Contemplate the Literal

The psalmist from the texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today makes the proclamation that "My soul makes its boast in the Lord". The inspired action of Peter, John and the disciples of Jesus to heal and teach in Jesus name has them brought before the religious authorities who they have disobeyed.  Peter answered the authorities with his decision that it is better to serve God who raised the Son of Man from the dead than men, even the men who uphold a religious tradition in expectation of the coming of the Son of Man. The inspiration to challenge the path proposed by the "Sanhedrin of today" must still be sought. Scholarship and contemplation may seem to be contradictory approaches, yet the comment of Friar Jude Winkler that this passage from Acts uses the passive voice to describe the raising of Jesus by God leads to the contemplation that the Father acts and Jesus allows the will of the Father to act upon Him. In "giving permission" to God, we become examples of the Love which is the Divine. The "dualism" of the Gospel of John is evident in the episode today that continues Nicodemus instruction from Jesus. The challenge of the dualism method is that we stop thinking at the good versus bad claim of the author.  When we do not contemplate the extremes of Life in Jesus versus our choice of  a life of loneliness and selfishness we miss the reality of human life as striving for communion with the Divine while at the same time being distracted from our desire for Life by our addictions to selfishness. Richard Rohr, a teacher with a passion that advocates the avoidance of "dualistic thinking" offers contemplation as a means to movement to deeper levels of spiritual understanding than literal interpretation of text. Rohr offers that 'God comes to us disguised as our life’.

Of course, we loose!

The spiritual journey includes our path through life and death as Paul speaks to the Romans in the text today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary. The psalmist addresses the natural human fear of death with the proclamation that the Lord is my light and my salvation. Richard Rohr, in Falling Upward, emphasizes the necessity of death to self in the completion of the spiritual journey toward transcendent intimacy with the Divine. The Gospel of Luke in Chapter 15, Rohr writes, contains 3 stories of loss. The sheep, a coin and a son are lost.  He comments that these parable are about loosing something, searching for it with some effort, finding it again and rejoicing about the return of the lost. This seems to be the necessary path of spiritual growth. We are always loosing, searching and regaining. The advice of the psalmist as we move through these phases is to believe that we shall see the goodness of the Lord and to be strong and let our hearts take courage especially when we are at the stage of anticipating loss or struggling to find the lost part of our relationship with God. Paul cautions against judgement of our neighbours who may be in the necessary struggle portion of their current search. We trust that they like we will regain the state where "every tongue shall give praise to God"

Humility and heading home

hThe texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary suggest thoughts of heading home for people and individuals. Paul is convinced, as he addresses the Romans, that Israel will experience the fulfillment of the promises of the Covenant which seem to Paul, at the time, to be going to the Gentiles. His understanding is God is working through the rejection by Israel to bring those "not under the Law" into intimacy with the Divine. The Covenant that binds God and Israel as "people and God" will also be completed as the promises of God are irrevocable. This necessary steadfastness of God is praised by the psalmist who praises the discipline from God which ultimately leads to being held up and transcendently carried home by the intimacy with God. A discipline and practice which opens the path home is humility. The ego has difficulty in surrendering first place or rushing to place self at the head of the line. The ego sees God as competition and like the advice Jesus gives today in the Gospel from Luke, we should seek the lower place and "dismiss the loyal soldier", as Richard Rohr puts it, called ego, which has served our establishing of temporal security and comfort and humbly enter the wedding feast which celebrates our coming home to our most intimate relationship with God.

Preparation to hear from ancient experience

The words of Jeremiah “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock” (Jeremiah 31.10) from the texts in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offers a starting point for reflection. This understanding of the nature of the relationship with the Divine helps to “flesh out” our understanding of Divine movement and direction in the lives and experience of the ancient authors of Sacred Text and in our lives today. Matthew relates Jesus explanation of the parable of the sower. The need to be prepared to hear the Word is the action arising from this parable. How does that preparation occur? There are many ways for opening the spiritual ears. Richard Rohr suggests the suppression of the ego necessary for this opening can come from great love and/or great suffering. The message of Jeremiah recalls the life of Job who lived great love and great suffering as his relationship with the Divine deepened. The knowledge of the Spiritual Canon and the Tradition which is initially a “Sunday school exercise” becomes a key or a hoe to open the door or prepare the soil to recognize the shepherd and to bear fruit for the benefit of the community. Another observation from the Canon and the Tradition is the paradox that the Way seems obscure to those who try hard to see but is clear to those who simply say “yes”.

Hearing but not accepting

The Scripture passages referenced in the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today, take us to Luke’s account of the beginning of Jesus ministry. This passage continues the look at the paradox of Jesus. Richard Rohr has written and taught much on the importance of the tension of paradox in the spiritual development of people. In Christian tradition, Jesus is fully human and fully divine. This is one tension with which we work. There are many more. Luke shows us that even though the people gathered in the synagogue were “amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth” they dismissed Him as Joseph’s son.

