Jan 28, 2018

Follower of Jesus (45)

Blessed are the pure in heart

For they shall see God (6)

Matthew 5:8

A recent daily newsletter from Fr. Richard Rohr (OFM) quoted from the Franciscan sister Ilia Delio who talks about the concept of seeing heaven on earth as part of the revelation of God. “Heaven is earth transformed by love when earthly life is lived in love (“pure in heart” DP); the suffering of earth is transformed into a foretaste of heaven when one sees and hears from the inner center of love. Even in heaven the wounds of suffering will not be removed but will be transformed by divine love into new and eternal life. Heaven is not a place of eternal rest or a long sleep-in, but a life of creativity and newness in love; one with God in the transformation of all things…….

Christian life requires a conscious decision to shift the mind (metanoia) by training the mind to focus on the central values of the gospel and to dispense with all other things. Without the choice of a new level of consciousness there can be no new reality or reign of God.”

She then goes on to quote Rabbi Rami Shapiro:

“Will you engage this moment with kindness or with cruelty, with love or with fear, with generosity or scarcity, with a joyous heart or an embittered one? This is your choice and no one can make it for you. If you choose kindness, love, generosity, and joy, then you will discover in that choice the Kingdom of God, heaven, nirvana, this-worldly salvation. If you choose cruelty, fear, scarcity, and bitterness, then you will discover in that choice the hellish states of which so many religions speak. These are not ontological realities tucked away somewhere in space – these are existential realities playing out in your own mind. Heaven and hell are both inside you. It is your choice that determines just where you reside.” [1] [2]

These powerful statements from noted theologians signify how deep the change must occur: each of us live in our own version of heaven or hell, often in both at different times. We make our own choice, no one but I can change what I see in life. the real choice for most of us is how the majority of time is spent, for as age we unconsciously choose one or the other. Jesus made it clear from the statements I have quoted previously, and especially in this beatitude: the pure in heart shall see God.

What do we choose?

What do we choose?

Meditation

Holy Wisdom, I place myself in Your gentle care, trusting You to keep me in heaven. I acknowledge that I too often let my emotions kick into negative territory, too often in truly hell, but when I realize that and can bring my emotions down I will always return to Your Love that lets me see You in all things. I trust You to grant me internal peace and joy, so that I can always rest in Your Love, even to the day I transition to face-to-face knowledge.

References:

[1] Rabbi Rami Shapiro: The Sacred Art of Lovingkindness: Preparing to Practice

(skyLight Paths Publishing: 2006) xi-xii

[2] Ilia Delio, Making All Things New: Catholicity, Cosmology, Consciousness (Orbis Books, 2015) 96-97.

Richard Rohr Meditation, 12/22/2017