Come Away By Yourselves

St. Josemaria described the potential of lay holiness in an interesting way.  He said all Christians can and should be "contemplatives in the middle of the world."  Holy Scripture and Church teaching reaffirm this high ideal.  The Christian is intimately united, indeed identified, with Christ himself.  

Sacred Scripture teaches us some clear lessons about Christ's suffering.  His passion was redemptive and meaningful.  It was freely chosen and accepted.  It was all an act of divine and human love for us and for the Father.  As Christians, Christ invites us to give the same meaning to our sufferings.  This invitation is a tremendous act of confidence in us and in our capacity to love as he did.  

The Assumption of Mary is a very special Feast in the Church.  To gaze on Our Lady in Heaven is to contemplate something very beautiful and important.  The marvel of her glorification speaks to us of the surpassing beauty of goodness and holiness as such.  Our Mother's destiny in heaven and her eternal glorification is a revelation of our own future as Christians called to holiness and everlasting life. 

Gratitude is a very important Christian disposition.  God appreciates gratitude, as we all do.  One of the four basic acts of prayer, gratitude should be a constant state of mind and heart.  In addition to pleasing God, it also brings the soul joy and peace.  

This Sunday's readings show as God as a generous provider.  In the book of Isaiah, God invites the people to come to him for their food and drink.  In the Gospel, Jesus feeds the crowds with the miraculous multiplication of loaves and fish.  God's providence is something we are called to place great trust in, especially when times are hard. 

"He who loves his life will lose it, he who loses his life for my sake will find it."  Finding our true life, and our true selves, means handing ourselves over to Christ.  Losing our lives for the sake of Christ is a transformative union with him.  This takes work and an acceptance of suffering.  There is no resurrection of ourselves in Christ without the cross.

https://comeawaybyyourselves.com 

Jesus doesn't just have compassion on others, he discovers motives for his compassion.  Understanding others is an essential ingredient in loving them.  This takes humility, patience, and the rejection of an evil, critical spirit.  

Jesus' victory over sin is a great cause of joy in heaven and on earth.  This victory only happens, however, insofar as sin is recognized and repented of.  Paradoxically, therefore, the sorrow of contrition for our sins is simultaneously a great motive for joy at our reconciliation with God.  Sorrow for sin lets Jesus' victory be won in us and thus makes of us fertile grounds for joy and celebration.

Sin and evil are real.  They are not playing games.  To defeat them and be disciples of Christ, we need to take our Christian life very seriously.  This takes resolute, decisive choices and clear thinking about good and evil, virtue and vice, love and betrayal.  

This Sunday's readings remind us of so many important realities.  We are God's people and precious to him.  He has loved us in our sinfulness, before we merited any goodwill on his behalf.  We are an apostolic Church chosen by name and invested with power to do good and proclaim the Gospel.  Our ordinary lives are actually quite extraordinary!

On the Feast of Corpus Christi the Church turns her heart to Jesus's real presence in the Blessed Sacrament.   A marvel of love, in the Eucharist the infinite enters the finite, the Creator his creation and the invisible the visible real.  Adoration, devotion, and gratitude should mark our response to this great mystery of our Faith. 

The Holy Spirit is God's gift to us.  The Spirit dwells within each one of us in the state of grace.   We should ask him for help and rely on his presence especially to live the virtue of charity.  The fruits of the Spirit are the indications of his activity in our life. 

As we celebrate Mother's Day in the month of May, our minds and hearts naturally go to our Heavenly Mother, Mary.  Devotion to Our Lady should be natural and heartful, as is our devotion to our own mothers.  Mary is a great ally in the Christian life and May, Mary's month, is a great time to increase our love for her and our dependence on her intercession .

St. Peter says we are a priestly people who  offer spiritual sacrifices to God.  What does it mean to have a "priestly soul"?  How can we make our hearts altars of a burning love of God?  How can we be mediators and peacemakers between God and men?

The image of our Lord as Good Shepherd is a challenging one.   It means that we Christians are sheep.  Our pride and self-sufficiency naturally bristle at this image.  Only with deep humility, and contemplating Jesus the Lamb of God, can we embrace being sheep and having a Shepherd.