WALKING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF PAUL    (SPIRITUALITY)

The better, the longer, a man gets to know Jesus Christ, and the closer he gets to Him, two things are bound to happen in his life.  First, he is bound to see more and more clearly that standard of perfection in Christ by which he must judge his own life. A man might think that he does his duties and behave perfectly well … until one day he sees a real expert doing the same duty and behaving, and then he learns, he sees, rather realizes how inadequate his own standard of performance is. 

He might think that he is fairly satisfactory in whatever he does, and that he has nothing to learn, nothing to worry about, as long as he compares himself to his neighbours and to his fellow men. But the question that the Christian has to ask is not: “Am I as good as my neighbour?”  In actual fact the question should be:  “Am I as good as Jesus Himself?”

No human being can ever have any cause of satisfaction when the standard against which he sets himself is Jesus Christ. Such a comparison leaves him in a constant mourning that he falls so far short. Secondly, the more he gets to know Jesus Christ, the more he realizes the cost and effect of sin.  If the effect of sin was such as to necessitate the Passion and Death of Jesus on the Cross, consequently sin and its effect stands revealed in all its terrible consequence. Sin is completely unmasked and we are face to face with stark reality. And he realises that he can do nothing about it, but mourn as long as sin has one last grip on his life.

SAINT PAUL’S SPIRITUALITY

In the spiritual walk of Paul there is a ‘strange’ progression. Though I wonder if the word ‘strange’ is the right, correct description. It is likely that Galatians is the first Letter which Paul ever wrote, and that he wrote it about the year AD 48. In the first sentence of this Letter he calls himself “Paul, an Apostle” (Gal.1:1) Without hesitation he lays claim to the highest office in the Church; it is on his possession of that office he bases his claim to write.

Seven years later in the year AD 55, he was writing to the Corinthians. There he writes: “I am the least of the Apostles, and not fit to be called an Apostle.” (1 Cor. 15: 9) By that time he had come to think of the office of an Apostle to which he had little right and little claim.

Another eight years went by and about AD 63, he wrote the Letter addressed to the Ephesians, and in it he declares: “Unto me, who am less than the least of the saints is grace given.” (Eph. 3:8). In the New Testament ‘saint’ is the word for ‘church member’ . By that time Paul had begun to think of himself, not as an Apostle, but as barely fit to be a member of the Church at all.

At the very end of the day, when he was awaiting death, he wrote to Timothy, and in that letter he wrote: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief.” (1 Tim: 1:15) Here, the man whom all the world regarded as a supreme servant of Jesus Christ calls himself the ‘chief of sinners’. Nor is there any cause for surprise in all this.

A man might think that he is a fairly satisfactory person, and that he has nothing to worry about … as long as he compares himself to his neighbor and to his fellow men. But the question he should ask is: “Am I as good as Jesus Christ ?”.
That is the question Paul asked.

OBEDIENCE

The universe is governed by laws.  Things are this way and not that way.  By submission to laws we make them our own.  For example, if we obey the laws of the body we keep it in health; if we obey the laws of the mind, we keep it learned. Spiritual being has its prizes too, as our Lord said: “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.”  In other words, true obedience springs from love, not from force or fear.

The worst man in the world knows a great deal more of his duty than the best man does.  It is not for want of  knowledge that men go to pieces, but rather for want of obedience to the knowledge of the good they already possess.

Earthly rulers say nothing concerning the temper or spirit of those who obey; all they ask is compliance with edicts and laws.  Threats and penalties are attached to infractions, such as  a fine for speeding.  The legal world says: “If you fear me you will keep  my commandments.”  But in the Divine Order it is different: “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.”

Adapted from Fulton J. Sheen

MYSTERY

G.K.Chesterton once said: “God has put a tremendous mystery in nature and that, is the sun. In the light of that one thing, which we cannot see because of its brightness, everything else is made clear.

Likewise though we cannot comprehend the nature of God completely in this life, nevertheless, in the light of the truths which He revealed, everything else is made clear, such as the mystery of pain, suffering, death, life and birth.”

There are, therefore two kinds of wisdom: wisdom of the flesh and the wisdom which God gives. One is very often opposed to the other The first would say this is the only life there is; therefore we should get all we can of it. The other sees that this life is a kind of scaffolding up through which we climb to eternal happiness; it will therefore, be so used as a ladder to the Mansions of the Heavenly Father.

But this Divine Wisdom comes only to those who have qualifications for receiving it, and, one of the conditions is good behavior. As Our Blessed Lord said; “If anyone will do my will, he will know my doctrine.”

Fulton J. Sheen

SPIRITUAL GEMS

I love my friends neither with my heart nor with my mind; the heart can stop and the mind can forget. I love them with my soul, the soul never stops and never forgets. (Anon.)

