River of Words and Straw of Silence

 The text which follows is an informal, but profound meditation on the importance of silence for our spiritual life. It is taken from a homily given by Pope Benedict XVI when he concelebrated mass with the members of the ITC, (International Theological Commission), on October 6, 2006. The saint of the day was St. Bruno, a man noted for his life of silence and contemplation. I have taken the liberty of removing those remarks that are exclusively for theologians in an attempt to make the universal relevance of the pope’s message stand out for us “ordinary” Catholic Christians.

“…silence and contemplation have a purpose: they serve, in the distractions of daily life, to preserve permanent union with God. This is their purpose: that union with God may always be present in our souls and may transform our entire being.

…since we are part of this world with all its words, how can we make the Word present in words other than through a process of purification of our thoughts, which in addition must be above all a process of purification of our words?

     How can we open the world, and first of all ourselves, to the Word without entering into the silence of God from which his Word proceeds? For the purification of our words, hence, also, for the purification of the words of the world, we need that silence that becomes contemplation, which introduces us into God’s silence and brings us to the point where the Word, the redeeming Word, is born.

….In this context, a beautiful phrase from the First Letter of St. Peter springs to my mind. It is from verse 22 of the first chapter. The Latin goes like this: Castificantes animas nostras in obedientia veritatis. Obedience to the truth must purify our souls and thus guide us to upright speech and upright action.

    In other words, speaking in the hope of being applauded, governed by what people want to hear out of obedience to the dictatorship of current opinion, is considered a sort of prostitution: of words and of the soul.

    The “purity” to which the Apostle Peter is referring means not submitting to these standards, not seeking applause, but rather, seeking obedience to the truth.

    And I think that this is the fundamental virtue…this discipline of obedience to truth, which makes us, although it may be hard, collaborators of the truth, mouthpieces of the truth, for it is not we who speak in today’s river of words, but it is the truth which speaks in us, who are really purified and made chaste by obedience to the truth. So it is that we can be harbingers of the truth.

    This reminds me of St. Ignatius of Antioch and something beautiful he said: “Those who understood the Lord’s words understood his silence, for the Lord should be recognized in his silence.”

….Only when we attain that silence of the Lord, his being with the Father from which words come, can we truly begin to grasp the depths of these words.

     Jesus’ words are born of his silence on the Mountain, as Scripture tells us, in his being with the Father. Words are born from this silence of communion with the Father, from being immersed in the Father, and only on reaching this point, on starting from this point, do we arrive at the real depth of the Word, and can ourselves be authentic interpreters of the Word. The Lord invites us verbally to climb the Mountain with him and thus, in his silence, to learn the true meaning of words.

…..We are silent before the grandeur of God, for it dwarfs our words. This makes me think of the last weeks of St. Thomas’ life. In these last weeks, he no longer wrote, he no longer spoke. His friend asked him: “Teacher, why are you no longer speaking? Why are you not writing?” And he said: Before what I have seen now all my words appear to me as straw.”

Fr. Jean-Pierre Torrel, the great expert on St. Thomas, tells us not to misconstrue these words. Straw is not nothing. Straw bears grains of wheat and this is the great value of straw. It bears the ear of wheat. And even the straw of words continues to be worthwhile since it produces wheat.

For us, however, I would say that this is a relativization of our work; yet, at the same time it is an appreciation of our work. It is also an indication in order that our way of working, our straw, may truly bear the wheat of God’ s Word.”

                              

Fire of Mercy, Heart of the World, Vol. III    Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, pp. 863- 865

Giussani: On Friendship

...love creates reciprocity, generates reciprocity. This, in the Mystery, is nature. The nature of Being revealed itself in Jesus of Nazareth as love in friendship, that is as love acknowledged. Thus the mirror of the Father is the Son, the infinite Word, and in the infinite mysterious perfection of this acknowledgement - in which vibrates for us the infinite mysterious beauty of the Origin of Being, of the Father (Splendor Patris) - proceeds the mysterious creative power of the Holy Spirit. Now, the "I", the human "I", made in the image and likeness of God, reflects originally the Mystery of the one and triune Being, proper to the dynamism of freedom, whose law will therefore be love, and the dynamism in which this love is lived can be nothing else but friendship. 

You or about Friendship, pp. 17-18  Luigi Giussani

Astounding. To think that friendship in its perfect from is the Trinity, and that our human friendships are a participation in the triune love!

