Gospel of Matthew Archives - Shepherd of Faith

Transformation!

I believe in God…….The Apostle’s Creed, a statement of belief. Many of us say it. It emphasizes and summarizes what we Christians believe. But is believing enough? I personally don’t think so. I started to think about this after I read something in The One Thing is Three by Fr. Michael Gaitley. In it he talks about the second coming of Christ and what that means.

He writes: Recall that our final end is communion with the Trinity. That’s the goal, the destination of our journey. We all go back with Christ, to the Father, in the Spirit by being transformed in Christ. Alright, in a sense, this is how the Lord comes again: When his Body goes to him, when we “form that perfect man who is Christ come to full stature” (Eph. 4:13), when God will bring “all things in the heavens and on earth into one under Christ’s headship” (Eph. 1:10), when God becomes “all in all” (1 Cor 15:28)

He goes on to quote the Acts of the Apostles: “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Fr. Gaitley explains: it’s when his Body goes to him in the same way that he went, namely, by being “lifted up.” I suggest that our being “lifted up” is not only the resurrection of our bodies at the end of time, but also our ongoing transformation in Christ and that all this is included in the mystery of how the Lord will come.

Fr. Gaitley’s words made so much sense and at the same time got me wondering how it applies to our lives. In reviewing prior posts I noticed that I’ve been inspired quite often to write about transformation; how to be transformed; what helped transform me; what it means to be transformed, etc. Sometimes I read the posts and think to myself – why do I keep harping on transformation? What’s the big deal? It FINALLY makes sense to me now. Believing is just not enough. Our belief MUST lead to transformation in order for us to “go back with Christ, to the Father, in the Spirit.”

Think about it in terms of baking. You can buy cream cheese, vanilla, eggs, etc.- mix it all together, pour it into a baking pan and put it in the oven. Within an hour or so you would hope that all those ingredients mixed together will eventually transform into a delicious, creamy cheesecake. Without the transformation, all you have is a bunch of separate ingredients coming together in a bowl and not reaching their full potential.

So why is believing NOT enough? Because “just believing” is like the ingredients in the bowl. Believing is a piece of the puzzle but believing alone does not help us reach our full potential. Think about it. Our belief leads us to attend liturgy on Sunday. It may lead us to receive the sacraments, pray and read the Bible. It may even lead to our desire to do some spiritual reading in addition to Scripture. The truth is, we can do many different things to prove our faith but if our actions don’t lead to transformation then we totally miss the point of the Gospel. If we miss the point, then we are faithful Christians who don’t know enough or aren’t transformed enough to actually practice what we preach or believe. THAT’S why believing is not ENOUGH!

In the Gospel of Matthew 24:36-44: Jesus tells us “but of that day and hour no one knows…..” and He warns us to be prepared. If we approach this verse in the way Fr. Gaitley suggests then I get the sense that we’re being encouraged to prepare/transform our souls for Christ. We’re being warned against just going through the motions. If you want Him to “come” then prepare a place for Him. How often do people complain about not being able to see the presence of God in their lives. But how have they prepared?

I have to admit, I have always felt a strong connection to God. I practically grew up in the church. Never have I been more aware of His presence in my life than in these past several years where I have made a conscious effort to maintain a rigorous spiritual practice of meditation, lectio, liturgy of the hours, spontaneous prayer and mass attendance. I have been “preparing” and each day brings a new set of challenges as well as awesome fruits of my labor. I liken my challenges to the “oven” in my baking example. I see challenges as part of the purification process that’s going to help transform me into the person God intended me to be.

Transformation for me means positive change. It is the slow process of becoming a bit better than we used to be. When I say “better” I don’t mean better according to the world’s standards but better in the eyes of God. I mention the “slow process” because transformation doesn’t happen overnight nor can we expect it to. What does transformation look like? For me it looks like this: going from a need to always be right to realizing being right doesn’t really matter; going from being argumentative (my nature as a lawyer) to keeping silent and just breathing through the resistance; moving from a place of separateness and individualism to making a conscious effort to love all things and realizing “everything belongs” as Richard Rohr says. These are just some ways I see myself transforming but of course, I’m still a work in progress.

Are you the same person you were 3 years ago, 6 months ago, two weeks ago? If so, challenge yourself to do more than just believe – invite Jesus back! God bless you!

Twelve Apostles, Australia

Jesus commissioning the twelve – we read about this in Matthew 10:7-15. Today I decided to do a lectio divina with this passage. I write about lectio divina in one of my pages – I hope you’ve had an opportunity to read about it if you’ve never heard of it. It is a powerful practice and one you will crave once you start doing it. I cannot stress enough how God’s awesomeness becomes apparent when you open your heart to His Word. I’ll get back to this in a moment.

As some of you may know, I wake every morning at about 4 am. My phone and headphones are usually on my night stand (for no other reason but to use my prayer apps – the phone is actually on “do not disturb”) and while my husband gets ready for work, I pray, meditate and/or read. I get out of bed around 4:45 to prepare his lunch and after he leaves at 5 am I get back in bed with my headphones on and meditate or read some more. At this time I usually use the Pray as you go app and then do Divine Office. Today I read the daily mass readings, which included the Gospel of Matthew, and then I did Divine Office.

During lectio, the phrase that struck me in this Gospel is: “make this proclamation ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'” We’ve heard this before and we’ve also heard of the sense of urgency implied in that proclamation. Christ is coming, prepare yourselves! Today, I got a different message. What does it mean when something is “at hand?” “At hand” means nearby. According to the web “nearby” can be interpreted two ways: 1) close in time or about to happen; 2) readily accessible when needed. When we apply the second interpretation to the “proclamation” it becomes: The Kingdom of Heaven is readily accessible when needed! Aha! Amen!

Jesus goes on to tell his apostles to take nothing for their journey. He’s sending them out as “laborers” and implies that all of their needs will be provided for by those who receive them. That seems like a lot to ask. It’s going to take a lot of trust on their part and also much discipline to take nothing for their journey. One interesting note here, which I heard in yesterday’s homily – the twelve have gone from being called disciples to being called apostles. The root of the word disciple is discipline. Apparently, they have passed the test. They were disciplined enough to become the first apostles, close followers of Christ.

How does this apply to us? Today, who is supposed to do the work of the original apostles? We are! This Gospel gives us direct instructions. It’s calling us to empty ourselves – of all our possessions and distractions, of the things we’ve learned, to release the thoughts that force us to operate from the mind and to unlearn our way back to God, to become like little children in order to operate from the heart. The message is clear, be disciplined in order to become His present day apostles!

As I continued my “studies” today, the message became clearer. This is why I say God’s awesomeness becomes apparent when you open your heart to His Word. Romans 14:17-19: “The kingdom of God does not mean eating or drinking this or that, it means righteousness and peace and joy brought by the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ in this today you will please God and be respected by men. So let us adopt any custom that leads to peace and our mutual improvement. Wow!

So back to the proclamation: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. This takes on a whole new meaning for me today. Here’s what I hear Jesus saying when commissioning the twelve: “Make this proclamation: righteousness and peace and joy brought by the Holy Spirit is readily accessible when needed!” Isn’t it comforting to know that we have the authority, through the Holy Spirit, to access righteousness, peace and joy whenever we need it? All we have to do is be disciplined in our practice and be open to the movement of the Spirit. More importantly, we’re expected to share this news with others.