Every new-born child comes with a message; that God is not yet discouraged of man. (Rabindranath Tagore.)

Good Morning! Life is too short to to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right and pray for the ones who don’t. (Anon.)

No matter how samall we are or what colour our skin is; like a small candle, we all can produce the same light. Spread LIGHT with your thoughts, words and actions. (Anon.)

It’s a dark world and you were born to spread light. (Anon.)

God does not look at how much we do, but with how much love we do it. (Mother Theresa)

Every morning starts a new page in your story. Make it a great one, today. (Anon.)

In your relation with your neighbour always consider yourself. God's commandment, 'Love your neighbor as yourself' means that you should do to your neighbour what you would another person do to you, and that you should not do to another what you would not want that other person do to you. (From the Writings of St.George Preca, the Maltese Saint.)

Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee. (St.Augustine)

Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others. (St.Augustine)

TESTIMONY OF FAITH by Malcolm Muggeridge 4.

What the wilderness offers, is its emptiness – and silence. The world seems far away. No social life, no media, no votes to cast, money to accumulate. Just an arid haven of refuge. I love the wilderness because when all these pursuits of mind and body have been shed, what remains is an unencumbered soul, with no other concern than to look for God. And, looking is finding, one may dare to hope, is keeping. From such an encounter what emerges ?

That we are indeed made in the image of God, and may aspire to participate in His purposes. What they are we cannot know, what they portend we cannot imagine. Nevertheless knowing God brings with it the faith to surrender to them. Then at last we can say, really meaning it, that line in the Lord’s Prayer: Thy Will be done ….. which is all there is to say to God at any time.

When we accept this, the wilderness is suddenly full of joy and hope; it does veritably blossom like a rose in the confident knowledge that nothing can befall usto our ultimate hurt other than to become separated from God. All other ills than this are transitory and, like clouds melting in the sun’s glow, come to be incorporated in the radiance of God’s universal love.

(Mind you these are words of faith declared by a person who was a convert to Catholicism and who has spoken out to the world to give testimony of what he was convinced of … a genuine belief in the message of Jesus Christ.

TESTIMONY OF FAITH by Malcolm Muggeridge 3 / 4

(These declarations, fruit of enlightment of the Holy Spirit, are intended for ‘all men of goodwill’.)

A seeker of Reality is bound sooner or later to be drawn to the sea of Galilee, where God leaned down to become a man – Jesus of Nazareth- so that men might reach up and relate themselves to their Creator.. Or, in the iimagery of St.John’s Gospel, where “the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us. Full of grace and truth.”

It has been my good fortune to visit Galilee often. The last time I was there I surveyed the scene with particular intensity. Who can fail to be uplifted by this vista? As one more pilgrim who has found his way to Galilee, a child of his time with a skeptical mind and sensual disposition, let me add my testimony to that of millions of others during the last 20 centuries.

So I say that the words Jesus spoke and the revelation He proclaimed, were true when He spoke them, and true now and forever. Moreover they provide for all who care to heed them a release from the fantasy of power, which is the world, transporting them into the reality of love, which is the kingdom, not of this world, that Jesus proclaimed.

Yet there is something else, something that I fine hard to express: an illumination that comes flooding in on one’s being, a knowledge past knowing, a hope past hoping. Call it faith which swallows up all the little intricacies of doubt and factual fidgeting. Call it being reborn , a new ctreature rising out of the dust of worldly living, like a butterfly out of its chrysalis.

Whatever it may be called, it came to pass in Galilee. A new dimension was added to our mortal existence; a new freedom, not based on institutions or propositions, but burgeoning in each human heart and needing only to be allowed to grow.

After His Baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist, our Lord made for the wilderness. Paul did the same after his Damascus Road experience. So have countless others, from hermits subsisting in remote caves to troubled souls to be seen walking in city parks before the day’s noises have begun.

(Mind you these are not words coming out of a person who has been declared by the Catholic Church a Saint …though he might deserve that honour.) ... /4

TESTIMONY OF FAITH by Malcolm Muggeridge 2 / 4

The first choice is to accept and believe in the incredible beauty of our earth, and my fellow humans; of the earth’s colours and shapes and smells and sounds, of human love and the continuance of life from generation to generation. All these seem absolutely wonderful. The second impression, stronger than I can possibly convey is that as an infinitesimal particle of life, I am a participant in our Creator’s purpose for His Creation and those purposes are loving and not malign, creative and not destructive, universal and not particular. With this conviction comes a very great comfort and a very great joy.