John The Beloved Disciple

John the beloved disciple, when speaking of himself in his Gospel, never calls himself by name, but always identifies himself as “the one whom Jesus loved.”  Usually a name is what gives us some identity as a person. Our first name, and last, points out to others who we are. Of course we are more than those two names put together. An infinite number of other factors could be mentioned to identify us, such as gender, family, nationality, culture, work, friendships, education, etc. Yet no matter how many identifying facts are mentioned, the person I am is never adequately or fully described. We are more than their sum total. Why? It is because at root, and also in the last analysis, our name, who-we-are, is a relationship with the Infinite.

The Ever More (than I am) gave me the gift of life and called me into being. He sustains and maintains me as I journey through this life. He is the goal and destiny of my existence. He is my future right now and will be when there is no longer any such thing as created time. That is why John’s identifying himself as the-one-whom-Jesus-loved fits him as a God-given name, for it is a perfectly complete and full description of all John ever was historically and is now eternally. He is called into being by Love, sustained by Love and inspired by Love as he lives on earth, and taken up into the fullness of Love’s life and light in the Resurrection.

Safe to say, we are defined by our relationships, and especially by our relationship with Christ, the Son of God, in whom for whom and through whom all things are made.He gives consistency to everything. Somehow, our relationships with everyone else are relationships in Him. Ultimately, when all is said and done, how He identifies us, or, our identity in Him, is the only thing that matters.

So John is not emotionally overwrought, nor a sloppy sentimentalist, nor some awestruck hero-worshipper, when he uses his relationship with Christ to explain who he, John, truly is. Relationship with the God-man is the only precisely accurate measure and definition of John, and of each and everyone one of us.

The Twelve are called to be, and to be with one another because they are loved. That is what breaks them out of their self absorption and shapes them into a band of brothers. But it took Pentecost for them to finally understand this. Even after the Resurrection  they were locked into their fears, worries, and anxieties. They wouldn't have hid behind closed doors otherwise. It takes an explosion of the Spirit to make us see that God's love  for us cannot be reduced to an ego possession.

 Obviously Christ's love is is not exclusive nor closed. We are to live our relationship with the Lord in communion with others who have been called and made a decision to follow. Liberation come from the communion.The  very call to exist is a call to relate to others in love. Our existence is meant to be friendship, companionship, and fellowship in the Church as a priestly people. Intellectual knowledge of that wondrous truth is never enough. It has to be Biblical knowing, verification by lived experience. Only the Spirit of Love  can make us capable of that. 

Christ's Gaze

            "The greatest miracle, which left a deep imprint on the disciples every day, was not the healing of crippled legs, the cleansing of diseased skin, nor the restoration of sight to the blind. The greatest miracle of all was that truly human gaze which revealed man to himself and which was impossible to evade. Nothing is more convincing to a man than a gaze which takes hold of him and recognizes what he is, which reveals man to himself. Jesus saw inside man." 

Luigi Giussani The Christian Claim p.53

John 5:5-19 Healing of the Paralytic and Conflict with the Authorities

 

Verses 15-16: “The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus, because He did this on the Sabbath. “

Peter:  Why does the Master look for trouble?  There was no reason why he had to heal that man at the pool, and no reason why He had to heal him on the Sabbath, either. He must have known the healing would make the authorities furious.

 James: True enough, He could have healed the man the next day and avoided trouble. After being ill for so long a time, one more day would not have mattered. 

Peter: But why did the man feel he had to go and tell the authorities it was Jesus who cured him?  He should have been grateful and kept his mouth shut instead of squealing.  All he did was cause us problems.

John:   Maybe not. What if Jesus knew the man would report Him to the Scribes and Pharisees, but healed him anyway?

 James: You mean the Master wanted a confrontation with the authorities? That doesn’t make much sense.

 John: No, not in the sense that He was looking for trouble, but maybe He wanted to show He was going to do good even if it ended up causing Him trouble. 

Peter:  Okay, but why did he pick that man to heal? There were so many others there who were just as sick, and some were even worse off than he was.

John: You could always ask Him why He chose that one!

Peter: Yeah, right. There’s not much chance He is going to explain Himself to me.

James: More of a chance that He would explain and you still wouldn’t understand Him!

 Peter (laughing): “That’s right!”

 John: None of us ever really understands Him that much.

Peter and James (simultaneously): What do you mean by that? We’re not stupid.

 John: Well, yes we are when it comes to Him. That’s why you two were just laughing at yourselves. Why does Jesus heal some people and not others?  That’s a mystery. Or, why heal only a few people but not everyone? Another mystery.  How does He decide whom to heal and whom to leave be? Another mystery.

Peter: That’s true.  It doesn’t seem to matter who you are, what you have or don’t have, or what condition you’re in. He heals whom He wants for His reasons.

John: And we have no idea how he does it. All we know is that He works wonders and has no difficulty doing so.

