Transcript ONE WITH THE HEART of GOD and CHRIST

OUR CHARISM:
ONE WITH THE HEART
of GOD and CHRIST
Contemplative - Prophetic - and
Communal Dimensions
SEIZED by THIS HEART
• We DISCOVER and are captivated; we learn to
know it - to feel its power, its compassion, its
deep humanity. [Const §21 - “The Spirit
dwelling within us gradually transforms us. .
.”]
• We then find ourselves seized, taken over,
surrendering to its ways of justice, of love, of
reconciliation, and of hope.
• In that experience, we are bound together in
that HEART with every other person, with the
universe, and with life itself.
. . .from the
wounded Heart . . .
to hearts
open to
receive. . .
HEART - POWERFUL
SYMBOL
• vital center and source of one's being, emotions,
and sensibilities.
• The repository of one's deepest and sincerest
feelings and beliefs: an appeal from the heart; a
subject dear to her heart.
• The seat of the intellect or imagination: the worst
atrocities the human heart could devise.
• Capacity for sympathy or generosity; compassion: a
leader who seems to have no heart.
• The most important or essential part: get to the
heart of the matter.
TO BE the HEART of GOD
”By using the symbol of the heart of Christ as a
focal point for the mystery of God, we are
claiming something about the radical
humanness of God’s presence with us.” [R.E.
Doud,”The Biblical Heart and Process Anthropology,” Horizons (1996) 285.]
•”The heart is the biblical symbol for all that we
are as persons. It is at once the symbol for
complete selfhood, for the part of the self that
can be given only with the utmost love.” [Doud, 285]
THEOLOGICAL SYMBOL
• Rahner - heart is a primordial symbol
• Primordial words set up mysterious resonances “bring the reality they signify to us, they make it
present, and place it before us.”
• Heart = place of surrender to the mystery of
God.
• HEART is a “properly human primordial word,
Rahner says, because properly speaking only
the human being has a “heart” in this symbolic
sense.”
BIBLICAL IMAGERY
• A most important term in biblical psychology
• Heart is the center of an individual’s human life
• Meaning embraces both the physical organ and
a wealth of psychic, emotional, intellectual, and
moral powers attributed to it.
• Practically equivalent to a person’s “inner life”
• Heart is the seat of desires, emotions, thoughts,
and plans
THEOLOGY of the HEART
Heart of God - Covenant Fidelity: Meeting of Hearts
• Deut 7:7 It was not because you were more
numerous than any other people that the LORD set
his heart on you and chose you — for you were the
fewest of all peoples.
• Deut 6:5-6 You shall love the LORD your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your might. Keep these words that I am
commanding you today in your heart.”
COVENANT FIDELITY
• Deut. 11:18 “You shall put
these words of mine in your
heart and soul, and you
shall bind them as a sign
on your hand, and fix them
as an emblem on your
forehead. . .”
• Deut. 30:14 “No, the word
is very near to you; it is in
your mouth and in your
heart for you to observe.”
COVENANT RENEWED
• Jer 31:33 “I will put my law within them, and I
will write it upon their heart; and I will be their God
and they shall be my people.”
•Jer 24:7 “I will give them a heart to know that I am
the LORD; and they shall be my people and I will be
their God, for they shall return to me with their
whole heart.”
•Jer 32:39 “I will give them one heart and one way,
that they may fear me for all time, for their own
good and the good of their children after them.”
EZEKIEL
• Ezek 11:19-21 “I will give them one heart, and
put a new spirit within them; I will remove the
heart of stone from their flesh and give them a
heart of flesh.”
• Ezek 36:26-28 “A new heart I will give you, and a
new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove
from your body the heart of stone and give you a
heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you. Then
you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
HARDNESS of HEART
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Metaphor for the numbing of the soul to God
sklerokardia - sclerosis of the heart.
Lack of compassion - Pharaoh the classic case!
