ON THE COVER:
"Encounters with Christ"
—
St. Edmund's Retreat at
Ender's Island, Mystic, Conn. |
From
Inside
ML: In a recent conversation with a friend in ministry, I remarked
that the scary part of what we do isn’t coming upon the empty tomb. The
scary part is in turning and walking away from that empty tomb. We are
tempted to remain there and wait, holding onto the threads of the familiar.
We may embrace the emptiness as our own, desiring God to fill it. We may
stand there confident that new life is ours, strong in the knowledge that
our battle is won. Truly we are invited into all of that, such is the great
gift of our faith. Most of us, though, cannot stay there, for we are called
to travel down the path of ordinary life that takes us through sickness
and grief, fear, violence, indifference, and so many other dimensions of
our human condition. We must find the way to connect all of these things
so that in our suffering as well as in our joy, we encounter Christ in
one another. This calls us to act deliberately. When we seek other dimensions
to our spirituality, we must seek retreat in a way that is meaningful so
that our inner selves are open to Christ. We have to seek out the Christ
in the strangers we meet, in the difficult people who challenge us, in
the busy, crowded times that are so different from the tomb moments. We
must immerse ourselves in the larger Body of Christ so that when we fall,
we are able to let others hold us up. From that weakness we gain the strength
to be fully present to those who most crave Christ’s presence. (More) |
