A clarification regarding the last post after a discussion with my favorite Tanzanian priest. Father stressed that the two natures of Jesus, Divine and human, are always present. At times, one of the natures would dominate. The transfiguration would be a time the Divine nature dominated: And the Word was made flesh, and came to dwell among us; and we had sight of his glory, glory such as belongs to the Father’s only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14). During the crucifixion, the human nature influenced greater. No man has ever gone up into heaven; but there is one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man, who dwells in heaven. And this Son of Man must be lifted up, as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness; so that those who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:13). Overall, father is hesitant discussing demanding theological issues with a layperson. An aspect of his priestly subtle brilliance I admire. I adore his constant stressing of the importance of mystery, the relaxing of a reasoning approach, unspokenly supporting the direction of St John of the Cross defining faith, hope, and charity as the proper means to access God. I do not take my thoughts overly serious. I am no theologian. I am no Church authority. I am a man recovering from alcoholism. I possess a deep prayer life, exercising adoration daily, celebrating mass daily. I have read a lot. I have experienced a lot. I trust in God, believing I have artistic insight. I am willing to be wrong. I am wrong. Today I was wrong twice blatantly. First regarding the Corpus Christi procession. I became excited, assuming.we were taking the Eucharist out to the streets. That is a Corpus Christi procession I am familiar with through Father David Mary. Today we simply walked within the church. It was a wonderful celebration the sisters on fire singing. After mass, I was able to meet with the cloistered sisters, informing them of the strength and inspiration celebrating daily mass with them brought me. One who is special meeting eyes, forcing my eyes to the ground. I showed them my filled monstrance necklace, along side a Miraculous Medal. It is smaller, yet identical to the sisters’. I did not know that when I bought the Eucharistic medallion. My second case of being wrong involved a Philippine woman. My friend Andrew, maintenance employee, informed me of a Philippine woman attending the Church for five years praying for a husband. I thought I would like to have lunch with this woman. I believed I was speaking to this woman before mass. After mass, after visiting with the sisters, I sought the woman, inviting her to lunch. She thanked me for the invitation, responding my husband and I would love to have lunch with you. Embarrassed, I apologized. She insisted, saying she enjoyed celebrating mass with me. She sat right behind me. She intelligently said we are all Christians and we know many people. I would like you to enjoy lunch with us. I responded that I would like that myself. The idea brought pleasure. Socializing with Ann, there were never families, no children, no couples married in Christ. The singles world leaves me cold and empty, feeling shallow and selfish, incomplete and confused, scattered and absolutely depleted spiritually. The idea of socializing with a devout couple excites me the more I think about it. Regarding Ann, she is strongly in my prayers. Today was such a moving religious experience I find myself able to dismiss the project of putting everything in writing. My mind desires and knows it could crush her, so many more things to say, that she deserves to be crushed, yet my heart says peace.
Jun072015