Wooden Plank

…with rusty nails still hammered into it.

Didn’t I say that I love this time of year? I do, but the transition from one season to another is glitchy, especially in Spring, when the temperatures and humidity can fluctuate from one day to the next. Lyme Disease has helped make my body into a pretty accurate meteorological instrument. I don’t know for sure why things are this way, but I still get periods of more intensive arthritic and myofascial pain, exhaustion, sensory overload, and brain fog. More intensive than my “baseline,” which is dodgy but tolerable in my slow-paced  life.

Inevitably, when this happens weather is involved. Cooler air, rain, and humidity came in yesterday and today I woke up stiff and soggy and too tired to read or even smile at anybody.

Ouch!

By the way, May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month. Many of our local people in the Valley have been through this whole mess, and are therefore already “aware,” even if they would prefer to forget.

But more on this another time.

“May-the-4th Be With You?” Alec Guinness Found Grace

“May the Fourth be with you.” This year the old joke makes me chuckle.

I am currently finishing up writing my monthly column for Magnificat on the story of Sir Alec Guinness (the actor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi and many other great roles on screen and stage). His real-life journey took him on a greater adventure than any of his movies. 

I have been working with lots of material from biographies, memoirs, and letters. It is a very moving story of grace and humanity. As is so often the case, my little two page column (coming up in the December 2024 issue) cannot do justice to the story of how Alec (and, soon after, his wife Merula) first found faith in Jesus, and then were drawn to the fullness of belonging to Jesus in His Catholic Church.

I am doing my best to shine a light on these “stories” of conversion, hoping to inspire others to continue and expand this work. Conversion is a miracle of supernatural grace, and it's something that happens to real and concrete human persons who live (or have lived) in specific moments in history. Only God knows all the mysterious interior details of anyone's "conversion story," but we can glimpse many "signs" on the path of a person's life that can inspire us and fill us with wonder and gratitude. 

I think it helps to point out more fully the particularity (and, indeed, the peculiarity) of every person called by the Lord (conversion doesn’t eliminate a person’s individual character but—on the contrary—renews and deepens it). It also helps to see the incredibly diverse circumstances that have led people to their encounters with Christ.

Jesus is at work all through the world, and He knows how to bring us to Himself. Writing these articles every month for a dozen years, I have chronicled a lot of conversions from every part of the world, from every period in history, and I have seen that God our Father loves each of us (and all of us) in ways beyond anything we can imagine. He seeks us and sends His Son Jesus to find us and bring our hearts near to Him. 

Whatever wretched unhappy condition we find ourselves in, God wants us to draw near to Him in our hearts. He loves us! His love will open our hearts and place within them the beginnings and the increase of our capacity to love Him and one another.

Conversion happens when people stay with the One whose Heart has woven the mystery of Infinite Love into the fabric of human history from within—inside history, inside relationships and communion. Our very freedom itself can be made whole, rejuvenated, changed. 

Stay with Him. Don’t run away and try to hide in the vortex of your own loneliness. Or, if you do run away, turn back and draw near to Him once again. Stay as close to Him as you can, with your heart. Inside that “staying” there is the beginning of a prayer fashioned by the Holy Spirit—God who creates and sustains your heart to love Him and be free—a prayer already rising up within you, a prayer that opens your heart if you permit it; and then the Lord can begin to heal and renew your heart.

Time is a mystery in all of this. It took a long time for Alec Guinness to “find” the fullness of Christ’s Catholic Church, just as it took time—sometimes a whole lifetime—for many others I have written about. Grace made paths for them to walk, and that grace was able to be effective because they stayed with Christ according to what they knew, according to what struck them and convinced them as they encountered His presence in their lives. They didn’t “go away.” They didn’t close themselves up to the working of the Spirit, or—at least—they didn’t remain closed. They allowed themselves to be “led onward” by what Newman called the “Kindly Light.”

Staying with Christ, asking, following. This is what makes for Conversion. It also deepens conversion and trust—and this is what we all need.

We are all “Great Conversion Stories” in the making. Lord, have mercy on us!

Saint Athanasius: The Grace of Easter “is Always Near…”

Today is the feast of Saint Athanasius (296-373), the fourth century’s unshakable “defender of orthodoxy.” During times of epochal change in the Greco-Roman world of Late Antiquity, and times of confusion and betrayal among Christians regarding the Arian heresy, Athanasius courageously upheld the truth of the Divinity of Son of God, who took our human nature in Jesus Christ for our salvation.

Athanasius endured many trials and persecutions during his long life, but was sustained by holding fast to Christ. His feast always comes during the Easter Season, which he particularly extolled. The Risen Jesus—Creator and Redeemer, conqueror of sin and death, Only Begotten Son of the Father, the Word made flesh, Lover and Savior of humankind—was Athanasius’s enduring joy. This joy “enlightened” his faith-filled mind and heart, because his “ardent desire” and “thirst” for Christ were greater than any fear of the sufferings brought upon him by the lies and manipulation of the Arian faction—even when its “rationalist” reductionism of the Gospel became the dominant ideology of the imperial power that tried to impose it by force on the Greco-Roman world. Athanasius never gave up. He brought his desire, his afflictions, and his thirst for truth and life to the Living One who alone could sustain him and fulfill him: Jesus Christ living in His Catholic Church.

Here is a quotation from the Festal Letters of Saint Athanasius:

“The time has arrived which brings to us a new beginning: the announcement of the blessed Pascha, in which the Lord was sacrificed. We eat, as it were, the food of life, and constantly thirsting we delight our souls at all times, as from a fountain, in His precious blood. For we continually and ardently desire; He stands ready for those who thirst; and for those who thirst there is the word of our Savior, of which, in His loving-kindness, He uttered on the day of the feast; 'If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink.' Nor was it then alone when anyone drew near to Him, that He cured his thirst; but whenever anyone seeks, there is free access for him to the Savior. For the grace of the feast is not limited to one time, nor does its splendid brilliancy decline; but it is always near, enlightening the minds of those who earnestly desire it” (Festal Letter 5).

It’s May 2024… Can You Believe It?

A “May Flower” for a warm sunny May Day.

…well, it’s “just a dandelion” but worthy of a moment’s attention.🙂