Category Archives: Essays

Immaculate Heart of Mary

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Most Holy Trinity, we put the United States of America into the hands of Mary Immaculate in order that she may present the country to you. Through her we wish to thank you for the great resources of this land and for the freedom which has been its heritage. Through the intercession of Mary, have mercy on our president and all the officers of our government. Grant us a fruitful economy born of justice and charity. Have mercy on capital and industry and labor.

(Taken from the act of consecration of United States to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.)

I am constantly being drawn to examine what is biblical and what is worldly. This is not in terms of how they may be separate, more as to how they complement each other. What I find compelling about this prayer taken from the act of consecration of United States to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is first we bring our gratitude and our thankfulness and then we ask for mercy appealing to God through Mary for His grace. For me this is the formula, the way our prayers should be structured. Now, look through this formula and see what we find. There is a great appeal to the biblical to grant us fruitfulness of spirit grounded in justice and charity along with worldly success centered on capital, industry, labor and prosperity.

 Notice how different these two aspects appear to be. In the worldly, we would expect great struggle and great risk to lead to great rewards. Rightfully so, in the world, a healthy psychological equation would demand that great risk would have an equal or greater reward. Biblically, we find great love doesn’t lead to great gain, benefits or rewards; great love leads to great suffering. Bishop Barron tells us love is willing the good of the other for the sake of the other. This necessarily means giving of ourselves in self-giving love. Nothing says this better than the Cross and the lives of Mary and the martyrs. In our lives, this aspect means giving of ourselves without being in the equation, not expecting and demanding a return on our investment. There is also the painfulness of giving yourself for the sake of this unconditional love. In our ego driven world, the realization of giving up some of our own aspirations, time and energy for the sake of others can lead to some very undesirable responses, bitterness, feeling unappreciated or resentment come to mind. For the believer, the focus remains in the moment. The love is the reward, standing alone, its own merit. The love has no need of the worldly, of joy postponed, of expectations to be met. The love biblically blossoms into compassion, kindness, empathy and hope. Pope Francis tells us optimism can be disappointing; hope is eternal, never changing, always faithful.   

Pilgrimage

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A pilgrimage by its very design is a quest. The question is, what do we seek? Are we looking for what has been forgotten or perhaps something lost? Is it a moment of spiritual epiphany or a glimmer of psychological clarity? Have we reached the point when we finally realize, what we are looking for, is not what we thought we wanted? Have we discovered the greatest paradox of all; we will never find what we earnestly want? What a comforting realization. How much easier has life just become. If you know me, you know I am looking for the next better question, not the best answer. The best answer never changes, it’s always the same, stop trying and start being.

If this all sounds like some mumbo jumbo; then consider this: you can’t find a gift, you can only receive one. In this world you may expect one, and rightfully so; it’s the Christmas season, or Valentine’s Day, or that long awaited graduation. This is similar in the sense that perhaps you have prepared for the gifting event, or maybe a life event has thrust you into circumstances which make you receptive to the gift you are about to receive. Perhaps it is an unexpected prayer answered or a long-awaited prayer fulfilled. The point being a journey has a destination; a genuine gift is beyond expectation.

The Perfect Paradox

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Perhaps the perfect paradox is, the perfect answer lies outside the parameters of the question. When the Jews brought the adulterous woman to Jesus and asked, what should we do with this woman, Moses said, “a woman like this should be stoned, what do you say?” They were expecting an answer somewhere between, stone her or let her go; Jesus found the answer in the third way. When Satan tempted Jesus after the 40 days in the desert, turn these stones into loaves, he was expecting a yes or no; again, Jesus found the third way. If this perfect paradox seems plausible, that the perfect answer lies outside the parameters of the question; then one conclusion would be; that the perfect question lies outside the parameters of any possible answer. It wouldn’t be the perfect question if it had an answer. Conversely, if the answer did lie within the parameters of the question, then you would have to admit that you already knew the answer before you asked, or you would never recognize the answer was the answer. If this is plausible, then, there can only be one perfect answer to the perfect question. So, if you see the only answer to this seeming endless ‘catch 22’ is; the perfect question is the perfect answer, then you would be absolutely right. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. He is the cause and the effect. He is the question and the answer.  