James: Yes, it is almost so normal for us to see Him do something extraordinary that it’s starting to seem ordinary.

 Peter: How do you think He does his miracles? They seem so easy when He does them.  Yet they would be impossible for anyone else. 

John: I think the miracles are somehow connected to His Father.   Remember the authorities asked Him why He healed the man on the Sabbath, and He told them, “My Father is working still, and I am working (verse 17)…and the Son can only do what He sees the Father doing (verse 19)”. 

James: How does that explain the miracles?

Peter: I think the answer does involve His Father. Somehow He is in touch with his heavenly Father. Maybe His Father moves Him to work wonders.

John: Yes. He means it when He says his Father is working wonders. Since He is his Father’s Son, He should be working miracles too.

James: But His Father isn’t doing anything. God in heaven isn’t healing anyone.

John:  Maybe He is doing something beyond what we see.

Peter: Keep talking. I think you are on to something.

John:  You know how Jesus says over and over again “The Kingdom of God is near…the Kingdom of Heaven has arrived…the Kingdom of God is at hand”.  

Peter and James: Sure.

John: Well, what if miracles are the way Jesus makes the Kingdom come among us? All the healing and wonders He works are His way of giving us a taste of the Kingdom. That’s how He shows us the kingdom is real, not just some abstract idea.

Peter: Okay. That explains how miracles promote the Kingdom, but explain to us the connection to His Father.  How is Jesus doing what He sees the Father doing?

John:  God created the world, right? The seas, the earth, the mountains, the sky, the stars, the sun and moon are all the work of His hands, right?  

(James and Peter nod in agreement.

 John: Well, God hasn’t let go of all He has made. He is still holding it in his hands.  If He did let it go, everything would slip through His fingers and fall into nothingness. 

Peter: Hmm, the Father not only makes everything; He also holds it altogether… yes, I see what you mean.  By holding everything in His hands, He is creating it all at every moment.  The miracle is ongoing.

James: Even on the Sabbath! So the Father is working all the time! If He ever stopped working, even for a moment, then everything would fall apart!  

Peter: But what does the  Sacred Torah mean when it says that the Lord God rested on the Sabbath from all the work He had done?

 John: It means He contemplated it all. He sat back and enjoyed the beauty of everything He had made. It doesn’t mean that He put it down or let go of it, but that He looked on it all and felt good about making it, even loved it!

James: That makes a lot of sense to me! More sense than saying God rested because He was “tired”.

Peter: So since the Father “works” on the Sabbath by holding everything in His hands, gazing at it all, loving everything and keeping it all together, it is right for Jesus to do miracles on the Sabbath? Yes, it seems logical, but…”

John: But there is a difference that bothers you?

Peter: Well, the Master’s miracles seem a lot different from God’s.  Jesus’ wonders are a lot smaller than God’s. 

James: Also, Jesus’ miracles are quickly done and soon over, whereas God has been patiently holding the world together for a long, long time.

John: True,   but a miracle is a miracle. What does it matter if it is a slow long miracle like holding the world together, or a small,  quick one like healing a paralytic? It is still something none of us could make happen.

Peter: Maybe the Father’s miracles don’t seem so impressive to us because we are used to them. They slowly continue to occur, like the sun coming up every morning, and the crops growing, and the birds flying. We take ourselves and all the things around us for granted, and forget that God is holding everything together at every moment.  So we don’t see it as a miracle.

 John: That’s a wonderful insight. What the Father does long-term and slowly, the Son does short and swift, like healing a leper or giving sight to the blind man. And that’s why his miracles impress while the Father’s don’t.

 Peter: You know, John, what I like about you is also what I hate about you: you see things more deeply than we do.

John: More deeply? Not really. What I see is this: that compared to the way Jesus sees, all of our seeing is pretty poor. Seeing how poorly we see is what makes me look intelligent.

 

 

 

Threesome: Peter, James and John discuss Christ’s encounter with the rich young man.

 Mark: 10:23 “Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.’ And the disciples were amazed at his words.” 

James: I’m surprised! I didn’t think the Master would let this young man go off like that.

Peter: I’ll say! What do you think He meant by promising we would all get everything back a hundredfold for following Him?

John: Never mind that. I have a better question: why do you think he told the young man to give up everything?

 Peter: Why is that so important? We all had to give up everything!

John: Yes, but for us, everything was a couple of fishing boats, our nets, and our business contacts for selling fish. Not a big deal.  But you could see from the way this man was dressed that he is wealthy.

James: Yes. He has a lot more to give up than we do.

Peter: You’re right. So, why make him give it up? Why not tell him to join us and bring everything he has with him? Wouldn’t that make more sense? And make life easier for all of us too?

