THE LORD IS WAITING FOR YOU

Chardin

Recently I came across the following passage in Teilhard de Chardin's 1961 book Hymne de l'Univers. It came, as so often happens, at exactly the right time for me: I've been reflecting seriously about what the Lord might be expecting of me in this stage of my life (I'll turn eighty in August). So, here's my translation of the passage:

God is expecting from you more openness, more flexibility. In order to become one with Him, you need to be more free, and more vibrant. So let go of your egoism and your fear of suffering, love others as you love yourself, which is to say, let them inside of yourself, all of them, even those who you wouldn't want to if you were a pagan. Accept pain. Take up your cross, O my soul... 119-120 

God is patient with us!

The opening words caught my attention right away: "The Lord is expecting from you!" So, God still has plans for me, or, perhaps better, I'm still an important part of God's plan for the world. Then I looked at some of the things the Lord is expecting of me: "more openness" and "more flexibility" -- not exactly what one usually grows into as one gets to be eighty.

The paragraph is, of course, a call to every Christian to follow Christ more closely, but since today is the memorial of "The Immaculate Heart of Mary" let's ask her teach us by her example how to live out each of the "expectations" of the Lord. As you read down the list, think about how Mary responded to each expectation, and the pick out a couple that seem most challenging for you:

1. God is expecting from you more openness, 

2. 
   more flexibility. 
3. you need to be more free,

4. more vibrant. 

5. let go of your egoism 

6. and your fear of suffering, 

7. love others as you love yourself, 

8. which is to say, let them inside of yourself, all of them, 

9. Accept pain. 

10. Take up your cross,

With the help of the Blessed Mother, I hope to keep this list of challenges in mind, and have the courage to try to live up to the Lord's expectations.

From the Webb telescope -- Hymn of the Universe

FILLING THE SPACE

 

This past Tuesday, the Solemnity of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we celebrated the Eucharist with our students from grades 6 through 12. Because of COVID we decided to gather the almost 600 kids for mass outdoors, on our soccer field. Under the warm sun we sang and prayed and listened to the Word of God being proclaimed. 

Six hundred kids at mass.

We instruct the students that when they're reading in public they need to "command the space" or "fill the space with your voice." While this is good advice for speaking in the gym or the auditorium, it becomes curiously challenging when you're outdoors. How do you "fill the space" when you're standing under a clear blue sky? I thought of this as I took in the beautiful scene from my vantage point, my concelebrant's chair. How do we "fill the space" with our celebration of mass? The answer came immediately -- it was the visionary thought of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit priest. My post for August 21 is good background for this post. In it I wrote:

If you know a little about Chardin then you won't be surprised that when he was celebrating mass, he would elevate the consecrated host or the cup and see the power radiating from them not just to the faithful attending that mass but to every human being, all members of Christ, and then further into every living thing, and then to the atoms and molecules that compose every speck of matter in the farthest reaches of the universe.

So as Fr. Edwin, the Headmaster, raised the consecrated host against the vast sky, with the sound of a helicopter and a few trucks as background music, I sensed the power of the Universal Christ radiating from the consecrated bread in every direction, extending farther and farther, past our fences, past the county courthouse and the colleges down the street, past the tall buildings of  Newark's skyline, and radiating instantly to the entire planet and to our galaxy and out beyond the farthest reaches of the stars. Talk about filling the space!

 Here's a quotation from Fr. Chardin's journal, entitled "Mass on the World," which also formed part of my vision that morning:

“To interpret adequately the fundamental position of the Eucharist in the economy of the world . . . it is, I think, necessary that Christian thought and Christian prayer should give great importance to the real and physical extensions of the Eucharistic Presence. . . As we properly use the term “our bodies” to signify the localized center of our spiritual radiations . . ., so it must be said that in its initial and primary meaning the term “Body of Christ” is limited, in this context, to the consecrated species of Bread and Wine. But. . .the host is comparable to a blazing fire whose flames spread out like rays all round it.”

(Photos courtesy of Graybee Ministry)

I hope that we'll be able to have mass outdoors again soon. Maybe including the little ones from our Elementary Division, which would make a thousand voices singing the praise of the Universal Christ who is transforming the world at every instant everywhere in creation. We, as Eucharistic People, are able to participate in the mysterious and beautiful way that Christ in the Eucharist "fills the space" of the entire universe. Starting from our soccer field in downtown Newark.

THE EXPANDING EUCHARIST

 

St. Pius X

August 21 is the memorial of Saint Pius X. His pontificate (1903-1914) was marked by lots of important diplomacy and other significant achievements. He tried desperately to keep Europe from descending into war, but his efforts failed. Within a few months after the outbreak of World War I he died of a broken heart. But he is perhaps best remembered for encouraging the frequent reception of holy communion. At the time of his papacy people would attend mass but would seldom receive the Eucharist. His efforts helped to change that custom, and prepared the way for other reforms that made the Blessed Sacrament more and more accessible to the faithful.

Chardin

Coincidentally, I've been slowly reading my way through "Teilhard de Chardin on the Eucharist: Envisioning the Body of Christ," by Louis Savary. Through reading this book, my understanding of and my attitude toward the Eucharist have been tremendously deepened and expanded. If you know a little about Chardin then you won't be surprised that when he was celebrating mass, he would elevate the consecrated host or the cup and see the power radiating from them not just to the faithful attending that mass but to every human being, all members of Christ, and then further into every living thing, and then to the atoms and molecules that compose every speck of matter in the farthest reaches of the universe

Chardin thinks of Christ under three aspects. The past Christ, who was born in Bethlehem, lived for about 30 years, died and rose again  Then there is the Present Christ, the head of the Mystical Body, who lives in our hearts and is present everywhere. The third aspect of Christ is one that we seldom if ever think of: the Future Christ, the Universal Christ whose power and presence extend to the farthest reaches of the universe, who holds everything in being and who will one day bring all of creation into one single point of Divine Love.

When Chardin as a priest gazed on the consecrated host and the cup, he experienced the presence of all three Christs. But I was especially captivated by his image of the bread and wine being transformed into the presence of the universal Christ. This sent me a couple of times to YouTube to type in "Hubble," the telescope that has extended our view of the universe beyond our imagining. (You should try looking at a couple of these videos yourself.)

The second part of Savary's book about Chardin is composed of suggested meditations based on Chardin's view of the Eucharist. Of course most of us encounter the Eucharist only at mass, but I'm privileged to spend 50 minutes each morning in front of the Eucharist displayed in the monstrance on the altar in the abbey church. The meditations are turning out to be very powerful. For example, gazing at the host and imagining a certain person contained inside it (as we're all members of Christ, this isn't heretical). It may be someone who is sick or in some distress. Then praying for that person and ask the Lord to watch over that person or heal them or give them whatever gift it is that they most need right now. Another meditation involves visualizing the power radiating from the host outward to fill all of creation. 

These meditations are certainly inviting me to expand my idea of the Eucharist far beyond a private, personal welcoming of Jesus into my heart to enjoy His presence. Thanks to Chardin's way of seeing the world and the Universal Christ, my sense of the meaning of the Eucharist is deepening every day. 

Saint Pius X must be gratified to see people sharing in Chardin's deep vision of the power of the Sacrament. 

An enhanced image from NASA of galaxy clusters