Models in Action

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Jesus said: (Taken from: Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1488) My child, know that the greatest obstacles to holiness are discouragement and an exaggerated anxiety. These will deprive you of the ability to practice virtue. All temptations united together ought not disturb your interior peace, not even momentarily. Sensitiveness and discouragement are the fruits of self-love. You should not become discouraged but strive to make My love reign in place of your self-love. Have confidence, My child. Do not lose heart in coming for pardon, for I am always ready to forgive you. As often as you beg for it, you glorify My mercy.

First we notice that Jesus always gives His blessing, before any healing, any teaching or guidance there are His blessings through His love; simple, direct, without division or confusion, he simply says, “my child.” If we couldn’t wrap our minds around anything else, there would always be His authority and His sovereignty in our lives, made manifest through His love for us, His children. Glory and praise to You, our Lord, Christ Jesus. He is God, his name is Lord.

Why do I return to the models again and again? Because His words point to His spiritual truth. Whereas, our minds make observations and draw conclusions. His attention is focused on what is spiritual; while our minds contend with what is psychological. In His Oneness, everything is singular. In our brokenness everything is dualistic or plural. Christ Jesus tells us the greatest obstacles to holiness; holiness being His focus, are two aspects of our psychological brokenness, one being discouragement and the other anxiety. Through our examination we realize what hinders our holiness are not spiritual considerations rather psychological ones. In His holiness, His Oneness, He effortlessly makes the connection between what is spiritual and what is psychological which points to the correct examination for us. If we are listening, we hear Him tell us; these things of the mind, the discouragement and anxiety keep us from the application of His spiritual concern, virtue. Now notice, in His genius, that virtue spans both models, the spiritual and the psychological. Because of our experiences in this world of people and ideas we are forced to contend with ourselves before entering His domain of holiness. Since the Lord knows us better than we know ourselves, he shows us how these models work without calling attention to them.

Notice how He returns to the examination again and again. Next, He tells us all temptations, even all temptations of the world ought not disturb our interior peace. In this example, the internal peace, is His presence. Again, we see the psychological depicted as any and all temptations and His spiritual presence as peace; these models show the singularity of His domain and the duplicity of ours.

The Lord continues the inquiry for us by demonstrating how interchangeable our fragmented parts and pieces are, by introducing, sensitiveness. Here, He shows us how we decide what to consider. In our ego driven world, we take the lead, we pick and choose the obstacles, we decide what’s bothering us whether it be actual events or displaced energies is not important, only that we are deciding, holds any weight for us.

The next step in His carefully structured analysis, is to turn our attention to the root cause of our dilemma. He calls this, “self-love”; what we might commonly refer to as our pride. Call this feature what you will, the impact is to show us what happens when we put ourselves before Him, our Lord. We reinforce our brokenness, fortify our vanity and ignore the obvious. John the Baptist knew this well when he proclaimed, “I must decrease, and He must increase.” This process is not so simple. On closer examination, we see two words used which points to the spiritual and psychological model. Christ Jesus tells us, we “ought” to not let the world disturb His presence in us. “Ought,” is meant to focus our attention on Him in His perfection. “Ought,” expresses a condition of being perfect in a world of imperfection. Again, in His genius, He separates what is from what cannot be. Knowing full well we will never live in a world of what “ought” to be, He encourages us to “strive” to replace our human condition with what He has given us as our human nature. This nature is the likeness and image of Him, as He created in us and for us. The message is clear, this nature is unattainable but approachable; a reflection of God Himself being unattainable yet approachable. 

The final element in my prayerful discernment of this timely discourse to us is the intensity of mind and spirit with which it demands. Christ Jesus tells us His pardon, His forgiveness, His love and His mercy is always available to us, as long as, we beg for it…..for the time for praying has ended, the time for begging has begun.