"Bear ye one another's burdens; and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ"
- Galatians 6:2
On Good Friday my family traditionally will gather together as the day is ending, and those mature enough will watch Mel Gibson's movie The Passion. This year I was unable to make it home for Easter break, and so I missed watching this amazing representation of salvation history with my family. However, my household brothers and sisters invited me to join them to watch it. I'll admit, I find that film very hard to watch at points. It's shows the human aspect of Christ so well, which other passion representations lack. Every step caused him physical and mental pain. Betrayed by a people he would save, a people he showed nothing to but love, healing their sick and raising their dead.
However, the most difficult part of the movie comes at the end when Christ has died and is laying in arms of his mother. She looks up and stares directly into the camera. Directly at me. Saying with her eyes, "What more could you possibly want. What more could he possibly give."
More startling and more real than anything possibly portrayed by Mel Gibson, is Christ's sacrifice present on the altar during the Mass. How is it that Christ would come in flesh and blood, humbly masked behind bread and wine, that I might receive him? I often wonder about this mystery, and in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament pray for understanding. Understanding of why a God so powerful would choose to die for me, a broken and sinful man. Understanding of how a piece of bread could contain the God of the universe, when I am not even sure of how my body could have a soul.
At first, the lack of the direct answer or sign I thought I deserved bothered me. It shook my faith in God's existence, my relationship with my girlfriend and others, and my choice in career and school. But when the world becomes darker, the stars shine brighter. And the words of Augustine's City of God rang clearly in my mind. For Augustine says, "A people is the association of a multitude of rational beings united by a common agreement on the objects of their love."*(1) I experienced the truth of this statement. I had fallen from love of God, and so I lost community with all my friends who loved him.
Love is a powerful thing. It determines all our actions. As Christ says in Mark 7:21, "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery..." (RSV). Love in the sense used by Augustine, as indicated by this passage, does not mean Love the virtue, or Charity. It means an inclination, or desire, of the will.*(2) In psychology we call these values. Regardless of the name, what we love or value in life drives our actions.
In light of this, it should be clear why people act in certain ways. More specifically, it should be clear why Christians are called to evangelization, preaching their faith. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote in his address to Catechists and Religion Teachers that evangelization is "to teach the art of living."*(3) And true life can only be found in Christ, and Christ's embracing of the cross.*(4) This is the reason for the passage I chose for the title of my blog. Really it is the reason I chose to blog at all (I always thought blogging was silly until I read my girlfriend's blog which impacted my life greatly). As a Christian I cannot evangelize, show others how to live, without living myself; an act which can only be achieved by uniting myself to the love of Christ, and participating in his cross.*(5) This is achieved not only in receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist, but also in acting in accord with God's will for my daily life, and taking on daily struggles out of love of him.
This passage from Galatians calls to mind that while showing others how to live, I myself am still on the path to true life. I have not attained it fully. I fall short of my Christian calling daily, and anything good I do does not come from my own strength, but from the grace of God.*(6) We are reminded his grace manifests itself not only through increasing our personal virtues, but through our relationships as well. We are all being forged by our trials to be the best we can be, and we are not forced to go alone. We are given friends and family to help us on our journey; to ease pain, laugh with, and to join with in prayer.
This blog is to be used as a place to discuss issues that not only affect my own daily life, but those of others. It is intended to be a place of honesty, where you can feel free to leave comments or questions about personal issues. We can then discuss these, and help one another gain insight into how we might live our lives better.
*FOOT NOTES
(1) St. Augustine, City of God, trans. Henry Bettenson (New York: Penguin Classics, 2003) p.890
(2) St. Thomas Aquinas, Introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas, ed. Anton Pegis (New York: Random House, 1948) p.361-364
(3) http://www.ewtn.com/new_evangelization/Ratzinger.htm
(4) Romans 8:1-4 (RSV)
(5) http://www.ewtn.com/new_evangelization/Ratzinger.htm
(6) 1 Corinthians 15:10 (RSV)
More startling and more real than anything possibly portrayed by Mel Gibson, is Christ's sacrifice present on the altar during the Mass. How is it that Christ would come in flesh and blood, humbly masked behind bread and wine, that I might receive him? I often wonder about this mystery, and in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament pray for understanding. Understanding of why a God so powerful would choose to die for me, a broken and sinful man. Understanding of how a piece of bread could contain the God of the universe, when I am not even sure of how my body could have a soul.
At first, the lack of the direct answer or sign I thought I deserved bothered me. It shook my faith in God's existence, my relationship with my girlfriend and others, and my choice in career and school. But when the world becomes darker, the stars shine brighter. And the words of Augustine's City of God rang clearly in my mind. For Augustine says, "A people is the association of a multitude of rational beings united by a common agreement on the objects of their love."*(1) I experienced the truth of this statement. I had fallen from love of God, and so I lost community with all my friends who loved him.
Love is a powerful thing. It determines all our actions. As Christ says in Mark 7:21, "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery..." (RSV). Love in the sense used by Augustine, as indicated by this passage, does not mean Love the virtue, or Charity. It means an inclination, or desire, of the will.*(2) In psychology we call these values. Regardless of the name, what we love or value in life drives our actions.
In light of this, it should be clear why people act in certain ways. More specifically, it should be clear why Christians are called to evangelization, preaching their faith. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote in his address to Catechists and Religion Teachers that evangelization is "to teach the art of living."*(3) And true life can only be found in Christ, and Christ's embracing of the cross.*(4) This is the reason for the passage I chose for the title of my blog. Really it is the reason I chose to blog at all (I always thought blogging was silly until I read my girlfriend's blog which impacted my life greatly). As a Christian I cannot evangelize, show others how to live, without living myself; an act which can only be achieved by uniting myself to the love of Christ, and participating in his cross.*(5) This is achieved not only in receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist, but also in acting in accord with God's will for my daily life, and taking on daily struggles out of love of him.
This passage from Galatians calls to mind that while showing others how to live, I myself am still on the path to true life. I have not attained it fully. I fall short of my Christian calling daily, and anything good I do does not come from my own strength, but from the grace of God.*(6) We are reminded his grace manifests itself not only through increasing our personal virtues, but through our relationships as well. We are all being forged by our trials to be the best we can be, and we are not forced to go alone. We are given friends and family to help us on our journey; to ease pain, laugh with, and to join with in prayer.
This blog is to be used as a place to discuss issues that not only affect my own daily life, but those of others. It is intended to be a place of honesty, where you can feel free to leave comments or questions about personal issues. We can then discuss these, and help one another gain insight into how we might live our lives better.
*FOOT NOTES
(1) St. Augustine, City of God, trans. Henry Bettenson (New York: Penguin Classics, 2003) p.890
(2) St. Thomas Aquinas, Introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas, ed. Anton Pegis (New York: Random House, 1948) p.361-364
(3) http://www.ewtn.com/new_evangelization/Ratzinger.htm
(4) Romans 8:1-4 (RSV)
(5) http://www.ewtn.com/new_evangelization/Ratzinger.htm
(6) 1 Corinthians 15:10 (RSV)