Necessary tension in contemplation

During the season of Advent, the Roman Catholic Lectionary features Scripture which prepares us for the Incarnation. The tradition of the Church contains over 2000 years of special ways to bring this spiritual relationship to our understanding. Two concepts from the Tradition and from the concept of the need for “spiritual tensions” are presented today. Luke’s gospel presents the ‘yes’ of Mary which generates the paradox and tension of Virgin and Mother in the same person. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated today, creates the tension of one of the children of God with a place, because of Divine grace, of sinless relationship to the Divine in a reality where “all have sinned and have fallen short”. The Mystery is the tension between these concepts which like our own personal spiritual mystery need to be held in our being as we find the “third eye” of contemplation and spiritual growth that Rohr exhorts as the essential journey to know ourselves in the Divine.

Seeing the signs

Luke recounts Jesus telling His disciples to observe the sign of the fig tree in the Gospel from today’s Roman Catholic Lectionary. This passage is placed with the account of the end times in Daniel. I am drawn to think of Richard Rohr and his explanation of the development of “the third eye” among contemplative Christians. This type of “living in the Now” brings insight and vision about the present moment. In that “Naked Now” the Presence is detected. It becomes as clear as the fruit of the fig tree. The time which Jesus and Daniel speak of begins NOW. The timeless Divine is not prisoner to a timeline. The Spirit within is eternal.

Invite to the tree top

Searching out a character from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today that might give us pause to think is quite easy. Zacchaeus, the unpopular and ritually unclean, tax collector who steps out to encounter Jesus and ends up as Jesus host certainly demonstrates that open ourselves faith discussed by Richard Rohr in “the Naked Now”.

Neither Jew nor Gentile

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today brings us into a couple of examples of the understanding of the relationship with the Divine that Richard Rohr writes about in “The Naked Now” We apparently invite spiritual and temporal trouble when we resort to dual thinking. The Israelites were often caught between the extremes of Jew and Gentile. In the excerpt from Luke’s gospel we see that the blind man must “step out”. He must be open to change. He must have faith.

Guidance and Gift

The Roman Catholic Lectionary this morning may be presenting two different ideas for our mutual consideration. It seems that the persistence of the widow against the unjust judge in Luke’s gospel shows our role in making things work for us. The author of Wisdom and the psalmist proclaim how the might of God has taken care of His people against their enemies. What is it? God Us? A partnership? How are persistence and Hope in God’s promise related? Isn’t persistence a “Gift of the Spirit.” I think Richard Rohr would find much here for contemplation.

Non Dual searching for Presence

The psalmist writes in today’s Roman Catholic Lectionary, that his soul is calmed like a child with its mother. The psalmist seems to be experiencing Presence. I hope today to continue reading in “The Naked Now” by Richard Rohr. At the same time, I am thinking about an interview, after his latest book, with Bishop John Shelby Spong who ponders the question of the ultimate mystery; death and what happens next. This interview is available as a podcast from CBC Tapestry. Psalmist, Franciscan seer and Episcopal Bishop all identify a living state which, when it is in contact with the Divine resonates with life and will be seen as a life with the “Marks of the True Christian” cited today by Paul in his letter to the Romans. Luke tells the “The Parable of the Great Dinner” where Jesus shares that those who are expected and invited to live in this Presence may decline the invitation. The grace will have its effect of bringing many, the unexpected, to the Banquet.

Transformed Transform

To what can we attribute the overwhelming confidence of Paul expressed in the text from Romans in today's Roman Catholic Lectionary that absolutely nothing can separate us from the Love of God. Richard Rohr in “The Naked Now" expresses the thought that the transformed people transform others. Certainly, Paul is the transformed person who has in 2000 years assisted in the transformation of many. His transformation is His confidence in the Love of God.

Presence in Prayer

In the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, Luke tells of the selection of the Apostles. ” Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. 13And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them” (Luke 6:12). I am currently reading “The Naked Now” by Richard Rohr. He questions how we so easily fall into public liturgical prayer which may be positioning ourselves like the Pharisees and lawyers that Jesus referred to as hypocrites. Rohr offers Jesus as the model of prayer, which is being aware of Presence, an as Luke tells us is on the mountain in the “naked now”!

Resonance and the sense of intense understanding

I just finished ordering Richard Rohr's new book, The Naked Now, after hearing an interview with him on the CBC Program, Tapestry. Rohr is a Franciscan priest who talks eloquently about the life of St. Francis, as a man who "got it". He formulates an approach to avoiding dual thinking. This non dual thinking is, in Rohr's opinion, the thinking and action of Jesus. The interview and the web searching I have done since listening to the radio program resonate with my search. The The Enneagram: A Typology of Personality, used by Rohr to explore the ego and psychology of believers also identified well my personality type. How satisfying it is to encounter ideas and techniques which resonate with your spirit!