38: The Spiritual Journey 11/11

With this final diagram (see below), you have the full picture of our christian journey. Baptism is a Divine Seed: Jesus in us. He needs to grow and reach His fulness, and pursue, through us, His Mission. The stages of growth of that seed are shown in this simple Diagram.

It took us 11 diagrams to move on, from

1- a static vision of Christianity, or better said: a "binary vision" ("on/off": I am in a "state of grace", or I am in a "state of sin"). Many people live their whole Christian life without even imagining the existence of something more. They just try to live their life, as "good christians", and it ends here. They just look forward to “be with God” only after death, as a recompense,

2- through an incomplete vision offered to all, setting the Union with Jesus as its goal, and then we die a little time after. One thinks that we can't reach higher than that, so we have nothing to do except just aspiring more and more to meet God (to die) and be with Him, during eternity,

3- to finally reach the complete vision, "offered to all" as well: a totally Christocentric Road (at the image of Christ's journey itself). An Ascent, of the Mountain (Jesus) and, with Him and in Him, a Descent.

As you can see, the journey is parted in two parts, putting a Cross in between, where the heart of the Cross (the meeting point of the two bars) coincides with the “Union with Jesus”.

Is that whole picture for all of us?

You might say: - “Objection: why would Jesus today want us to go through that second part of the journey? Well, He accomplished His Mission, and doesn't need us." You can then come up with plenty of quotes corroborating what you say.
- I am not the one who said: “there is no greater love than to give one's life to the others”. I am not the one who set the goal that hight.

If reaching the “Union with Jesus” means "experiencing something so amazing on earth", then reaching the fullness of Love (dying like Jesus), is something even "more amazing". If we consider the fact that Jesus is offering us on earth to be united with Him is an amazing sign of His love for us, and a great work He achieved on the Cross, it is certainly greater to see that He is still offering us something greater.

From the point of view of God, what is greater for Jesus: to "save us, and transform us", or "to make us with Him and in Him, saviours"? (certainly the latter)

Jesus Himself said: “you'll do greater things than the one I did” (John 14:12). “God is glorified in His saints”. The Glory that God receives from His saints, i.e. from "earth", is greater than the glory He receives from "heaven". It is still His glory that appears on earth. But it is greater to make of "a sinner" a "saviour with Him", transformed, purified, capable then of doing amazing things, than making a pure being (Jesus Himself) just Save.

Let us remember that our transformation gives God a greater Glory. Let us remember that transforming a sinner into a person capable of loving his brothers with the Love of God and dying for them, is much much greater manifestation of Jesus' Glory on earth. Again: it is always the same Jesus, and the same glory that work in His Saints. But God achieves much much more glory and victory this way.

So, let us, humbly accept our Vocation, in it's fulness, and let us accept to give God a greater Glory, here on earth, on the “earth” of our being.

“Amen, amen I say to you, if you believe in me, you will do the same things that I do. You will do even greater things, now that I am going back to the Father.” (John 14:12)

Accepting the full picture

As you see, we needed 11 diagrams in order to be introduced to the complete vision of our "Christian journey". Do you think it would have been possible to show you the full vision from day one? Would you have been able to “see” the full picture from day one? to digest it? to understand it? And to simply accept it? I really would be very interested to know that. You know why? Because it is of the utmost important for the Church, for the salvation of our brothers to have from day one the full vision. It nourishes our act of Hope, the Theological act of Hope. Without hope, and without clear hope, our act of hope doesn't really work and doesn't really make us grow and walk toward the goal. The "Act of Hope" is the propeller of Christian life.
Each Christian should have a full understanding of the whole journey, in order to prepare himself for it. We need to nourish our act of hope correctly, so we are propelled correctly in Life.

We can't constantly claim that “we are all called to Holiness” and be sort of helpless when it comes to describe the goals, the means, the entire journey. Wouldn't you agree?

We need to find ways and means to help each christian to really know how great is his/her call, how amazing is the love of God that He not only wants to save us (unite us totally with His Son, through a journey of purification) but wants us to help Him, wants us to receive a greater and more powerful love: to love our brothers, working in their salvation, not with our poor vision/means, but with Him in Us, performing “greater things”.

Please do enrol in this complete vision, please do come and help us. Put your energy, put your enthusiasm at the service of the greatest cause of all: showing the Way.

(We continue the journey...)

14: The mystical dimension of the New Commandment

“One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, «Which is the first of all the commandments?» 
Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! 
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 
The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.' 
And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." 
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.” (Mk 12:28-34)

« you are not far from the Kingdom of God » is a bit disappointing, as a statement. Jesus didn’t say: “you are in the Kingdom of God”.

Nobody can question the validity of the two Commandments of Moses; they are not abrogated by Jesus: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets” (Mt 5:17). But in the same time there is a difference between Moses Law and Jesus “Law”. Certainly there is no contradiction between them, but there is a superiority, a perfection in Jesus Commandment: “I have come […] to fulfil [the commandments]” (Mt 5:17). When Jesus shows the way to the Kingdom to the rich young man, He starts by checking if he fulfilled Moses Commandments, he says: “did you fulfil the Commandments?” the young man said: “yes, from my youth”. Jesus here is speaking about Moses Commandments, summarised by the two commandments mentioned above. In this case, Jesus didn’t say either: “you are in the Kingdom”. He said: still “you lack one thing” (Mc 10:21) to enter the Kingdom.

Saint John says that Jesus Commandment is not new, but it is new “in us” (1John 2:7-8): “Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.” (1John 2:7-8)

The question now is to try to understand in what lays the newness of the “new Commandment” and how it is “superior”, “more perfect” than the two Commandments?

“I give you a new Commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:41)

Jesus is very clear: “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:20)

The mystical dimension of our transformation in Jesus, makes Jesus grow, live in us, and act in us and with us: “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Ga 2:20). This is why it is not possible to just “apply” the New Commandment, without being transformed in Jesus, in order to “enter the Kingdom”. This is why saint John in his first letter says that the Commandment is “new in us”.

John states it very well: “the darkness [in you] is passing away and the true Light [Jesus] is already shining [in you].” (1John 2:7-8)

Without the mystical dimension, that implies real transformation of our being, letting the “new man” in us grow (Jesus in us), there is not Christianity.

How are your "taste buds"?