Increasingly, I come to realise that the events of life are how God actually shows himself to us. He is teaching us by what actually happens to us, and what happens, includes my relationships, my thoughts, joyful times, sadder times, praying, going to Church, my family, my temperament – in fact, everything. That is where peace and joy come from – from the living God of life – not from the God of theories and ideas, important as those are.

I then found myself thinking, how hard I personally find it to share the “joy of the gospel” with others! I know how much God and the gospel mean to me, but I am incapable of helping others to find God and his love for themselves. I do not seem to have much success in spreading the good news of Jesus. The reason I think is that for me it is impossible but not for God, because it is God alone who can help people to know God. If I did have success in this regard it would probably not do any good, as I would easily become big headed, attributing success to myself when only God can give the gift of faith to a person. I would destroy the very precious gift I was trying to share!

What does God want from me? Not me to work his miracles but to create the possibility that God himself will do so. This means with others belonging to the one body of Christ, which means seeing my neighbours as my allies in this enterprise. For the Body of Christ is Christ himself; together we make up the one person of Christ where God lives among us. This is a hard task! It means truly caring for each other, truly loving each other, and there being no strings attached to my “loving”. How hard that is to do when the other may not have the same ideas, or temperament and might even be somebody who is lazy or has different priorities or may even be actively working in a way that undermines the gospel values. Our Lord in his humanity always chose to live the Word, the Word who is Love,even when his enemies crucified him: “Father, forgive them they know not what they do” (Luke 23: 24).

I do not see God, but I see our neighbour, and if I am pure in heart then I do see God, with my heart and my spirit because I can see God is alive in me, making me patient, docile, merciful, including all the other virtues that do not come to me “naturally”.

 

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Eleanor Farjean

 

I get a help each day to try to live better the Word of God for the month: this month the Word I am trying to live along with many others is: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. (Jn 15:10)” On Tuesday last 11 March I got this short motto to help to live the Word of God; always see each other new. That is do not allow yesterday’s thoughts and feelings infect the new day; when I can see my neighbour in a new way. The song, “Morning has broken expresses the same idea:  

“Morning has broken like the first morning, Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird. Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning! Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word! Sweet the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven, like the first dewfall on the wet grass …Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning born of the one light Eden saw play! Praise with elation, praise ev’ry morning, God’s recreation of the new day”.  

Each day is a new day: and it struck me this old chestnut of a song is a better one than ever I thought. It is so easy to put my neighbour into a category, often negative, and become complacent and let situations take over rather than God the Risen One who makes all things new.  In his newness each day I discovered the author of “Morning is Broken” is Eleanor Farjean (1881-1965) and is clearly somebody thoughtful and great. It is worth looking her up in the internet. 

Father Jonathan