3rd Sunday of Advent 16.12.18 Christ within or
Spiritual strength.
We are told to rejoice always, but we immediately wonder:
how can I rejoice if there is so much wrong in the world?
From a prayer attributed to St Patrick: Christ be with me, Christ be before me, Christ
be behind me, Christ be in me, Christ be beneath me, Christ be above me, Christ
be on my right, Christ be on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I
arise…
All these different places Christ can be, and all very close
to me.
Here I am thinking I am all alone in an impersonal universe,
and then I find the Creator of that universe is next to me wherever I go! Suddenly
life looks a lot better.
He is close, and always has been, only it is not the way we
normally think.
We think too much according to our physical senses. If we
can see something it is there; if we cannot see it is not there, or so we let
ourselves think.
We have to develop a more spiritual understanding of
reality. We are surrounded by heavenly beings - angels, saints, and God Himself
We might feel lonely and unloved if there are no other
people around. There are always heavenly people.
In moments of anguish and anxiety we can call on their help.
Any angel or saint, any one of the Three Divine Persons – we will be heard.
Nothing can happen to us unknown to God. Every problem we
ever had, have, or will have, He will be there close by.
This is our faith, though it may be very fragile. We can
nurture it by constant reaffirming and renewal; to the point that what we
perceive spiritually really is central to our life and daily behaviour.
God wants us to be strong in our confidence in Him. He will
teach us on the job. It is like an apprentice relationship. We have to start
acting like true disciples and then we find the faith will come. The faith
emerges as we go along.
It takes practice and discipline to overturn bad habits we
have developed (such as complaining, panicking…)
If we keep up all the recommended practices we will see
progress: daily prayer, weekly Mass, frequent Confession; penance, good works,
etc
At any moment we will act in the best way, according to His
will – this is the goal.
Never again self-pity, and thinking we are all alone and
washed up.
He leads us to a deeper faith. We are told to be child-like,
insofar as we trust in Him. We also need to be mature in that we are able to
take a few blows without losing balance.
We are in one sense like sheep that He comes looking for; in
another sense we are like the bride in the Song of Songs, who goes looking for
her Beloved (Song 3,1-2).
We look for Him in the sense that we are seeking this deeper
grasp of His closeness to us.
It is good for us to have to work towards this deeper faith.
We reach a point that Christ acts through
us, instead of simply solving the problem Himself.
We would prefer it if He just dealt with everything, but
this way benefits us more; we become better people, conformed to Christ, not
just admiring Him but living out His presence in us, letting His grace bring
forth the best in us.
The more this happens, the less we worry. Perfect love casts out fear (I Jn 4,18).
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