Tag: writing

Good Friday

John 18:1-19

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041814.cfm

We think of “God’s Moment of Glory” as Christ’s resurrection on Easter morning, however, there are mini-moments of Glory throughout the Passion narrative itself. If we search history as well as modern culture, we think of glory in terms of a any sort of conflict in which one side is victorious; giving glory typically involves recognizing and celebrating someone’s power in said victory. We also think of glory as moments in which we are vindicated and our power or strength of character is acknowledged.

Christ’s Passion is a political event. Pilate capitulates to the Jews despite declaring three times Jesus’ innocence, because he wants to be perceived of as in step with Caesar. The people say they have no king but Caesar; this is their last argument as to why Christ should be killed. The trial of Jesus is structured into seven scenes, “These symbolize respectively the spiritual realm that Jesus represents and the world that rejects his revelation. Pilate is caught between these two worlds, feeling the pull of both, but in the end he opts for the world of Caesar rather than of God” (Collegeville Biblical Commentary). This is the story of a power “struggle” between the world and God. It is a story of Glory, because Christ recognized and acknowledged as King, Son of God, and Ruler of Eternity.

Christ initiates the conflict with the soldiers by asking them who they are looking for; the soldiers fall to the ground when he identifies himself as I AM. Because they recognize Him as Son of God, it is a moment of glory. There is yet another moment of glory when Christ tries to keep his disciples safe, for it reveals the power of His love. Christ carries his own cross, and “gives up His spirit.” John portrays a Christ who is in control; He is not a victim. The inscription reads, “King of the Jews,” in three languages. A passerby from any culture had access to the truth of His identity. These are moments of glory because despite circumstances and the horror of the situation, Christ is recognized as the Lord.

The most fundamental element of human existence is the desire to be with God. For those he has chosen as His, it is the only reason to be alive; if we are not alive in The Spirit of God, we are dead in spirit and soul. Despite cognitive understanding, we tend to perceive an inherent distance between ourselves and God because we dwell here below and have been cast from the Garden. Christ lived a human life without distance in his soul and spirit between himself and God, while enduring the distance of time and space. Because he endured such a separation, we don’t have to. By taking on human life and coming into the world, Christ eradicated the distance between ourselves and God.

While we perceive this distance, God, most probably, does not. Jesus’ desire is to reveal to all people the father’s love for them, to make the unity of the Trinity transparent, and to invite us to be a part of that unity. He dwells within, regardless of our awareness of the fact; if I am not aware of union with God am I still in union with Him? If my awareness does not alter the fact of the unity, what does it matter if I am aware or not? The sun still shines whether or not we are aware of it, but if we remain indoors it is irrelevant to us personally. Perhaps, likewise, if we are not aware of the Lord’s presence within, His being so becomes passé.

The more we “have of” the Lord, the more we want, so that regardless of continual fulfillment, we are never fulfilled. We reach for Him, but we can’t “obtain” Him. However, we extend ourselves far beyond ourselves and we obtain something else. The only way to attain this secondary thing is to remain focused on the first. The first can be most closely named as “I AM,” but this secondary, lesser “i am” is ourselves as we exist within the primary I AM. Only when we reach for I AM, can we be most authentically ourselves, for seeking and being one with I AM, is our most authentic self.

Our longing for the Lord is His glory, for it is our recognition that He has full power in our lives. Scripture is perhaps not God’s revelation of himself to people, but the mutual desire for, by, and between the Lord and His chosen. If we are destined for God, if He’s written a story for us about our life with Him and we are invited to fulfill that story, we are the fulfillment of scripture (scripture we have yet to read) ourselves. Our lives can become mini-books of Glory when we surrender to the paradoxes and diachomenies of desiring and reaching towards that which already exists and dwells within.

 

Journal Questions:

Do I agree with the idea that the desire for God is fundamental to my existence? How does this play out in my life?

 

Writing Exercise:

Jumping off from the metaphor of remaining indoors while the sun is shining, compose similar figurative language expressions to describe your own response to God’s presence in your life. Turn it/them into a narrative or poem.

 

Creative Arts:

Fabric art- Represent the “little i am,” within the “Big I AM.”

Paper art- Create the cover for the God’s scripture text that involves you as fulfillment.

Home art- Ask each household member to identify one way in which they will give glory to God, i.e. they will acknowledge Christ as Lord.

 

© 2014 Marilyn MacArthur, all rights reserved

 

 

The Prayers

The idea of giving glory to God seems a bit grandiose or presumptuous in that we cannot “give” Him glory. Is it boastful to think any action of ours could somehow add to the glory of God? When we give the Lord the gift of “giving glory,” we are changed. When we give Him glory, our hearts expand; this may or may not touch or inspire others to greater love for God but we are nevertheless transformed.