“There is a process of sclerosis of the heart that
renders one impenetrable for the seed of the
gospel.” [Miguel D’Escoto, MM]
HEART of CHRIST
• Matt 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn
from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
• Matt 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
will see God.
• Matt 6:21 For where your treasure is, there
your heart will be also.
• John 7:38 let the one who believes in me
drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of [his]
heart shall flow rivers of living water.’
I. KNOWING THE HEART
CONTEMPLATIVE DIMENSION
• A deeply CONTEMPLATIVE exercise
• Gen 32:22-31 Jacob Wrestling
• Apt Metaphor for our Faith Journey
• A search for God in our everyday lives, a
wrestling to understand the manifestations of
God’s presence in persons and events, an
earnest desire to name this mystery we have
encountered, an experience of woundedness,
and the deep longing for a blessing.
EXODUS 3: 2-4
• “There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in
a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the
bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then
Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this
great sight, and see why the bush is not burned
up.” When the LORD saw that he had turned
aside to see, God called to him out of the bush,
“Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then
he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals
from your feet, for the place on which you are
standing is holy ground.”
Sinai - the Holy Mountain
Ex 19:16-18 ”On the
morning of the third day
there was thunder and
lightning, as well as a
thick cloud on the
mountain, and a blast of
a trumpet so loud that all
the people who were in
the camp trembled. Now
Mount Sinai was wrapped
in smoke, because the
LORD had descended upon
it in fire; Moses would
speak and God would
answer him in thunder. . .”
.
“When I look at the heavens,
the moon and the stars that
You have made . . . . What
are human beings that You
spare a thought for them. . .
mere mortals that You care
for them?”
Ps 8
. . . sunrise on Sinai. . .
QuickTime™ and a
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GOD PURSUES US
• 1 Kgs 19:9-13
Elijah in the Cave
• Hosea 2:14, 18-20 “I will allure her. . . .”
• Jer 20:7-9
“You have sedeuced me...”
WORD BECAME FLESH
• John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God: the only son
who is in the bosom [Gr. - kolpos] of the Father, that
One has made God known.”
• John 13: “One of his disciples, the One whom Jesus
loved was lying close to the breast [Gr. - kolpos] of
Jesus. . . .”
The BELOVED DISCIPLE . . .
is You and Me. . .
Sr. Marie-Paul Farran, OSB
KNOW the WOUNDED HEART
Thomas
John 20:24-29
Touch the
wounds
SOPHIE’S PRAYER
To Our Lady after the Crisis of 1839:
• “Set the seal upon your work, most Holy Mother. . . . Love
gave you the Cross, grant that the Cross may give us love
and may [we] never know any cross but that of your Son.
May we bear about in ourselves the Cross of Christ, the
sufferings of His Passion, and the remembrance of his
wounds. Grant that wounded and bruised and following in
His footsteps, we may be lifted above ourselves and
consumed with love. . . .”
• We “discover and reveal”; “know intimately his intuitions”;
make our hearts one with Jesus’ wounded heart.
II. SEIZED BY LOVE
PROPHETIC DIMENSION
• “Wholly contemplative - wholly apostolic”
[most often named aspect of our
spirituality]
• The biblical prophets show us the way
and point to the challenge of our call to
follow Jesus.
TWOFOLD MISSION
• Their mission was always TWOFOLD:
-to DENOUNCE and to CRITICIZE
§Oracles of Doom - “Woe to you”
-to ANNOUNCE and to ENERGIZE
§Oracles of Hope - “Rejoice and be glad”
KEY TERMS
• Hesed - steadfast love
• Mishpat - justice
• Sedaqah righteousness
• Rahamim - mercy,
compassion
• Emeth faithfulness
• Da’ath YHWH knowledge of God
PROPHETIC LIVES TODAY
• Const. §13 Wherever we are sent, whatever our
work may be, our lives will be inspired by the love
of the Heart of Jesus and the desire of making
Him known, expressed in:
• a concern for the growth of the whole person
• a thirst for working towards justice and peace in the
world in response to the cry of the poor
• a passion to proclaim the Gospel.
