Amen Rhapsody
Suprarational
transcending the rationalbased on or involving factors not to be comprehended by reason alone
The Creed is a training ground saturated with realities far beyond what the mind, unaided by grace, can begin to apprehend. Apprehend, in the sense that the Faith is as much caught as taught. With grace, i.e., God's gift, our thinking and understanding is transformed. Transformed, that is, if we cooperate with grace. Our hearts and minds are enabled to embrace the mysteries of the Faith by the grace that God chooses to freely give.
Words are to a story like an island (or cloud) is to the horizon. An island punctuates or articulates the horizon. A word may entice our attention to it, but without the context the full phrase provides, we can easily miss the context and thus the full meaning, the direction toward which our hearts and minds should be directed.
Words invite (cajole, entice, compel, impel...) us into the intention of the sentence, and the sentence into the paragraph, the paragraph into the chapter and the chapter into the story, the reality beyond the horizon.
We are spoken into existence by God. We 'words', spoken into being by God, are part of a much larger sentence. That sentence is a 'Who'. Our lives are given to us so that we may speak of God, the One Who created us, to others. And, to speak with God, Who is the Word.
Being and begin share the same letters. Both words begin with 'be'. We be-gin when God brings us into be-ing. If we live with the understanding that we are 'words of God', that God breathes us forth into existence, that we are created and sustained in His image by the Holy Spirit, then it is more likely that the way we "speak" our lives will exhibit greater continuity with the Word of God, Jesus Christ.
The great news is that each and everyone of us is, in the eyes of God, intended. Each one of us is an intention of God, a word intended for love. The world would have us believe otherwise: "Oh, you were an accident." Each and every human life is a miracle, a unique person from the moment he or she is conceived in one's mother's womb.
Do we allow ourselves to be spoken into love, or do we reject the One Who speaks us, and Who speaks to us?
Words invite (cajole, entice, compel, impel...) us into the intention of the sentence, and the sentence into the paragraph, the paragraph into the chapter and the chapter into the story, the reality beyond the horizon.
We are spoken into existence by God. We 'words', spoken into being by God, are part of a much larger sentence. That sentence is a 'Who'. Our lives are given to us so that we may speak of God, the One Who created us, to others. And, to speak with God, Who is the Word.
Being and begin share the same letters. Both words begin with 'be'. We be-gin when God brings us into be-ing. If we live with the understanding that we are 'words of God', that God breathes us forth into existence, that we are created and sustained in His image by the Holy Spirit, then it is more likely that the way we "speak" our lives will exhibit greater continuity with the Word of God, Jesus Christ.
The great news is that each and everyone of us is, in the eyes of God, intended. Each one of us is an intention of God, a word intended for love. The world would have us believe otherwise: "Oh, you were an accident." Each and every human life is a miracle, a unique person from the moment he or she is conceived in one's mother's womb.
Do we allow ourselves to be spoken into love, or do we reject the One Who speaks us, and Who speaks to us?
Intention
How do we give our 'Amen' to a prayer said by the celebrant during Mass? The key is intention. Our intention must be formed in and upon the reality that the Mass is Jesus Christ praying to His Father. Jesus is praying the Mass. We enter into the Mass through intention aided by grace. Intention is a gesture, a movement of the will in faith. Gestures, e.g., bowing and kneeling and making the Sign of the Cross, give expression to and reinforce intention. Gestures give shape or direction to our intentions. The Holy Spirit enters into our ritual gestures to guide us into an intimate loving communion with the entire Trinity of Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We invest our own desire—to act in conformity with the will of God—into the prayer uttered by the Celebrant. Our desire, then, is one of self surrender. Remember, it is Jesus Who speaks and acts in the Mass. The priest acts in persona Christi. Christ, through the priest, leads us in prayer to the Father, into communion with the Holy Trinity. The words of the Mass become our words. The prayer of the Mass becomes our prayer. Remember, the principal actor in the Mass—the One speaking on our behalf to the Father—is Jesus Christ, the Lord. A well formed memory, i.e., capacity to recall our Creator Who has breathed us into being, enables intention to move in the right direction, toward God.
