Come Away By Yourselves

"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.

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On the occasion of the Memorial of St. Augustine, this meditation is inspired by some of his deep spiritual insights.  Augustine reminds us of God's transcendent goodness and his staggering nearness to each one of us.  Finding fulfillment in God takes work, the work of prayer and holiness, but it is a task that God himself promises to help us accomplish.

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Returning to the scene of the Transfiguration, we meditate on Peter's exclamation, "Lord, it is good that we are here."  It is good to be in prayer with God and to be wherever God wants us to be.  Prayer is a necessary and healthy escape for the soul.  In a world of false escapes and omnipresent exterior noise, to be souls of prayer we should foster moments of solitude and silence.  

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Instead of sending a large crowd away hungry, Jesus miraculously feeds them with the multiplication of loaves and fish.  Thousands of people are relieved of their hunger while being fed by the Son of God himself.  God knows our spiritual hunger and also responds to it.  He feeds us in the Eucharist, in Scripture, in prayer, in doing his will.  Warned by God himself, we need to look out for destructive substitutes that do not truly satisfy our soul's longing for joy and peace. 

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Jesus' transfiguration is a momentary manifestation of his divinity.   This event reminds us of Jesus' beneficent power on our behalf.  St. Peter was struck by the wonder of the transfiguration and refers to it in order to bolster our faith in the reality of Christ's life and mission.  God the Father testifies to his Son's authority telling us to "Listen to Him." We do this in our prayer and in our humility in asking for and receiving advice.

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To truly meet Christ is to experience a great conversion.  Life becomes centered on his person and his mission.  This conversion entails taking on a new life and leaving behind our sinful ways.  To convert is to turn towards God and away from sin.  Leaving sin behind is no easy matter.   Above all it takes liberation--redemption--by Christ.   It also presupposes a courageous sincerity about how we minimize the importance of sin, giving into the illusion that sinfulness is actually good. 

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A meditation on Mary Magdalene and Jesus. 

Originally published July 2021

Our Lord Jesus calls Christians the "salt of the earth" and "the light of the world."  The presence of believing Christians is fundamental for the health and salvation of humanity.  Realizing the gravity and urgency of our mission, we should put aside all division and distractions and commit ourselves to living our Catholic faith.  This demands daily trust in God, daily repentance from sin and daily conversion towards true charity.

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Jesus promises rest for those who come to him labored and heavy laden.   To receive rest from God happens in a special way in our prayer.  Accepting God's will and growing in trust help us to rest even when we have serious concerns in our life.  Adoration especially refreshes the soul.  To adore God is to relieve ourselves of the burden of trying to live without him. 

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The Bible refers to the moral law as "written on the heart."  In this class we discuss the principles of the natural law.   

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