INTRODUCTION (p. 142)
"Take him as your pattern" (Eph. 5:1). I added the Amplified translation, "Therefore be imitators of God -- copy Him and follow His example -- as well-beloved children [imitate their father]
This was my birthday week, and this verse set me into thoughts about my earthly father and all the good things he gave me through his example. That was so nice. I have such warm memories of water-skiing, and my dad being so encouraging and loving.
"You've got the ticket." That is what he would say when he would praise me.
The Introduction talked about pondering Jesus' human character and his spiritual convictions and practices.
The things I underlined were: He was determined to always do God's will. He was truthful. A real leader, He was faithful to the Law. He was compassionate too, telling the Widow of Nain, "Don't cry!" and giving her back her only son (Luke 7:13). He was generous. His spirituality was marked by a lot of prayer. He asked the Father for what He wanted, and He trusted the Father utterly. He had great power and authority.
I "hearted" these:
But be aware that "to know" can mean having lots of theoretical learning or bible memory. That's not what we're talking about here.
The "to know" here means to get into Jesus' mind and heart and to grow a feeling for His beauty and truth. When we're kids, we often want to be "like" somebody. Now we're adults, and the one we want to be like is Jesus of Nazareth.
PRAYER TALK: IMITATION OF CHRIST (p.143)
You have asked the Father for this great grace: to know Him, love Him, and follow Him. Now you want to ask for the even greater grace of being like Him.
The first thing He models is living so that He is always doing God's will (John 5:19).
You are like Him in this too, if you embrace belonging to the Body of Christ, the Church. The Father chose the people to whom you belong and who belong to you.
Then, He was born into a people who lived in a covenant with the One God.
With the help of His cousin John the Baptist, He chose His vocation -- not to be a hermit, or a prophet like John and Isaiah, but to be a healing, teaching presence among His people.
Jesus was given His human life in a nation under tyranny. he accepted, and you will imitate Him if you accept gratefully where you are, and when you live.
He went up to Jerusalem in the end having told the disciples what would happen, and trusting the Father to bring glory out of bitter defeat.
Here is a sentence form the Imitation of Christ, Chapter 56: "Follow me...I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Without the Way, there is no going; without the Truth, there is no knowing; without Life, there is no living. I am the Way you are to follow; I am the Truth you are to believe; I am the Life you are to hope for."
Whatever comes, recognize the hand of God -- embrace joyfully, detach just as joyfully -- and in all trust the Father as utterly as Jesus did. Surely this is the first step to being like Him.
BRIEF NOTE: IMAGINE THAT (p. 144)
Imagine that you have been notified that you are the only living descendant of the king that just died.
The Father's voice thundered, "My Beloved Son!" And Jesus had to accept that.
We are to imitate Him in this, for sure. For all the indications are clear: we have been "marked out beforehand, to be God's adopted children" (Eph. 1:5). The issue now is whether we are willing to accept being special to the Almighty Creator of all the universes -- and of seven billion human beings currently alive!
We can accept in a yes-or-no way, and we can also accept in a more-or-less way. In Jesus, it was only yes. He accepted His power and authority. He accepted the things He must do as the Father's will. He bowed even to suffering and death. He just kept saying yes.
As He did, we must do -- keep saying yes. As He did, so do we have to exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit enabling us to give ourselves wholeheartedly o God: wisdom, understanding, fortitude, piety, and the rest.
We have to love ourselves as He loved Himself. We have to accept being special to the Father -- to being the royalty of our nation, as it were.
We who receive the Body and Blood of God's Son in the Eucharist are surely special to the Father.
All of this may confound us and it certainly does challenge us. But it is surely a great joy.
Grace for the Week: I ask to know Jesus more clearly, love Him more dearly, and be like Him more nearly.
Day 1 - Matthew 3:13-17 (Jesus' Baptism)
Jesus wants us to know his intimate feelings and thoughts.
"This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well-pleased."
My Thought for the Day: "I am well-pleased. You've got the ticket. I'm glad I made you."
Quote by Shusaku Endo (the man who wrote the book I just reviewed: Silence!)
"The reason our religion has penetrated this territory like water flowing into dry earth is that it has given to this group of people a human warmth they never previously knew."
What about My Life? Applying Your Prayer
Do I allow God to say to me, "You are my beloved child"? Yes-or-no, more-or-less, or ...
It is a BIG YES. This sent me into memories of my dad saying, "You've got the ticket." There is never once in my relationship with my earthly father that I didn't feel 100% special. I was his only beloved daughter. I was his princess.
When I say yes to God's insisting, "You are my beloved child," I feel ...
Happy...blessed...joyful!
God is generous and His gifts to me. These are gifts that make me feel I am special to Him right now...
The ability to listen and love people right where they are at.
I note the virtues Jesus lives out as he acdepts the Father's declaration, especially...
Just did the will of the Father! He went out in power and authority!
When I accept the Father's declaration, the virtues of Jesus I want to grow and start with...
Power and authority!
Day 2 - Repetition of Day 1
You have freedom to compare your own thoughts and feelings to Jesus'.
The Spirit of God descended like a dove and alighted on him.
My Thought for the Day: Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me.
Day 3 - Mark 1:16-20 (Calling of Peter and Andrew, James and John)
BRIEF NOTE: BELONGING AND COMMUNION
When Jesus called Peter and Andrew, he was calling them to live in communion with himself.