“This prayer also picks up the previous tenants of the unity of the father and son, with the disciples as the basis on which they continue to be in the world” (New Jerome Biblical Commentary). The text goes on to say the climax of the prayer “comes with the commissioning of the disciples take Jesus’ place in the world.” However Jesus’ place in the world is a state of unity between Himself and the Father. He consecrates them to the Unity of Love between Father, Son, and Spirit, not to specific deeds.

While scholars debate as to whether or not the Last Supper was a Seder, it clearly occurred around the time of Passover. At an earlier Passover, Jesus multiples the loaves and fishes, delivers the “Bread of Life” discourse, and makes the first of His ‘I am’ statements. The New Interpreters Bible characterizes both events as Eucharistic in nature; “the Eucharist is here depicted as a relationship of abiding, mutual intimacy, where believers are drawn into the love of the father and son.” Every ‘I am’ statement within the Gospels is a statement about the relationship of unity with between Son and Father.

While Jesus includes a petition around protection, He primarily prays for the disciples to be drawn into His union. Because Jesus and the Father are One, he need not vocalize or formulate His prayer to the Father. He prays verbally and aloud for the benefit of the disciples. In doing so He pulls them into His union with the Father. Chapter 17 is often called the “high priestly prayer”. The highest function of a priest and of a priestly people remains to be drawing others into the Unity of the Trinity.

We cannot consider the glory and the unity of the Trinity without feeling an intense desire for Him. ‘Desire’, ‘unity’, and ‘glory’ are part and parcel of each other, and create a circular cause-and-effect. Because of our humanity, we are limited in our perception of our own union with Him; perhaps, however, the Lord does not perceive any sort of distance or gulf. How do we live in such a way as to openly surrender to the desire for unity, thereby giving glory to God in a way that draws others into that Oneness? How do we accept and suffer through such longing while living in the real world?

Father, Son and Holy Spirit are glorified by us when we allow ourselves to feel hunger and thirst for the Lord knowing we cannot fully fulfill it in this lifetime. The acknowledgement of and surrender to the painful experience of our unfulfillable desire for Him is His glory. Teresa of Avila labels this a “sweet suffering” with only joy and peace attending it; it was for this suffering that Christ endured the cross.

 

Journal Questions:

• How do you give glory to God?
• How do you perceive or characterize your union with the Lord?
• What strategies do you employ to tolerate the unquenchable thirst, the insatiable hunger for the Trinity?

 

Writing Exercise:

Write a list of personal ‘I am’ statements. Analyze how they are or are not statements of unity with the Lord. End with a commitment to make any changes you feel necessary.

 

Creative Arts:

Fabric art- Use three versions of a color, object, stitch, etc. Each will represent one member of the Trinity.

Paper art- What might you say is the Creator’s “crowning glory?” Use or represent such in a piece.

Home arts- Create a list or a symbol of an ‘I am’ statement for your home, a room or particular area.

 

© 2014 Marilyn MacArthur, all rights reserved

The World’s Hatred and Role of the Paraclete

We wonder, am I paranoid and/or narcissistic to believe that someone feels intensely enough to hate me and consider me an enemy? These are strong words. We have all been disliked at some point because of our personality; personality conflicts seem inevitable. However, moments in which someone hates us because we love The Lord shock, grieve and frustrate us. Matthew Henry points out the age-old history of hatred towards the faithful:

“The world’s enmity against the followers of Christ: it hateth them… Why did Cain hate Abel, but because his works were righteous? Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing; Joseph’s brethren hated him because his father loved him; Saul hated David because the Lord was with him; Ahab hated Micaiah because of his prophecies; such are the causeless causes of the world’s hatred” (Matthew Henry).

Understanding that we are hated requires the shedding of innocence. Love of the Lord opens our eyes to true ugliness as well as the awe-inspiring beauty within others.

Jesus speaks of the punishment of the enemies of the Lord’s. He promises a reward for those who abide in Him. We want to rise above such childish expectations as external rewards from our Father. However both reward and punishment beg a responsibility that we may simply want to avoid. If the Lord rewards us by answering our prayers, we need to pray responsibly.

In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name (John 16:23). In this verse, two different Greek words are used for our one word, ‘ask.’ To paraphrase more accurately, Jesus says, “You will not question me, but you will make requests to our Father” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible). To ask the Father something in the name of Jesus means no less than that it is Him who dwells within us who is making the request. In this way, petitionary prayer requires two levels of prayer. On the one hand, we are praying that we be one with Christ in will and vision, on the other, we are asking for what we or others need. Our feelings and intuitions will tell us when we are or are not in sync with the indwelling Christ.

