November 29, 2004

"Pruning"

Jesus said that a tree has to be pruned every now and then so it can bear fruit (see Jn 15:1-2).  We also go through a pruning process.  Jesus did not come to call the righteous but sinners (see Mk 2:17).   All of us have been poisoned by original sin so all of us have sin within us.  Jesus wants to heal this.  He wants to redeem this part of us.  He wants to bring this into the light, but we need to acknowledge a couple of things.  One is that "I am a sinner; I am wounded."  Another is, "I really need You, Lord.  I want You to heal me.  I want You to heal the damage that was done to me in original sin."

Wherever you are at in the spiritual life, purification is difficult.  There is always some element of pain.  It is always leaving the "all," whatever the all is at that point in our lives, and letting go.  There can be fear anytime we go from one level in the spiritual life to another, from something that is familiar to something that is not familiar.  I can't encourage you enough to take the risk.  Take the risk.  Take it in pure faith, in pure obedience, to what the promptings of the Spirit may be within you so that you can make that crossover.  Otherwise, you are going to stay in the fleshpots of Egypt and that's not your inheritance.  Jesus came to set us free and to call us out of bondage.  All the areas where we are in bondage are pagan areas-they're not Christian areas.  So we need to ask the Lord to enlighten us and show us where we are in bondage.  Where are my fears?  Where am I living and moving out of my false self?

The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius are geared to set a soul free, to free oneself from anything that might distort our vision of God's will.  We need to be free enough to make good choices.  We can't make good choices until we are free enough to know God's will.  We need purity of heart.  We have desires in our heart that God has put there, but we also have a lot of natural desires in our heart that are self-made desires and not God-given desires.  It's these self-desires that have to be rooted out and put to death. 

Excerpt from Contemplative Prayer series, "Bearing Fruit in the Word," Omaha, NE, 1984.