Cling, therefore, to God's grace. A brief prayer that encapsulates right intention comes to mind: Jesus, I trust in Thee.
Presence
Christ is present to us. Are we present to Him?
The perfect locus in which to discover Jesus Christ and thus the will of God is the Holy Eucharist, the Mass. Being present in the Mass is to be present to the Presence of God. The Mass is saturated with the Presence(s) of God: 1) in and through His word, in Holy Scripture; 2) in and through the person of the priest who, acting in persona Christi, confects the Holy Eucharist; 3) in and through the congregation gathered in the Name of Jesus Christ; and 4) most sublimely in the Holy Eucharist, the very Presence of Jesus. We may receive Jesus in Holy Communion if we are in a state of grace. We are able to give our 'Amen', most fully then, when we are in a state of grace. Grace enables the heart and mind to respond to God's invitation to receive Him.
We invest our own desire—to act in conformity with the will of God—into the prayer uttered by the Celebrant. Our desire, then, is one of self surrender. Remember, it is Jesus Who speaks and acts in the Mass. The priest acts in persona Christi. Christ, through the priest, leads us in prayer to the Father, into communion with the Holy Trinity. The words of the Mass become our words. The prayer of the Mass becomes our prayer. Remember, the principal actor in the Mass—the One speaking on our behalf to the Father—is Jesus Christ, the Lord. A well formed memory, i.e., capacity to recall our Creator Who has breathed us into being, enables intention to move in the right direction, toward God.
Cling, therefore, to God's grace. A brief prayer that encapsulates right intention comes to mind: Jesus, I trust in Thee.
Presence
Christ is present to us. Are we present to Him?
The perfect locus in which to discover Jesus Christ and thus the will of God is the Holy Eucharist, the Mass. Being present in the Mass is to be present to the Presence of God. The Mass is saturated with the Presence(s) of God: 1) in and through His word, in Holy Scripture; 2) in and through the person of the priest who, acting in persona Christi, confects the Holy Eucharist; 3) in and through the congregation gathered in the Name of Jesus Christ; and 4) most sublimely in the Holy Eucharist, the very Presence of Jesus. We may receive Jesus in Holy Communion if we are in a state of grace. We are able to give our 'Amen', most fully then, when we are in a state of grace. Grace enables the heart and mind to respond to God's invitation to receive Him.
For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.—Holy Gospel according to Saint John 6:55
When we attend a banquet, or even a dinner at a restaurant, and we are asked what we would like from the menu, we respond with varying degrees of certainty depending on our familiarity with the menu. A server informs us what's on the menu, and if asked, usually provides us with additional information to aid us in a choice. In the case of the Banquet of the Lord, the Holy Eucharist, the Lord offers us the most sublime meal, a sacrificial meal that He prepares for us at the hands of his servant, the priest. In this banquet, there are but two menu items forming one divine course: the bread and wine transformed by the Holy Spirit into the real Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The God Who created the universe certainly can transform bread and wine into His very Flesh and Blood.
The sacrificial meal begins with our preparation at the altar of Holy Scripture. We listen to the word of God proclaimed. In Divine Worship, the Mass of the Ordinariate, the Mass of the Catechumens (i.e., the Liturgy of the Word), moves us to repent of our sins before we approach the main course: the Holy Eucharist.
ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things, judge of all men: We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto us, the burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past; and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life, to the honour and glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.—The General Confession from Divine Worship: The Missal.
The sacrificial meal begins with our preparation at the altar of Holy Scripture. We listen to the word of God proclaimed. In Divine Worship, the Mass of the Ordinariate, the Mass of the Catechumens (i.e., the Liturgy of the Word), moves us to repent of our sins before we approach the main course: the Holy Eucharist.
ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things, judge of all men: We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto us, the burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past; and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life, to the honour and glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.—The General Confession from Divine Worship: The Missal.
By receiving this real food and real drink, the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, we receive Christ's life into us. I in Him and He in me.
John 17:23
I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.
John 14:20
In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
As we return to our pews, shouldn't that awareness compel us to our knees in gratitude and joy, awestruck by the fact that we who have received Holy Communion bear Jesus within us?
