More than ever, I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference: the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel my self so totally in God's hands. This beautiful and personal prayer was written by Pedro Arrupe, SJ after he suffered a debilitating stroke. Every time I read it, I find it speaking to me in a different way. Don't we all long for what Fr. Pedro wanted? How comforting to be held in the hands of God. The fact is that God's hands are so large that they can hold all of us at the same time. There is no limit to God despite the attempts by some to define who and what God is and can do. Allowing God to comfort us seems like it would be easy but very often our own actions prohibit it from happening. We usually want to solve the problem ourselves rather than simply turning it over to God to handle. Depend on Him in all things. Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added. We must work everyday to "find" ourselves in the hands of God. Fr. Pedro's journey was difficult but in his pain and suffering, he realized that God is right there. If you are suffering, take the pain and use it for good. Join yourself with Christ on the cross and offer your suffering for everyone else. In your suffering, you can tabernacle with Christ. You can see the world through the eyes of Jesus. Allow God to take you in His hands now.
The spiritual climax of the Gospel of John, as Father John Waiss points out, occurs at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus utters his parting words: “Woman, behold, your son!” and “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27). While these words were addressed to the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the Church has long understood this moment as a universal adoption. To truly image Christ, we must share in His parentage; if we embrace God as our spiritual Father but reject Mary as our mother, we treat Christ as a half-brother rather than our "firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). As Origen noted as early as the third century, the profound depths of the Gospel are only accessible to those who, like John, rest their heads on Jesus’ breast and receive Mary into their own homes. This maternal role is deeply rooted in biblical typology, positioning Mary as the fulfillment of the great mothers of the Old Covenant. She is the New Eve , the mother of all the living according ...
Comments
Post a Comment