John: That’s not the way the Master sees it. Obviously he liked this man. You could see that from the way He looked at him. And the man had a lot to offer. He was well educated, intelligent, devout, and an all around good person. He probably would have made a better preacher and teacher than any one of us. And he probably would have joined us, if he could have brought everything with him.

Peter: So you agree with me? Why not let him bring it all?

John: Because he would always have that wealth to fall back on. The riches would be his security, his source of life, behind everything else. The man would not be committed to Jesus. The wealth would be first in the man’s head, even if it was in the background, and Jesus would be secondary.  

Peter: Maybe that’s it. Jesus insists on being our center; He is what connects us all. That’s how He sees it.  And the money gets in the way. If the money is there, money becomes central. 

James: Why do you think the Master told the man not to call Him “good”?

Peter: That’s not what Jesus was doing.

John:  That’s right! Jesus was smiling when He said that.  He was using the word the man used, but with a different meaning. It was a way of telling the man: Good? You have no idea exactly how GOOD I AM!

 James: I guess I missed that. I was paying more attention to what He said next: “No one is good but God alone.”

John: Don’t try to figure that out.

Peter: Why not?

John: Because only He knows what He means by that. We could argue about that all day and never get anywhere.

James: What is there to argue about? He’s saying that only God is absolutely good; that’s all.

(Peter and John look at each other, and silently agree not to dig further into James’ statement.)

Peter: Fine.   John, you were saying that this man was special, how he seemed better educated than we are, and how he could have made a more effective disciple than the lot of us. I think you’re right. So why did Jesus let him walk off? Why not talk to him more, discuss, explain things, and reason with him?  He could have persuaded the man to leave his wealth behind if He really tried.

James: That’s right. Look how He never stops talking to us, explaining things over and over again, encouraging and correcting and moving us towards what He wants. He could have had his way with the man if he kept pushing.

John: Yes, but that’s not His way of doing things. He invites, He calls, He makes the opportunity available, but He doesn’t  pressure or force or manipulate.  He doesn’t play those games with anyone.  Even with us. He keeps at us because we did say yes and decide to follow Him. But even now if we decided to walk off He would let us go.

Peter: Suppose you had all the money and possessions this man had, would you still be here? Or would you leave the group and go back to it?

John: I’m glad I don’t have to make that choice, but I think I would stay.

Peter: Today I feel that way. Other days, well, I don’t know. I like following Him. But I don’t know where He is going. It is an adventure, I have to admit that. But it is scary too. You can never tell what is going to happen next, or what He is going to do.

James: What about this man who went back to his riches? Can he get into the kingdom of heaven? Is he still on his way to God?

Peter: Well, he was on the right road before the Master called him, because he was keeping all the commandments. As long as he keeps that up, what’s the problem?

John:  The wealth, the money. That’s the Master’s point.  At any moment the money can take over and become central. The man could not even recognize it when that takes place. But if it does, then the man is no longer on the right way. Then the wealth controls him and the way he relates to people. 

James: It's that dangerous?

 Peter: The Master says it is. It’s probably a blessing we don’t have to make that choice. We probably would get seduced by the wealth. But what about the question I asked to begin with? Jesus promised we would all get back a hundredfold what we have given up to follow Him, remember? What do you think He meant by that? We surely are not going to get rich!

 John: Relationships. That’s what He’s talking about, our friendship with one another because we follow Him. Look how different we all are. None of us would be close to another, or care about one another if we were not following Him. We would never choose to be friends or brothers in real life.

Peter: We still don’t like one another that much even though He keeps harping on it with us all the time.

 John: That’s the point I’m trying to make! Following Him is what unites us. Everything else about us would have us fighting with one another all the time. We are so competitive, and have such different tastes, we could never get along. Only He can make us brothers.

James: Well, He hasn’t done it yet.

John: We’re all still with Him, aren’t we? That’s the important thing. If we manage to stay close to Him, I think we’ll end up caring about one another in spite of ourselves. That might be the biggest wonder He performs!

Part Three: "in", "of" and "over"

 In is so multifaceted that it can be an adverb (“Please, show him in.”) or adjective (Who would not like to be part of the “in” group?) as well as a preposition.  As a preposition, in usually refers to place (While Jesus was in Jericho, He was neither in Nazareth nor standing in the Jordan.) or a state of being (As a child, Christ grew in wisdom and stature. As an adult He was always in trouble with the Scribes and Pharisees. At the end of His life, his career was in ruins. After He rose in glory, He sent the Holy Spirit upon his apostles.) The most important use of this little word is the phrase “life in Christ.” In those three words we have the reason why the whole New Testament was written, why the Church was founded and the Sacraments were instituted, how we were created and re-created, and how we are called to Glory.