A singer in a choir: she sings the notes that all are singing and keeps perfect time with the others... And in the harmony of the choir, she finds great freedom and joy...She is detached from her special attitude toward her own voice and musical preferences...She is free to set them aside to be in harmony with the others.
Communion is like that. Peter was a fisherman and he had his ways and habits. He laid them aside when he joined Jesus' other disciples. So did all of the apostles and disciples...They had to set ambition aside to be in harmony with Jesus.
Real detachment like Jesus' means you love the earth and all God has given you...and you rejoice and praise God for them all. That first. Then, you hold yourself free to do what God calls on you to do.
The crucial detachment comes when you let go of someone or something because som sin looms. But growing like Jesus means that you keep developing his mindset of detachment.
When harmony requires it, you make yourself free and choose to be in harmony with the rest. This is communion.
They left their nets immediately and generously.
My Thought for the Day: My net to leave is ____'s approval and love of me. I can hope it happens, but I have to detach myself from it.
Quote by Anonymous:
"Jesus' invitation 'Follow me' is given in some manner to every Christian. Each of us baptized in Christ is called not only to live in the reign of God but also to help establish it."
What about My Life? Applying Your Prayer
To do what Jesus is asking; I find the most difficult thing to detach from is ... Approval from George' s family.
I choose to be part of a Christian community because...I love it, and it encourages me to grow.
I feel the harmony in my Christian community when... we worship, pray, and draw closer to Jesus and are salt and light to the world.
I help maintain harmony in my Christian community by...being quick to hear (lots of listening), slow to speak, and slow to anger.
Jesus calls me to be with Him now in ... harmony with his heartbeat.
Day 4 - Repetition of Day 3
God cherishes you as you are (and can handle your snits).
Try to remember noticing what characteristics Jesus is showing, especially His virtues and gifts.
Jesus waits for no special time to call His first apostles. He invites them to something more important than catching fish. They respond to him immediately and generously.
"I will make you fish for people." "They left their father Zebedee...and followed him."
My Thought for the Day: Left family to follow and fish. today let me follow and fish.
"God is not content with doing something for us, but seeks to involve us in his merciful action." David Fleming, S.J.
BRIEF NOTE: ACTIVE LOVE, DEEPER VIRTUES (p. 152)
Jesus showed us how to be like God the Father...watching Him helps ut to know what ongoing conversion we need to embrace.
But the mature disciple has a whole field of virtues to develop, and Jesus' example helps us tremendously here, because "everything he does is good" (Mark 7:37).
Virtues of Jesus: obedient, loving, dissident, prudent, resolute, fortitude, gentle, meek, humble, tender, absolute, courageous, restful.
"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28).
Day 5 - Mark 7:31-37 (Healing of the deaf man)
"He has done everything well."
My Thought for the Day: Be open to hear and proclaim only you.
"Discipleship means following a person. It is not simply doing certain actions and asking "what would Jesus do?", but also about becoming a certain kind of person." Gerald M. Fagin, S.J.
What About My Life? Applying Your Prayer
Make a list of your virtues and good qualities. Be honest and admit good things when they are there...
Loving, kind, joyful, enthusiastic, caring, listening, encouraging, committed, responsible, strong, funny, fun, challenging, pace setting, leader.
To further develop virtues and good qualities I desire, I need to do (or to avoid)...
watching people with BAD virtues and qualities on reality TV! Not watch the news.
I know I must ask God's help in and grace for... self-control in eating. Boldness and authority.
Day 6 - Repetition of Day 5
Reverently recall you are always in the Holy presence of God.
Try to be grateful for the good that God has done and is doing in you and through you.
The people who observed the healing told more zealously when he told them not to.
They were astounded beyond measure. "He has done everything well."
My Thought for the Day: Touch me. Unplug my ears so I hear clearly about this retreat."
"Virtues deal with the ordinary events of our lives. They are concerned with the interplay between our habits of heart and our actions. Virtues are dispositions of heart hat guide our actions." Gerald M. Fagin, S.J.
Day 7 - John 5:2-7 (Healing at the Pool by the Sheep Gate)
BRIEF NOTE: OPEN TO POSSIBILITIES
We get so fixated on getting rid of some habit we want to be rid of that we don't hear an invitation to lear it in god's hands. We get so ear to "get it right" and "do the right thing" that we forget how God loves us for ourselves, not for this or that habit or some special way we act.
The man at Bethesda was invited to accept grace. He was so busy explaining himself that Jesus had to be blunt. "Get up!"
If at times surprising or hard or even drastic things happen to you, it might be that God is just doing what Jesus did. Listen: "Get up!"
"Do you want to be made well? ...Stand up, take your mat and walk."
My Thought for the Day: I want to be made well (of my people-pleasing). ___ has a choice to be made well, and that is her choice. Get up and walk away! "Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life."
TOUCHSTONES (p. 158)
- We want to know Jesus in such a way that we are transformed by Him.
- We want a relationship that allows us to imitate Him and to be more like Him.
- The Holy Spirit will help us enter into Jesus' heart and mind so we can know Him more clearly, love Him more dearly, and be like Him more nearly.
- The "communion of the Holy Spirit" invites us to be detached even from our gifts and skills.
- Each of us has to say yes to be shaped by the Holy Spirit into Jesus' likeness.
- Jesus shows us what virtues we might strengthen or develop.
