February 2, 2004

"Less of Me, More of Him"

Intercessors especially live in hope and dynamic faith.   Our faith is expectant because we've heard from God.  We know what He wants, we know what's going to happen, but we are only the connectors.  We connect faith and love.  We're the bridge.  We are bridging the gap.  So we have to be people of hope, living in hope that God is still God, that He loves us and is going to do what He has said.  God is so incredibly faithful. 

We are "proclaiming a covenant which has its beginning and end in the agape love of God" (Our Holy Rule, p. 1).  This covenant that we're proclaiming is union.  God is so interested in our relationship and union with Him that He has paid the highest price anyone could pay to have this union.  This is agape love, and He wants to continue it through us.  We become the distributors of His tremendous love.  Now we are willing to lay down our lives every day.  We are willing to lay down all of our opinions, all of our wants, and all of our wishes so that we can walk fully and beautifully in His perfect will.  This is union.  The closest we can get to God on this side of life is to have our will one with His will.  Being one with God's will is everything-it's our strength, our life, our love, and our protection, particularly for intercessors.  When we move out under His will, we have that beautiful canopy of His love and protection.  We are not going to get hurt or harmed.  But if we move out ahead of Him, then that's presumption and pride.  Lambs follow the leader.  Jesus gave us the beautiful imagery in His becoming the Lamb Himself.  We are led by the Spirit always.  The Spirit knows how to bring about sacrifice within us because He is a Spirit of love.  When we are being loved, and we know it, we'll do anything to return that love because love is strong.  There's nothing as strong as love.  Love is a beautiful gift that has been given to us, and it's poured forth from the pierced heart of Jesus. 

Often we don't realize everything is gift.  Grace is another word for life.  Every good gift comes from God.  Intercession is a beautiful gift, but it comes from the Gift of gifts-God's great gift of love.  Without His gift of love, we cannot lay down our lives.  But there is a price tag on souls.  All we have to do is meditate on Jesus Christ Crucified and we'll see how costly it is, and yet that grace was given to us freely.  "The gift you have received, give as a gift" (Mt 10:8), but it will cost us our lives. 

The German theologian Bonhoeffer said that when Christ bids a man to come and follow Him, He bids him to come and die.  We die every day so that we can take up the Cross and become more like Jesus-less of me, more of Him.  That's the way it works.  You know, He is a jealous God.  He won't compete with anyone.  He won't compete with us.  We have to make room within ourselves for the King.  He gives all of Himself, and He wants all of us in return.  So as we die daily, we actually are living more fully.  We start to live life to the fullest because we start to live His life.  This is God's great gift, and it comes forth from the pierced heart of Jesus, from that blood and water.  It comes forth from His humanity and His divinity.  This is who we are.  We are flesh in humanity, but we are filled with His divinity.  We hear this every year in the beautiful Christmas liturgy, "Oh wondrous exchange."  Just think, God gets our humanity and we get His divinity.  That's the exchange.  That's the covenant.  That's the marriage.  We get the better portion by far, but that's the way He set it up. 

"We contribute to the raising of the spiritual life of the Church in this greater ministry of the Holy Spirit" (Our Holy Rule, p. 1).  We become qualified ministers, as Paul said, of this new covenant (see 2Cor 3: 6).  As we come more and more into this deep marriage, this transforming union relationship, we gain the territory to obtain these same graces for others.  We become qualified ministers.  We're paying a price for it, but there's no joy quite like giving life and being life-bearers for others. 

This is what makes suffering bearable-God can use our  pain.  It's not wasted.  God can use suffering.  It can pierce other people's hearts.  This was the great prophetic word given to Our Lady, "You yourself shall be pierced with a sword - so that the thoughts of many hearts may be laid bare" (Lk 2:35).  In the piercing of her heart, Mary was giving "birth" to her Son in other hearts.  Sometimes we just look at the hundred and twenty who came out of that Upper Room on Pentecost.  But look at the ones, the three thousand referred to in Acts 2:41, who weren't in the Upper Room but still received the grace of the piercing of the hearts themselves.  Their heart thoughts started pouring out, and they wanted to repent.  They wanted to know, "What are we to do?" (Acts 2:37)  That's powerful, heart-piercing intercession!  It contributed to raising the spirituality of the Church because Jesus started to take up residency within souls.  He started to grow within souls.  I think that He's still in the tomb in many souls today.  He hasn't resurrected.  So these heart piercings can get graces so that we can come alive and be filled with the Spirit of Jesus. 

Excerpt from "Formation on Rule," Omaha, NE, 2003.