• Goal Three - “Social Awareness that impels to
action.”
• Chapter 2000 - an Education that Transforms
CALL & RESPONSE
• Prophetic consciousness begins with the CALL.
• A contemplative knowing and being “seized”
• Jer 1:4-10
• Isa 6:1-5
• Ezek 2:8–3:3 [Jer 15:16]
• NT Disciples: “They left their nets”. . . “He left
his tax table” . . . “she left her water jar”
BROAD CRITICAL VISION
[Const. §14]
• AMOS c. 760 BCE
•Woe Oracles-climax with Judah & Israel-2:6-8
•Lament - 5:1-7
•Judgment Oracle - 5:21-24
• HOSEA c. 750 - 725 BCE
•Covenant Lawsuit 4:1-3 VS. Priest, Prophet,
King
• MICAH c. 742-705 BCE
•fierce language 3:1-3
CONTEMPT of the WORLD
• 1815 Const.183.XV “They should often be
reminded that contempt of the world, of its vanities
and pleasures, renunciation of self and of our own
will, are the basis of the Christian life. . .>
• Clash of values; whatever is against God’s desires
for the world we must reject, abhor
• Jeremiah . . .and later Jesus in the Temple.
• Ignatius’ - Two Standards> Riches, Honor, Pride vs.
• Seized by God’s Heart - we act, we speak, we
protest, we risk, we gather to celebrate HOPE.
COST of DISCIPLESHIP
• Jeremiah’s Confessions
– 10:23-24; 11:18 - 12:6; 15:10-21; 17: 9-10,
14-18; 18:19-23; 20:7-12 (the fire)
• Suffering Servant
– 4th Song - Isa 52:13–53:12
• Jesus’ “Laying down his life”
• Paul’s catalogue of sufferings
– 2 Cor 6:3-10; 2 Cor 4
GIVE ACCOUNT for HOPE
• 1 Peter 3:15 “Always be prepared to make a
defense to anyone who calls you to account
for the HOPE that is in you.”
• The second dimension of the prophetic
character of our lives calls us to be people of
HOPE in times of despair.
• Which is more difficult? -to be the social critic,
or to be a voice of hope in despair?
1994 GENERAL CHAPTER
• “Rekindle our hope and keep it alive. We might
begin by examining whether we have given up
hope in the possibility that human beings can
create more just and peaceful societies.”
• “Without such hope, how can we respond as
educators to young people in their
disillusionment?”
• Hope holds fast to the essential human values that
might be lost as people focus on material wellbeing. Such hope finds its strength in the
faithfulness of God.
HOPE in new possibilities . . .
Personal, communal, global, cosmic.
We are always
given a new start .
. . . a new
possibility to be
God’s people. . . to
renew creation and
ourselves. God has
not given up on us
yet!
PROPHETIC HOPE
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Hosea 14:4-8 “I will fall like dew upon the land…”
Isa 11:1-9 “A shoot shall spring. . . .”
Ezek 37:1-14 Dry Bones
Ezek 47:1-12 Water from the Temple
Joel 2:28-29 My Spirit on all flesh
Luke 11:19-20 “The Kingdom is in the midst of you.”
Rom 8:31-39 “If God is for us, who can be against?”
Rev 21 – 22 The Heavenly City descending
III. WE are ONE in GOD’S HEART
RELATIONAL DIMENSION
• In the heart of God we are bound
together as one people:
– called and forgiven together as one
people,
– saved and blessed as one people.
• We are called to RECONCILIATION
with God and one another.
RECONCILIATION w GOD
• Micah 6:6-8 What does God require?
*6. No -- only this: Act justly, Love
Walk Humbly with your God.
5. My first born?
4. 10,000 rivers of oil?
3. Thousands of rams?
2. Calves a year old?
1. Burnt offerings?
tenderly,
DIVISIONS ABOUND
• We sense a need for reconciliation with God
and with one another.
