On Friday, during Mass, when my soul was flooded with God’s happiness, I heard these words in my soul: My mercy has passed into souls through the divine-human Heart of Jesus as a ray from the sun passes through crystal. I felt in my heart and understood that every approach to God is brought about by Jesus, in Him and through Him. — Faustina’s dairy 505
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In all of our relationships, we are bounded more than many believe by our understanding of who we are relating to. When we meet someone for the first time, we will without knowing it pick up signals that will bring forth different reactions. Strong positives attractions or antipathies can be based on this.
If a man came into a room and gave a talk to 100 people, each person would interpret what was being said uniquely and maybe even get contrary messages. Speakers and writers that I have spoken to, often will tell me that when they started out writing and giving talks, they were often taken back by how people took what they said or wrote and processed it.
So with the concept of ‘God’ should we expect any differently? Many people of faith, especially if it based on revelation will often not understand this. For they will have the “Real Jesus” and those who do not agree with them… well, they or not really Christians because they worship a false Christ and are on a wrong path. Not understanding that their understanding of Jesus, and who he is, will change and hopefully mature into a deeply trusting loving understanding. The image or understanding of Christ Jesus will slowly lead us into the mystery of the “Word” made flesh. There is no such thing as “my Jesus’, as if he was some sort of object that could be owned or understood.
“Whatever you did to the least of these you did to me” Jesus said. A very powerful statement leading us to understand not only the sacredness of all we meet, but the depth of Christ’s identification or oneness with all…without exception. For that is what the least means, those outside, forgotten and hated. Even if they deserve this treatment, we are called to show mercy and love all. This leads us to the understanding of how the Life of Christ in the soul works. We slowly or swiftly become other Christ’s for others. We take on the Heart of Jesus and put on the Mind of Christ as St. Paul says. Until we can understand that Christ Jesus truly lives in us just as he does in others.
Light fills all it touches, it adapts to the heart of each human being and brings them through mercy and healing to a place of peace, they come home. We limit the revelations of Jesus Christ, for what was revealed was always so. Revelation is not something new, but something that always was, just not known. The “Word made flesh” was a revelation, showing us how deeply united we are to the Holy Trinity and to what length God will go to touch us and bring us to Him. God is not up-there watching us, but in us, experiencing our lives and all that entails, even our deaths. With Christ we die. We could also say, with us Christ Jesus dies. We are never alone, though we often feel that way.
To trust in the face that says otherwise, is an act of deep freedom and a response to grace. As individuals as well as a people we are hopefully growing in this revelation and sharing it with others. The more we ‘see’ truly with the Eyes of Christ, the more His light will shine on others in a way that is palpable and healing.
The death to self Christ is calling us to, is an arduous road for it goes against all that we take for granted. The world runs on a certain kind of logic that has shown itself as misguided. As we become more adapt at making better weapons to live out our ‘way’ of dealing problems and with others, the more danger we have of destroying all that we have accomplished. The wages of sin is death. To hate, to kill and to seek to dominate others is sin…..it bears bitter fruit, poison fruit. Yet we continue to go down the same road. We say the right things, the same platitudes, but underneath we are still primitives filled with fear and mistrust of others. Making God into our image and likeness does not help. We are called to bring to light His true image and likeness, not to worship our own.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