We often think of the Paraclete as equivalent to wisdom, intuition, inspiration, the giver of blessings and graces. However, the Paraclete’s functions are also “forensic” (The New Jerome Biblical Commentary.) “The mission of the Spirit… shows that while he acts as an advocate or defense lawyer for the disciples, is also a prosecutor who indicts the unbelieving world” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible). Christ rejected the excessive legalize of the Pharisees and, following His death, sends His agent into this world to judge it applying a new code of law.

Because the Paraclete is sent to vindicate the Son following His crucifixion, we think of the Paraclete as presiding over a criminal court. But He is also a defense attorney in property cases, advocating God’s rightful ownership of our souls. The Lord God v. the world. The cross embodies the world’s temper-tantrum when God wins the case. Because of the crucifixion, Christ was able to send the Paraclete to defend those who also belong to God. Jesus paid the court fees, so we could be defended pro bono. As far as property assessment, the value of our souls are but chump change, however, the Paraclete defends and covets us His pennies as if we were gold bars. For him such distinctions hold no merit.

Jesus contextualizes the disciple’s pain in terms of their subsequent joy while acknowledging His own distress. He stresses the temporary nature of pain. In John 15:11, Christ says, “All this I tell you so that my joy may be yours and your joy may be complete.” This leads us to an understanding that joy is a desire and not simply a feeling or state of being. Joy is not static or motionless; it is an incomplete desire that reaches its arms and heart out to Christ.

Jesus dwells within, destined to be with God, while being One with Him. He is One and will be completed within us, whether or not we are aware of His spiritual union within our souls. By being alive and of faith, we are hitching a ride as it were as the indwelling Christ finds its way to the God He is one with. To know the gift and grace of being chosen to be a part of this union is the only fulfillment of joy.

 

Journal Questions:

• Do you know of anyone who hates you? How do you handle such feelings when they are directed at you?
• What are your attitudes towards external, internal and spiritual rewards and punishments?
• Identify the general rewards and punishments that God has meted out to you. How did your responsibilities change because of them?

 

Writing Exercise:

Recount an experience in which you experienced joy because the desire for unity with the Trinity was fulfilled?

 

Creative Arts:

Fabric arts- Develop a piece that somehow symbolizes fulfilled joy. Try to capture the spiritual nature of the fulfillment.

Paper arts- Create a symbol that you can put in your place of prayer to remind you that petitions require “pre-prayer” to thrust us into the indwelling Christ.

Home arts- Write a list as to what gets rewarded and what bears punishment in your household. Try to capture the humor involved in our sometimes childish responses to both reward and punishment.

 

© 2014 Marilyn MacArthur, all rights reserved

 

 

Vine and Branches

There are many interpretations of whom or what the branches and fruits symbolize. The disciples would recall the many prophets who likened Israel to a vine that was barren and that stole the sap of life from the branches that had potential to produce fruit. William Barclay, John MacArthur and others suggest Jesus is referring to Judas, the Jews who refused to accept Christ, and/or those whose faith consists “of profession without practice, words without deeds” (Barclay, The Gospel of John).

St. Cyril of Alexandria indicates that the dead branches symbolize our sin and weakness;

“From Christ and in Christ, we have been reborn through the Spirit in order to bear the fruit of life; not the fruit of our old, sinful life but the fruit of a new life founded upon our faith in him and our love for him.”

The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible suggests that the parable is Eucharistic in nature. The passage itself lends to the interpretation that the fruits produced include the ministry, mission, and miraculous healings which true followers will bring about.

According to Barclay, new branches in a vineyard are cut back drastically during their first three years, so that they can conserve life and energy. They thereby become stronger and more fruitful at a future time. Spiritual maturation takes time and patience; excessive attention and diligence on the part of the vinedresser.

Like Christ’s incarnation, a vineyard is planted and nurtured intentionally. The Vinedresser is busy pruning and such, however, the Vine is passive in that it carries the life sap needed for growth, but it does not discern for itself where to send the sap. Likewise, the branches are passive and can do nothing to bring about the fruit. They simply exist as a part of a larger process which they know nothing about.

This is, therefore, not a lesson on sin, false disciples, or ministry, but a gospel which advocates doing nothing apart from surrendering and abiding in Christ. He is instructing the disciples on such acceptance of outside forces and meekness with full knowledge that He will crucified within a day. Jesus did indeed do nothing to save Himself in the face of His death. He actively chose to allow the life-saving sap of the Father’s will to flow through Him for the benefit of us branches.

Because Jesus sent the Paraclete to us, the fruits of the vine include the Fruits of the Holy Spirit; charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and chastity. These gifts are needed for loving relationships with others, and give us the tools to obey Jesus’ law of love. The idea of laying down one’s life seems like a grand gesture involving death, however we “lay down” our lives each time we put aside our own interests and needs to reach out to others.