 When we consider prepositions as adjectives, they quickly make us think of concrete nouns.  “I am “an against person” means that I am fighter to such a degree that aggression is my whole being.  “I am an away from person” says I am a hermit or a loner, wrapped up in myself and no other.  “I am a towards person” asserts that I really want to please you.

Is playing with prepositions this way a waste of time? No. Look at the preposition of in the question just asked.  It is such a tiny word, said (or read) so quickly. But the implications of of are phenomenal. “This…. is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh,” Adam says of Eve, meaning: “She is from me”, so of in this case means “I am her source or origin.”  Of can also mean Adam is the material, the very substance of Eve, as a necklace is made of gold. It can also mean “belonging to” as the gates of heaven can be found nowhere else except in God’s possession. Another meaning of of  is  before  as when we ask “ what time is it?”, and the reply comes that it is “ten of three”.  Little of can also open its arms in a wide embrace, as in the phrase “the love of God. 

 But let us return to the question asked: Is playing with prepositions “a waste of time”. Since time is of God, we have all the time He wants to give us. Certainly we can, and do, waste the time he gives us. But playing with prepositions is not wasting his time. He has all the time in the world. Playing with prepositions is serious stuff. It is a good way to use his gift of time to set ourselves in right relationship to Him.

 Satan, Christ tells us, is the “father of lies” (John 8:44). He is the source of all deceit. What makes Satan evil is that deceit has become his very nature. Even if he were to say something that is true, he would turn it into a lie by saying it for the wrong reason.  What is more dangerous than a truthful statement so subtly nuanced that it leads us astray because we do not recognize the deceit in it? Satan is incapable of truth since he is incapable of love.  He is incapable of love because he cannot recognize or embrace goodness in any form. He cannot even love himself as he is. His life is hell, a living death, a burning hatred and envy of all that is good and true in God’s creation. It should not be difficult for us to see why codependent behavior is so self destructive. It means that we are living a lie and but insisting on calling it truth. Until we stop deceiving ourselves, we make ourselves into his offspring.  To make ourselves children of the father of lies is an eternal waste of time.

 Over is not a popular preposition in our day. In our culture, it prepares people to think of someone in a position of power over them. Perhaps the adage of our age should be the adage of Lord Acton, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  Anyone with power is automatically suspect. This applies to Politics, Religion, Business, Sports, Entertainment, Employment, and in short, to every aspect of life. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we had the freedom to do what we want? Why should we have to follow orders and do what someone else says? That sums up the dislike we feel towards the authority over implies.

 Yet over is a humble word, more concerned about being helpful than heavy-handed or hurtful. For example, consider  the following meanings of over: “I am over it” can mean, “my bad mood has ended” and “I am ALL over it” says that “I am giving the issue at hand every bit of my attention.”  Over also implies “caring for” as in the sentence “A father is placed over his family.”

 Over serves best by humbly being authoritative.  There is no other way for over to provide justice, harmony and order in our lives. A conductor is in place over the orchestra. Certainly he has authority, but when he waves his baton, he is also performing a great service. His direction gives musician is the opportunity to play the proper way at the right time so as to fit in beautifully with all the others and create the harmonious sound of a symphony. Where would the orchestra be without a conductor over it? His presence and direction are not enslaving but liberating. The musicians are not made “less” by obeying him, but “more”.  They actually flourish and reach their full potential by giving up their autonomy as individuals and doing what they are told. Indeed, unless each performer freely surrenders his/her individuality, they cannot all become their best selves as a live orchestra.  

 Think of the indispensible role teachers have, as well as coaches, umpires, and referees.  In a classroom, learning cannot take place, if students and teacher are absolutely equal.  The teacher has to be over the students in so many ways, in authority, power, and dignity, for example. As a teacher he is more knowledgeable than the students, and has something of inestimable value to give them.  In sports, someone has to say when a hit is inside the foul line or outside it. In baseball that is the difference between a home run and a strike.  In football, a spectacular catch becomes a wasted effort when the tight end’s foot ends up landing over the line. We may cheer decisions we like, or boo ones we hate, but without someone to make the call, there is no way to play the game. Nor are there any players for the game without the practice and discipline provided by those over them who train them in the necessary skills.

 We undercut any chance for success in life when we decry the essential role authority has to play. Without the proper authority over us every step of the way, (including God’s as well as man’s), we stay slaves of ignorance, victims of disorder from within and without, and incapable of fulfilling our potential. The debt of gratitude we owe to those over us can never be repaid, except by our docile willingness to share with others the gifts we receive from those over us.