Posted by
Trubador on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 11:04:03 AM
Part 8 – A Pilgrimage Talk by Brother Leo
Upon entering the Lower
Church you are faced with massively thick white marble columns, supporting
a low ceiling, and along the back wall are the crypts for those cloistered nuns
who eventually pass from this life and enter the glory of Heaven. Only two or
three of the order have been laid to rest at this point in time.
Brother Leo (one of the Franciscan brothers) was asked on a moments’ notice to fill in for another
brother to give a talk to a group of people on their pilgrimage retreat. These
talks are open to anyone who enters the church and are not exclusive to the
small groups attending. And in his half-impromptu/half-prepared presentation,
Brother Leo said some profound things.
He started off with a whimsical hypothesis of what Heaven must be
like. Or more specifically, what would we be like in Heaven. He gleaned from
scripture the images of Jesus after his resurrection. He was able to suddenly
appear to His disciples who were cowering in a locked room, so we may be able
to walk through walls. Jesus ate fish with His disciples, so we may be able to
eat as well. We would be able to move at the speed of thought, at one moment
being in one place, then immediately appearing somewhere else far away. In
considering the transfigured body of Christ, we would be filled with bright
white light. And, of course, as scripture states, “[there will be] no more pain, or tears, or suffering, or death.” (Revelation 21:4)
St. Francis de Sales, in his Lenten Sermons, comments further that
we will be able to “see, hear, consider, [and] understand more perfectly” when we reach the glory of Heaven.
That we will be able to recognize those whom we’ve never met while here in this
life, and that we will “know each other by name.” That our level of awareness and the “power” and “harmony of [our] actions [will be] perfected with divine
consolation.”
“All is perfected and brought to perfection in the eternal
beatitude of Heaven.” ~ St. Francis de Sales
But, until then, we are left on this earth - where we tend to
strangle ourselves with countless anxieties. Then Bro. Leo quoted the passage
from Matthew that I read earlier in which Jesus says to “not worry, saying, ‘What
shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’… [and]
therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Brother Leo went on to say, “The more you complain, the more you need to thank God for all of
the little things.”
That “everything you have is a
gift from God.” Your
eyes, your hands, your ears, yourself, your life, your family, your job,
everything. Even your pains and disappointments.
“I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains
me.” ~ Psalm 3:5
Bro. Leo continued, “The past is gone… The future is not yet here... You only have the
present… Be in the moment.” For there is “a reason for being where you are at, whether [that reason is] for
you, or for someone else.”
How quickly we complain about a certain trial someone may be going
through, or shake our heads at some injustice witnessed from a distance, or
rationalize an abomination all in the name of convenience. Or we cry out to God
wondering why we’re continuing to go through whatever trial we may be facing at
the moment. And, in doing so, we blind ourselves to the possibility that
through our own struggles someone else
may finally open themselves up to God’s grace. Or when we witness someone
else’s struggles we may be obscuring ourselves from the very parts of our own nature that God is wanting us to
confront and challenge and change.
Bro. Leo instructs, “Humble yourself.” And “think of Jesus as a good friend.” And your house as your heart. Brother
Leo relayed the imagery of Jesus standing at a door, and the handle to that
door is only on your side. So waits for you to open the door to your heart and
to be invited in. And, even when you do let Him in, Jesus (like any gracious
guest) “will only go into the
rooms of your house in which you invite Him.”
Will you invite Him into your living room where the TV is? Your
kitchen & dining room where you prepare and eat your meals? Your bedroom?
Your telephone? Your computer? Your basement or attic? Your closets? And, of
course, we have many closets, don’t we?
With lots of skeletons inside?
Brother Leo continued, “A person wounded is afraid to love. Afraid to be wounded again.” And it’s that person who needs to
learn to forgive. “The things we bury inside
and don’t want to talk about are the areas where Jesus wants to enter, and to
heal, and to comfort.”
It pleases Him “when you seek forgiveness” from Him, as well as when you yourself forgive
others. “Pray for the person who did you harm, and pray for yourself to be
able to forgive.” And
pray to be forgiven yourself.
And then Brother Leo said this:
“There is joy in the midst
of suffering.” When
you are in pain, suffering, anxious or depressed… it is then that Jesus is closest to you. It is at
that moment that "Jesus is kissing you." And you may ask, “How could that be?
My wife is seriously ill. My husband has left me. My child was killed in the
prime of his life. I’m struggling to pay the bills. I’m overwhelmed with my
job. I’ve been betrayed. I’m so lonely. I’m depressed and filled with despair.
How could it be that Jesus is kissing me when it hurts so much?”
The reason why it hurts so much is because at those moments “Jesus is kissing you while
still wearing His crown of thorns.” And I immediately think back to the display just outside the door
to the lower church – the gnarled and twisted crown of shockingly thick yet
needle-sharp finger-length thorns. And the wounds of suffering He endured for
all of humanity.
And an image flashed in my mind of Jesus carrying the cross on His
back. And that wooden cross was me. That very cross onto which He was nailed…
was me… and you. Christ nailed with spikes onto the tree of our sins. And we
are intimately and permanently embraced by his love and grace and mercy in His
suffering and death.
Brother Leo said, “Unite you pains to the cross. Unify yourself to Jesus. Purify
your life. [And] Grow in holiness.”
“In becoming man, He has taken our likeness and given us His.” ~ St.
Francis de Sales
Brother Leo ended his talk with these words: “Your Guardian Angels are
protecting you, even if you don’t know it.”
“Some have entertained angels unawares.” ~ Hebrews 13:2
“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all
your ways.” ~ Psalm 91:11
In speaking on when we reach Heaven, St. Francis de Sales said, “There our good angels will
give us greater joy than we can imagine when we recognize them and they speak
to us so lovingly of the care they had for our salvation during our mortal
life.”
After taking some time to ponder and reflect on Bro. Leo’s
comments, I and the others on pilgrimage began to make our way up to the Main
Church.