• We build walls, torture, demonize the “Other”
• We misunderstand those who are different
from ourselves.
• Differences based on race, class, culture,
tribe, gender, religion, language, economic
status, sexual orientation.
CALLS for RECONCILIATION
• Our Charism calls us to be reconcilers
• Const. §10.
“We are sent by the Church to communicate the
love of the Heart of Jesus. In Him all find their
true growth as persons and the way towards
reconciliation with one another. This we
believe; this we want to proclaim.”
1994 CHAPTER
• “We feel the urgency to EDUCATE TO
RECONCILIATION based on respect for
oneself, others, the earth, in truth and justice.”
• ”Respect demands welcoming the richness of
differences:
– Letting ourselves be challenged by the values of
other cultures
– Accepting the call to change our attitudes”
2000 CHAPTER
• “Called to be ‘women of communion,
compassion and reconciliation,’ it is not
enough to appreciate our multiculturality. We
are impelled to enter into the reality of the
other, to allow our boundaries to be expanded
in truly reciprocal and hospitable
relationships.”
• Matt 15:21-28 Breaking Boundaries
HOW WE VIEW “OTHERS”
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Demonize the Other -someone to be feared
Romanticize the Other - better than ourselves
Colonize the Other -as inferior, to be used
Generalize the Other - as non-individual
Trivialize the Other - by ignoring key difference
Homogenize the Other - there is no difference
Vaporize the Other - they do not exist
[R. Schreiter, C.Pp.S., Reconciliation. Orbis, 1996, pp. 52-3]
KEY N.T. TEXTS
• Rom. 5:10-11 “For if while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God through the death of
his Son, much more surely, having been
reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But
more than that, we even boast in God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have
now received reconciliation.”
• Reconciliation is the work of GOD.
– It is gift, grace, something to be prayed for.
PAUL’S INSIGHT
• 2 Cor. 5:18-19 All this is from God, who
reconciled us to Godself through Christ, and
has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that
is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to
the divine self, not counting their trespasses
against them, and entrusting the message of
reconciliation to us.
•
“So we are ambassadors for Christ” - we have
a ministry of reconciliation.
STRATEGY for HEALING
• Emmaus Story offers a paradigm Luke 24:1335
• Accompany others on the way
• Listen and retell the stories - heal memories
• Offer hospitality - gather together at table
• See and know in the breaking of the bread
• Invitation to see with new eyes
• Become ambassadors of this new vision
JESUS’ and GRILLED FISH
• John 20:11-18 The sound of her name. . .
• John 20:19-29 Touch the wounds. . . .
• John 21:1-14 Come, Have breakfast. . .
WE ARE ONE PEOPLE
• IN GOD’S TRIUNE IMAGE
• summoned to a way of being
– with one another and with the whole
family of God’s creation
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in communion
in radical trust
in self-emptying
in mutual reciprocity
in short - in LOVE: COR UNUM ET
ANIMA UNA IN CORDE JESU
COVENANT PEOPLE
• Covenant vision is a vision for a PEOPLE, a
vision for a new community
• Brueggemann calls it “a new social imagination”
• Ex 19:3 “You shall be for me a priestly kingdom
and a holy nation”
• Deut 15 - Jubilee Dream - No poor among you
• Ezek 34 - Responsible Leadership
• Joel 3 - the SPIRIT poured out
NEW COVENANT
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Healing and Wholeness - extended to all
Table fellowship with all - Mark 2:16
Limitless Forgiveness
“Who is my neighbor?” QuickTime™ and a
Luke 10:29-36
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COR UNUM et ANIMA UNA
YOU are the BODY of CHRIST
• There is no such thing as an “individual
Christian”
The term is an oxymoron - a contradiction
• Paul’s image of the BODY
1 Cor 12:27; Rom 12:4-8
• “When you come together as a Church”
1 Cor 11:17-18, 20
“LOVE - AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.”
As I have done, so you
also must do. . . JOHN 13
Contemplative
Prophetic
Communal