In this state of mind, the realization that I am part of God’s Plan, one looks back on one’s worldly pursuits with a sort of distaste, as though it was all so much a waste of time. Yet, I must admit that journalism, which I have practiced for the last half century and more, has one great advantage; it gives one a sharp sense indeed of the buffoonery of power and of those who seek it and exercise it.

Without a god, men have to be gods themselves, and fabricate their own immortality, as they have in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Exhibition. In the beginning was the image and the image became ‘wax’ and dwelt amongst us, full of absurdity.

In this wax depository stand images of the famous and infamous, of the celebrated and the notorious, stars in an unterminable soap opera called history. There is even an image there of myself.
I like Pascal’s notion tat people in authority need to dress up to justify their eminence, “If judges didn’t wear ermine” he said, “ who could suppose that they were capable of dispensing justice ?” We would say the same of priests in their vestments, admirals in their gold braid, chefs with their tall white hats.

Authority requires an image. Men, in relation to power become images; only in their relation to God do they dare to be men. I’ve always had the feeling that somehow, somewhere, there was another dimension to reality where the fancy dress was put aside, the grease-paint washed off. I feel as though all my life I’ve been looking for an alternative scene; for the flesh beneath the wax, the light beyond are lights, a vista beyond reach of mortal eyes.

How extraordinary that I should have found it, not in flying up to the sun, like Icarus, but in God coming down to me in the Incarnation.”

(Mind you these are not words coming out of a person who has been declared by the Catholic Church a Blessed …though I believe he deserves that honour.)

TESTIMONY OF FAITH by Malcolm Muggeridge 1/ 4
Who is Malcolm Muggeridge

Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (24 March 1903 – 14 November 1990) was an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist. During World War II, he was a soldier and a spy. In his early life a left-wing sympathiser, Muggeridge later became a forceful anti-communist. He is credited with popularising Mother Teresa and in his later years became a Catholic and moral campaigner.

“When I look back on my life, my allotted span of three score years and ten already past, what strikes me most forcibly is this. Things that seemed at the time so significant and seductive seem now so futile and absurd; success in its various guises; being known and being praised; ostensible pleasures, like making money or going to and fro in the world, exploring and experiencing whatever Vanity Fair has to offer.

In retrospect all these exercises in self-gratification seem pure fantasy. They are diversions designed to distract us from the true purpose of our existence, which is, quite simply, to look for God, and having found Him, to love Him, thereby establishing a harmonious relationship with His purpose.”
(Mind you these are not words coming out of a person who has been declared by the Catholic Church a Venerable …though I believe he deserves that honour.)

”Old age is often called a second childhood. And it’s true in a way. I remember things that happened when I was a child much more vividly than things that have happened more recently. But when people see this second childhood as an intimation of senescence, I don’t agree; I am more inclined to think of it as a conditioning process for eternity, as accustoming one to the circumstances that one will move into.

Something else happens to me quite often nowadays. It sounds strange but actually it is enormously delightful. I have a vivid sense of being half in and half out of my body, as though it were almost a toss-up whether I am to resume my earthly life, or to make off and leave my old carcass behind me for ever. In this curious state, a sort of limbo between time and eternity, I have two strong convictions, as we shall see. … / 2

ST. ANTHONY OF PADOVA

The Farmers Grain is Saved!

The last days of St. Anthony were passed with his friend, Count Tiso,at Camposampiero. There, on the wooded estate of the nobleman, Anthony chose a giant walnut tree as the spot where he would rest. His faithful companions, Friars Roger and Luke Belldi, built a cell of twigs in the branches of the tree as a shelter for the Saint. People came to hear St. Anthony.

To get to his cell they tramped through the property of a neighboring farmer who had planted the field in grain. The press of many feet were ruining the almost ripened grain. The farmer complained to the Saint who comforted him, and told him to come back the next day to harvest his grain. The farmer did as he was told. When he returned the next day, he saw with amazement every bit of grain quite erect and fully ripe for the harvest.

Taken from the Miracles of Saint Anthony of Padova

This is the last posting about miracles worked through the intercession of St.Anthony of Padova. As we have seen St.Anthony is not simply the Saint to pray to when objects are lost. He is one of those Saints through whom God showed His power and love. We have to keep in mind that all the lost objects; the dead daughter restored to life; the baby who fell from a high window; the field of grain restored to its full bloom and the, literally hundreds of other miracles, they were all the work of God Himself working through this holy Friar.

But it is God who performs miracles. In His great wisdom God channels His power, His love, His signs, His proofs through holy men and women. But we have to keep in mind that God is the source, for that reason we say ‘through the intercession of ’.

Another lesson learned from these miracles is the fact that IF , WE (Tony, Mary, John, Doris ....) are close to the source, to God, HE can work miracles through our intercession as well.  That would be the day when we can say: Thank God, I’m almost there.’   God bless us all.