HOLY WEEK & EASTER MESSAGE 2008
Peace and Good in Christ! It is time for my Holy Week and Easter message to our community and two basic thoughts come to mind.
Peace and Good in Christ! It is time for my Holy Week and Easter message to our community and two basic thoughts come to mind.
HOW TO BE "SET APART" IN HOLY WEEK
The "holy" in "Holy Week" has special significance, as "Holy" means "set apart." Holy Week is time for us to set aside special times and places to do more intensely the positive things we do daily as disciples of Jesus. To be a "disciple" means to embrace the "discipline" of a teacher or master. For a Christian, Jesus is our Teacher of teachers and Master of masters. For most of us this means more intentional time and space for prayer and meditation on Jesus and the Church. In addition to personal spirituality in the privacy of our own home, it might also mean going more often to church for Mass or Communion or the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the "communion" of "community" with those of one mind and heart regarding faith and morality. Simple acts of kindness that do not have to be noticed or rewarded by anyone but God are also advocated.
On a personal note, I was deeply touched during Lent when one of our consecrated sisters brought meals to my hermitage during a time of illness. I was also blessed by a discipline embraced by several monastics of not saying anything negative about anyone. Both of these penances touched me deeply.
The "holy" in "Holy Week" has special significance, as "Holy" means "set apart." Holy Week is time for us to set aside special times and places to do more intensely the positive things we do daily as disciples of Jesus. To be a "disciple" means to embrace the "discipline" of a teacher or master. For a Christian, Jesus is our Teacher of teachers and Master of masters. For most of us this means more intentional time and space for prayer and meditation on Jesus and the Church. In addition to personal spirituality in the privacy of our own home, it might also mean going more often to church for Mass or Communion or the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the "communion" of "community" with those of one mind and heart regarding faith and morality. Simple acts of kindness that do not have to be noticed or rewarded by anyone but God are also advocated.
On a personal note, I was deeply touched during Lent when one of our consecrated sisters brought meals to my hermitage during a time of illness. I was also blessed by a discipline embraced by several monastics of not saying anything negative about anyone. Both of these penances touched me deeply.
BE AUTHENTIC WITNESSES FOR CHRIST
I have also been struck in recent weeks by the much talked about report that eight out of ten Americans call themselves "Christians." That is much higher than I would have thought and is very revealing concerning everything from interfaith issues such as meditation and mysticism to moral issues such as pro-life and simple living. But the report goes on to say that most have not stayed with the religion of their upbringing and now tend to "shop around" among various churches whenever their current one gets familiar or "old."This is a bit disconcerting. It is a challenge to the church, and a challenge to our culture. How is it that so many call themselves not just religious or "churched" but "Christians," yet are unhappy with the stability offered in the institutions of traditional family and church? On one level this report gives great hope that we will find enough common ground with those of western culture to bring the deeper messages of faith, morality, and mysticism. On another level, it means that we Americans tend to only "buy" that which is easy, simple, and quickly replaceable. Is it any wonder that deep levels of spirituality are seldom reached by those of our own culture?
I have also been struck in recent weeks by the much talked about report that eight out of ten Americans call themselves "Christians." That is much higher than I would have thought and is very revealing concerning everything from interfaith issues such as meditation and mysticism to moral issues such as pro-life and simple living. But the report goes on to say that most have not stayed with the religion of their upbringing and now tend to "shop around" among various churches whenever their current one gets familiar or "old."This is a bit disconcerting. It is a challenge to the church, and a challenge to our culture. How is it that so many call themselves not just religious or "churched" but "Christians," yet are unhappy with the stability offered in the institutions of traditional family and church? On one level this report gives great hope that we will find enough common ground with those of western culture to bring the deeper messages of faith, morality, and mysticism. On another level, it means that we Americans tend to only "buy" that which is easy, simple, and quickly replaceable. Is it any wonder that deep levels of spirituality are seldom reached by those of our own culture?
This is a challenge to those of us who stay with one church or spouse for life. It challenges us to live our stability in a more life-giving way, a way that must authentically change us within before it can change anyone or anything without. This is called being a "witness" for Christ. But such "witnessing" can be most off-putting if done only for display. It must be genuine and humble if it is to have a positive effect.
IN SUMMARY: EMBRACE DEEP CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY
So I encourage you to set aside extra time for prayer, church sacraments, and care for others. Let's embrace a Christian spirituality that takes us so deep that we no longer feel the need for the easy and quickly-replaced spirituality that has become so prominent in America today. Then we can get to the root of the problems of our culture, a culture that sees everything from marriage to monasteries as needing to be easily and quickly replaced. Then we can find the stability of Jesus, who never leaves us easily or quickly when we fall into the various troubles of life. Then we can have a stability within that no one can take away, a stability that brings a deep and abiding peace to our troubled and insecure world.
So I encourage you to set aside extra time for prayer, church sacraments, and care for others. Let's embrace a Christian spirituality that takes us so deep that we no longer feel the need for the easy and quickly-replaced spirituality that has become so prominent in America today. Then we can get to the root of the problems of our culture, a culture that sees everything from marriage to monasteries as needing to be easily and quickly replaced. Then we can find the stability of Jesus, who never leaves us easily or quickly when we fall into the various troubles of life. Then we can have a stability within that no one can take away, a stability that brings a deep and abiding peace to our troubled and insecure world.
Of course, I cannot do any of this without God's grace, and most specifically through the dying and rising of Jesus. This is the whole point of Holy Week and Easter. When I let go of my egocentric self in the dying of Christ, then my real self finds its place gracefully in His resurrection. Without this I can do nothing.
In Jesus,
John Michael Talbot
Founder and Spiritual Father
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage
John Michael Talbot
Founder and Spiritual Father
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage
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