Pope John Paul II, soon to be Saint and mystic was a spiritual icon and pillar in these late post-Vatican II days. The shadow he cast on the Church is certainly a large one. His successor to the Throne of St. Peter, Pope Benedict XVI, however, is fashioning a very interesting papacy in his own right. Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger has always been his own man and as Holy Father is not caught up at all in the shadow of his predecessor.
Beginning with his Motu Proprio, Sacrosanctum Consilium in July of 2007, Benedict has tried to move the Church away from the failed reforms of Vatican II. By restoring the Tridentine Rite Mass to it’s rightful place in the Church’ liturgical life, Benedict is signaling once again that the Church’s liturgical development is organic. This is a beak, albeit unofficial with the artificial constructs of Vatican II, when the reform of the Mass was mandated by a Committee, rather than bearing the fruits of natural growth and development. Other changes are coming to the present Mass, including the dialogue parts of the Mass, that will reflect more faithfully the translations of the Original Latin
. On the ecumenical front, Benedict has reached out to the disaffected Pius X Society and most recently opened his arms to Anglicans, struggling with conflicts within their own faith.
Yes, he is his own man. Pope Benedict shows us that the Church is eternal. It is about continuity, not breaking with the past but incorporating the past into who and what we are today.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Relating To The Trinity
My sense of Trinity has changed and evolved over the years. As my “sense” of Trinity has fluctuated, so has my relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God the Father has always been my greatest comfort and the One whom I address most of my prayer. As long as I can remember, I have been awed by the creation event and the order of the universe. Two of the scriptures that I use frequently in my mental prayer are the first chapter of Genesis (Gn 1: 1-31) and the prologue to the Gospel of John (Jn 1:1-15). Both of these passages speak to me of the timelessness and eternity of God, the God who loved us so much that he created us in his image and likeness. John’s Gospel speaks to me of the love between the Father and the Son that existed before all time. Reflecting on the immensity and greatness of God helps me, as Saint Therese says, “in my own littleness”. I take great comfort in the fact that God, “is, always was and will be forever.” It helps me to know that God has and always had a plan of salvation, which began before I did and will continue long after I leave this earth.
My relationship with Jesus probably fell prey to my upbringing and the very high Christology that developed from it. I could never relate to Jesus as a person. When I first learned about him in the 1950’s it was always with the backdrop of the Eucharist. I worshiped and adored Him as my Eucharistic Lord. Because of this view, I believe, that it has always been difficult for me to relate to Jesus as a person. Jesus was too hard to emulate, too perfect. He set a standard that was impossible to follow. I always felt deeply about Jesus’ love for us and am greatly affected by His passion yet I never felt like I could measure up to his example. I know that this is wrong but it is a feeling that is difficult to shake. I feel closest to Jesus during Lent, knowing that he suffered so much and that His Divinity did nothing to mitigate it – He did it all for us. Much of this attitude is beginning to change, as I see Jesus in a much more human light. My Carmelite spirituality has also given me a greater closeness to Jesus as well as an abiding love of the Cross.
Of all of the changes in my view of the Trinity that is probably the most striking, is my greater awareness of the Holy Spirit. As a child, I had no concept of the Holy Spirit, it developed very slowly. Probably from my reflections on Genesis, where “the spirit of God” moved over the waters, etc, to Jesus’ promise that His Father would send the Holy Spirit. From the Hebrew word “ruah” (breath) , I saw God the Father’s “breath” of life that He breathed into man at creation and Jesus’ breathing on the disciples in John 20 :22, “Receive the Holy Spirit” as one and the same. I have come to understand how that same Spirit has worked in and through the Church from the first Pentecost. I see the Holy Spirit as the animating force behind
all that is good. Any charitable or prayerful inclination that I may have, I attribute to the Holy Spirit.
It does seem odd that I seem to relate more to two pure spirits, God the Father and the Holy Spirit, more than the Incarnate God at times. However, I feel that I am gradually moving more towards viewing Jesus less as an unattainable role model, and more as God who empathizes and shares my burdens. Burdens which He, too experienced on earth.
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God the Father has always been my greatest comfort and the One whom I address most of my prayer. As long as I can remember, I have been awed by the creation event and the order of the universe. Two of the scriptures that I use frequently in my mental prayer are the first chapter of Genesis (Gn 1: 1-31) and the prologue to the Gospel of John (Jn 1:1-15). Both of these passages speak to me of the timelessness and eternity of God, the God who loved us so much that he created us in his image and likeness. John’s Gospel speaks to me of the love between the Father and the Son that existed before all time. Reflecting on the immensity and greatness of God helps me, as Saint Therese says, “in my own littleness”. I take great comfort in the fact that God, “is, always was and will be forever.” It helps me to know that God has and always had a plan of salvation, which began before I did and will continue long after I leave this earth.
My relationship with Jesus probably fell prey to my upbringing and the very high Christology that developed from it. I could never relate to Jesus as a person. When I first learned about him in the 1950’s it was always with the backdrop of the Eucharist. I worshiped and adored Him as my Eucharistic Lord. Because of this view, I believe, that it has always been difficult for me to relate to Jesus as a person. Jesus was too hard to emulate, too perfect. He set a standard that was impossible to follow. I always felt deeply about Jesus’ love for us and am greatly affected by His passion yet I never felt like I could measure up to his example. I know that this is wrong but it is a feeling that is difficult to shake. I feel closest to Jesus during Lent, knowing that he suffered so much and that His Divinity did nothing to mitigate it – He did it all for us. Much of this attitude is beginning to change, as I see Jesus in a much more human light. My Carmelite spirituality has also given me a greater closeness to Jesus as well as an abiding love of the Cross.
Of all of the changes in my view of the Trinity that is probably the most striking, is my greater awareness of the Holy Spirit. As a child, I had no concept of the Holy Spirit, it developed very slowly. Probably from my reflections on Genesis, where “the spirit of God” moved over the waters, etc, to Jesus’ promise that His Father would send the Holy Spirit. From the Hebrew word “ruah” (breath) , I saw God the Father’s “breath” of life that He breathed into man at creation and Jesus’ breathing on the disciples in John 20 :22, “Receive the Holy Spirit” as one and the same. I have come to understand how that same Spirit has worked in and through the Church from the first Pentecost. I see the Holy Spirit as the animating force behind
all that is good. Any charitable or prayerful inclination that I may have, I attribute to the Holy Spirit.
It does seem odd that I seem to relate more to two pure spirits, God the Father and the Holy Spirit, more than the Incarnate God at times. However, I feel that I am gradually moving more towards viewing Jesus less as an unattainable role model, and more as God who empathizes and shares my burdens. Burdens which He, too experienced on earth.
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