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says “this brings vine imagery into the “indwelling language” of the farewell discourses.” Jesus is the vine regardless of our interpretation of the symbolism of the branches and fruit. He is the connection between branches, thereby linking individuals, peoples and ministries. This parable makes the dependency that we have on Christ for life within the vineyard unquestionable. Life within the vineyard is only possible because of the existence of the vine, of Christ.

How do we know who dwells within the vineyard? If a branch belongs to another Vinedresser do we interact with that branch differently? The branches do not know what fellow branches belong to His own Vinedresser; they only know their vine, and the strength of the sap flowing into them. By obeying Christ’s law of love, using the Fruits of the Holy Spirit, we are responding to His life-giving love within others in a way that honors our intimacy with Him.

 

Journal Questions:

• What is your particular ministry? How do you know that it is the Lord’s will?
• How do you balance tolerance and acceptance of those who don’t believe in an indwelling Christ with your understanding that He does do so?

 

Writing Exercise:

Identify a situation in your life in which you limited your efforts or activities to conserve life and energy. Concentrate on the result of such pruning, and the fruit that eventually developed.

 

Creative Arts:

Fabric art- Develop a piece involving vines and branches.

Paper art- Make a piece of any sort, then cut the art into two or more fragments and use those parts in some new work.

Home arts- Think of the various activities you are involved in; where’s the dead wood, what activities need to be cut or limited to become stronger? What is your particular ministry? Create an “action plan” with a mind to strengthening those efforts that may lead to greater fruit.

 

© 2014 Marilyn MacArthur, all rights reserved

The Way, the Truth, the Life

Jesus is The Way, the Truth, the Life. The Lord is the creator of life; Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are one; John tells us that Jesus was with God from the beginning of time. Thus, Jesus was with God during creation and is the co-creator of life. He is alpha and omega of all time and existence, but He is the beginning and end of our own stories as well. Because He dwells within, He is the Creator of every heart full of compassion, mercy, and forgiveness.

The disciples are continually asking Jesus where he’s going and why they can’t go with Him. Jesus says that he is going to prepare a place, to be with the Father; there are many rooms within God’s house. In saying that He is the Way, Christ is implying that our spiritual journeys lead to a specific destination. This conversation occurs at the Last Supper, about the time of Passover which is a feast to celebrate freedom. This freedom involved leaving the place of slavery and discovering a new home which God had given to them.

Barclay mentions the theology of several of the early church fathers; they suggested that there were many levels and stages of heaven. This notion also existed in Judaism in Christ’s day. This idea of layers of Heaven indicates, albeit metaphysically, a notion of location; how can we conceptualize arrival without having a “spot” at which to arrive at? Barclay proposes that Jesus could have simply been suggesting there is room for everyone in Heaven. Either way, these are concepts of Heaven, as is the understanding of Heaven on Earth, because we can’t pinpoint Heaven on a map, or experience it in its fullness until death.

If Heaven is not a place on a physical map but a spiritual “location,” conversely our placement on the earth can be conceived of as spiritual whereabouts. The ancient Celts had the notion of ‘thin places,’ physical locations in which the boundaries between the physical and spiritual were flimsy. Christ says to His disciples, “Where I AM, you there will also be.” This again indicates a location. If He dwells within another person’s heart as Spirit, if that is “where He is,” then we dwell within that heart as well.

The place on the map in which all Christians can meet and find Christ dwelling therein is at the crucifix. We come from different countries and circumstance. Despite travels, reading, and mass media, we each have limited knowledge of the details of other people’s lives. The cross is and was concrete; it was a recorded event that happened within human place and time. It is real to all believers; a place accessible to all of us simultaneously.

In this way, the cross is the only “physical place” where all Christians can meet. Most of us own a tangible representation of the cross, and so we can meet others “there.” With our crosses in hand or in sight, the context for our understanding Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life becomes our awareness of the other souls and spirits at the foot of His cross.

 

Journal Questions:

• What experiences have you had of arriving at a spiritual destination? You may or may not have planned your excursion; for example, you may have celebrated a sacrament, but you may have experienced an unexpected, unplanned epiphany.

 

Writing Exercise:

Think of a physical location that is important to you. Reflect on that location’s place in the spiritual world. Develop a narrative in which you meet others or another here.

 

Creative Arts:

Fabric arts- Represent a spiritual location that is also a physical place. Try to capture the nature of its simultaneous significance.

Paper Arts- Create a piece using a representation of the cross; however, depict people that you might meet there.

Home arts- Visit a place that is physical, yet has spiritual significance to you; pay attention to your interactions with other people there. Consider the impact of the physical interaction on the spirits of those involved.

 

© 2014 Marilyn MacArthur, all rights reserved