March 8, 1997:
Dearest Father:
... Speak to me, Father. Lead me. I will follow.
What you are to do is not to be diminished by the circumstances.
[I am lead to read Nahim—regarding the destruction of Nineve; Ezech.—use of “8” in the Temple; 1 Par 26:12—ministering in the House of the Lord]
.......
Bromar4
One sentence. But it speaks volumes to me. The circumstances in our lives can seem monumental, daunting, bigger than life, overwhelming… But what He asks of us in this circumstance may seem equally inadequate, too simple.
The prophet Elijah encountered this when Naaman was brought to him to be healed when he had leprosy. Elisha told him to wash in the Jordan by submerging himself 7 times. He wasn't going to because it was too simplistic and there were better waters in his homeland that would provide medicinal properties. Nahum’s servant, replied that if he would have been willing to do something grand and difficult in order to be healed, all the more reason to do the simple thing that the prophet had asked of him. So Nahum consented, did what he was asked to do, and was healed. What Father asks of us may not be proportionate to our circumstance. In fact it rarely is. But God knows how everything is going to play out. He knows what He is going to do before we even know we have a need. He knows what our reaction will be. He knows how the devil will tempt us. So He is not just all knowing, He is all powerful. When He acts upon our circumstance, the very nature of it can be altered, changed in an instant.
What we call supernatural, since it is above our nature, outside of the natural law that He created, is natural to Him since it is not above His nature. God is not bound to the natural law the way we are. So some of the saints could levitate, bi-locate, have the stigmata, have visions, see heaven, hell and purgatory, be given words of knowledge, have prophetic dreams… The list goes on and on. They were simply tapping into an unseen existence that is even more real than ours. God created the spiritual world before He created man. Heaven and the angelic world existed before the creation of man.
Our union with God is mystical, the life of the Church is mystical, the sacraments are mystical, the Church as the body of Christ is mystical. We call certain saints mystics and often with a connotation that it is a life beyond reach. But we are all meant for the mystical life, for it is truly about the indwelling trinity. St. Paul said that we were baptized into the life death and resurrection of Jesus. We were made for an intimate union with God.
I pray that this understanding comes back to the Church. So much lack of teaching of the Doctors of the Church in the spiritual life. Our priests are not taught in seminaries and therefore the people are not taught from the pulpit.
to be continued..
Pax et Bonum
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