Ponder the following prayer from Divine Worship: the Missal.
ALMIGHTY and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee for that thou dost feed us, in these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us; and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, the blessed company of all faithful people; and are also heirs, through hope, of thy everlasting kingdom, by the merits of the most precious death and Passion of thy dear Son. And we humbly beseech thee, O heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.—The General Thanksgiving (post-Communion prayer) from Divine Worship: The Missal
The preceding prayer invites us to master gratitude. Gratitude is the doorway into the house of love for God and neighbour.
Freeing up intention; freeing our 'yes' to Jesus by saying 'yes' to His grace, His invitation to newness of life.
CCC1422 "Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion."
What obstacles do we place in the way of God Who wants to give us every good gift? What obstacles to God's peace do we place between us and the Giver of peace, the peace only God can give?
CCC1426 Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us "holy and without blemish," just as the Church herself, the Bride of Christ, is "holy and without blemish." Nevertheless the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life. This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.
John 17:23
I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.
John 14:20
In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
As we return to our pews, shouldn't that awareness compel us to our knees in gratitude and joy, awestruck by the fact that we who have received Holy Communion bear Jesus within us?
Ponder the following prayer from Divine Worship: the Missal.
ALMIGHTY and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee for that thou dost feed us, in these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us; and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, the blessed company of all faithful people; and are also heirs, through hope, of thy everlasting kingdom, by the merits of the most precious death and Passion of thy dear Son. And we humbly beseech thee, O heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.—The General Thanksgiving (post-Communion prayer) from Divine Worship: The Missal
The preceding prayer invites us to master gratitude. Gratitude is the doorway into the house of love for God and neighbour.
Freeing up intention; freeing our 'yes' to Jesus by saying 'yes' to His grace, His invitation to newness of life.
CCC1422 "Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion."
What obstacles do we place in the way of God Who wants to give us every good gift? What obstacles to God's peace do we place between us and the Giver of peace, the peace only God can give?
CCC1426 Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us "holy and without blemish," just as the Church herself, the Bride of Christ, is "holy and without blemish." Nevertheless the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life. This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.
A God-imaged soul fractured by mortal sin is a tragedy. After death, no soul perverted by mortal sin can enter into communion with God. Ever. Contrary to what the proponents of the Universalist heresy believe, i.e., that all are saved by God and no one goes to hell, it is entirely possible (and probable) that a soul so enamoured in sin and shattered by pride will end up eternally alienated from God. Conversely, this side of heaven we have an opportunity to celebrate the most tremendous purification that enables the heart to better respond to God's grace.
The Sacrament of Penance, Confession.
Thanks be to God, we can enter the confessional and be absolved of the gravest of sins we have committed after baptism. It is a shame that so many who claim to follow Christ do not know the power and joy and freedom of the Sacrament of Penance. The Sacrament of Penance allows us to respond again, with renewed vigour, to the will of God, to say and sing our 'Amen', our 'So be it'.
God does not force us into compliance. He may test us by allowing us to exert our own wills against His. He desires our cooperation. Ponder that thought for a moment. The God Who created all and sustains all in existence enters into our lives and treats us as friends, able to walk with Him and talk with Him and listen to Him and act with Him, to lead others to newness of life. He is, indeed, Lord, but He calls those who accept Him His friends!
John 15:15
I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth. But I have called you friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.
Amen.
The Sacrament of Penance, Confession.
Thanks be to God, we can enter the confessional and be absolved of the gravest of sins we have committed after baptism. It is a shame that so many who claim to follow Christ do not know the power and joy and freedom of the Sacrament of Penance. The Sacrament of Penance allows us to respond again, with renewed vigour, to the will of God, to say and sing our 'Amen', our 'So be it'.
God does not force us into compliance. He may test us by allowing us to exert our own wills against His. He desires our cooperation. Ponder that thought for a moment. The God Who created all and sustains all in existence enters into our lives and treats us as friends, able to walk with Him and talk with Him and listen to Him and act with Him, to lead others to newness of life. He is, indeed, Lord, but He calls those who accept Him His friends!
John 15:15
I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth. But I have called you friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.
Amen.
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