Totally in His Hands...

Today as I pray, recovering from a fever, I find it hard to initially connect with God. The things and cares of this world have become more real inside of me in the last two days. I notice how easily the things of the world can overcome the inner life of the Spirit. It is like the ferocious attack of weeds in the tropics invading the garden that took so long to clean up!

As I offered my mind to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit my prayer was, “Holy Spirit, give me back the wisdom of heaven, so that I may see the realities of this world through your eyes”. Then the Spirit begins to show me why He is called the counselor!

He shows me that His leading in my life is not simply to meet my needs and make me happy as I understand it or want it to be. His purpose is higher. He is leading me and preparing me to receive a reward and a life that is eternal. Therefore the safety and security that the Spirit can provide me is greater than my own defense systems. Though my defense system tries it’s best to protect me and meet my needs, it can’t prevent me from growing old or dying one day. It can’t defend me from things unseen and beyond my control. Yet it tries to defend me and prevent me from surrendering completely to God!

When the Holy Spirit makes me aware of my limitations and my foolishness, my internal defenses let go into the loving hands of God. The leading of the Holy Spirit is the best answer to my every need, desire and aspiration. Even if He has to lead me through worldly discomfort, rejection and pain, He will be my internal comforter and strength. Even death to self and ego outside will be transformed into life and energy at the level of the Spirit!

Then the Spirit leads me to Jesus. He invites me to look at Him as the one and only role model for my journey through life. St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians in chapter 2 speaks of the inner journey of the Lord. Though He was equal to God He let it go to become a human, then a servant and finally a slave obedient unto death itself. Yet the Lords trust of God the Father and the leading of the Holy Spirit was not in vain. St. Paul says that He was raised up above all things to the right hand of God. God will ultimately do infinitely better and more than our limited defense systems! This awareness given to me by the Holy Spirit leads me once again to total abandonment into the hands of God in complete trust with a heart full of peace, joy and love.

Blessed Are You Who Believed That What Was Spoken to You by the Lord Would Be Fulfilled

As I pray and reflect today the Holy Spirit and Jesus teaches me about true devotion to the Blessed Mother and her true value for me. She is a model of all what God can and wants to do in a human being.

We humans are created in the image of God. Therefore we have the basic freedom and independence that God himself has. Without this freedom and independence we are mere robots run in accordance with a pre set programme.

The wonder of this independence is that it is an independence and a separation from God which He himself will not or maybe even cannot bridge for the fear of violating our freedom! Therefore within us lies a universe that is on its own. All our internal functions, thought processes, fears, desires and joys are moved and controlled by cause and effect and the limited knowledge within us. They are heavily influenced by the information and experiences conveyed to us through our senses. Because of the gift of free will within us we determine what is real and true for us.

That is the reason why a small incident becomes a gripping reality within us and influences every area of our lives. Like the boy we met in Canada who hides in a basement of his home because of a rejection by a girl. Our inner being is a self-contained universe with its own realities that drive us and make many of our lives a terrible hell!

Is that one reason for God to become a man and come amongst us! To reveal another dimension of reality and invite us to open up our self contained universe to this great truth and blessing of God with us and in us! When we accept this truth and invitation a great transformation happens within us.

The blessed Mother is one who opened herself up completely to this great truth of God and had Him live inside of her! She teaches us how to carry God within ourselves and how to yield in a way that is fruitful both for her and for the world around. The feast of the ascension is the celebration of the ultimate reward for opening to the reality of God with and within her. She is taken bodily into the presence of God.

By her silent relationship with Jesus with no place or no prominence teaches us that the inner journey with God is the path of total fulfillment. That fullness in Jesus can be had in poverty, obscurity, lowliness and insignificance! That journey will be crowned with ascension into heaven one day and a deep intimacy with the Holy Spirit, Jesus and the Father.

The Gospel of today speaks the words of Elizabeth to Mary inspired by the Holy Spirit. Blessed are you among women. Why and how did the reality of God with her and within her enter her inner universe by the promise of the Angel? How do we know that this is true? Again under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Elizabeth says “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled”! She accepted the word of God into her and treated it as true. This opened her to the blessings of God. This can be done in the lowliest and poorest circumstances of life, as Mary did thorough out her life! Again a ray of light and hope to everyone of us. We can be blessed when we permit God’s word to become the reality of our inner world!