Fully Alive

I asked a woman once if Johnny was in the house. She pointed at a chair and said, ‘If he was here he would be there.‘ He never moved far! Jesus – he is here and there. The risen lord has moved on, but he has not fully left us. His Spirit dwells in us.

The one who came to earth has now gone back to heaven, bringing with him all that is human. His body – the man of heaven and the God of earth – is now the church, and that’s us.

Before we are of any denomination or group, we are Christ’s. We are baptised into the church of Christ; and yes, we live out our faith in different denominations. Today is the feast of the whole church – we begin in him and end in him, like the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, on the paschal candle. Our faith is also renewed through living with Jesus – we are partners in our mission. Our faith is also renewed in reading and praying the gospel each day.

On earth we are his body, with all our strengths and weaknesses, goodness and sin. Icons have Jesus smiling as he reaches heaven, smiling on us and living through us. We prepare for the way he is with us now next Sunday – in the Spirit. Where the qualities of the Spirit are alive, he is alive and well among us.

A breathing prayer – as you breathe in notice you are
breathing in the gift of life from God.
Holy Spirit, living in the church, living in Mary,
draw me more fully into your life.

No body now but yours…

St Teresa’s prayer is popular in this adaptation-
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do well.
Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
You are his eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Jesus speaks in the gospel about being still alive, even after his death. Mostly we find Jesus alive in the love of others. The energy of love that is connected to the energy of God, for God is love. Other times we find God close to us in prayer; but where we can sense him alive mostly is in the ordinary and extraordinary loves of every day, in marriage, family, friendship and care for others.

Many of us do not realise that in this way we have been Christ-bearers. In listening to another, in care of all sorts, in putting ourselves out for the other, in working for justice and for peace the Spirit of God is alive and people are touched by God’s love through the co-operation of ordinary men and women.

The Centre Holds

The gospel presents Jesus as the guide in life, the ‘way, truth and life‘. The Christian centre is the person of Christ. Our work for Jesus and our love for people, no matter what our calling in life, flow from this. Mother Teresa was once asked why she did what she did, and she simply said ‘for Jesus’. This centre always holds, it cannot be unhinged. It is a deeply personal relationship: we are led by Jesus ‘one by one’, known by name, not as one of a group. We follow him as one we know, not a stranger.

We study his life and times, getting to know the places and events of his life, we become familiar with the gospels and get to know him in the heart. Prayer is the way of keeping our centre of conviction and motivation strong. Freedom grows and we begin to find him everywhere.

Different types of people/ spiritualities stress different aspects of  Jesus as a sign          

The Eastern approach to Jesus is very much the ‘way’; while the African is the ‘life’.
The European stress is the ‘truth’. In Europe we need to rediscover also the joy and vibrancy of the African and Latin American expressions of faith, and also the presence of God in all life’ s moods and journeys of the Indian and Eastern traditions. We can get so caught up in small or even big truths and doctrines that we miss other centres of faith. All faith needs the balanced approach to Jesus – way, truth and life. Recall people who guided you well in your life. Pray for them.

Jesus, our way – guide me in life;
                    Jesus, our truth –  teach me your meaning of life;
  Jesus, our life – love me always.

Fr Donal Neary, S.J

Follow in Love

The first big moment of vocation is baptism. The anointing of chrism at baptism might be called the anointing for vocation.  The baptismal vocation is for witness, love and service. This is expressed in ways in which people live out their baptism in married life, single life – and within the single life, maybe religious life or priesthood.

Our active witness is to the life and the values of Jesus in our lives. Teaching is not itself a vocation, for example, but the way we teach is a way of living out our vocation. It is the same with many of the helping professions and employments. Being a good neighbour can be a living out of our vocation.

We witness to love in marriage, in family, extended family, and in friendship. Any love is a sharing in the love of God. In the moments of unselfish love in any relationship we are living out our vocation. When we love, we are doing God’s will!

We witness to service in the wider world in our care for the poor and in welcoming the stranger: the widow, the orphan, the immigrant – in fact anybody needy.

In a place of silence, let the words ‘Come, follow me’

echo in your mind and heart.

Lord, be with me as I offer myself in partnership with you

to work in your world

and in whatever capacity you think best for me.

Donal Neary SJ