March 28, 2005

"New Creation"

God loves to create so in order to talk about "New Creation" we really need to begin at the beginning.  "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  Then Genesis talks about all the things He created and says, "Let us make man in our image and in our likeness."  God created man in His image, in the divine image He made man.  Male and female He created them.  This is beautiful.  This is how we began - in the flesh.  Scripture says He formed us out of clay and blew into the nostrils of man the breath of life and man became a living being.  Then, as you know, there was the fall and so a lot of that was removed.  We lost a lot of things in the fall. 

The contemplative, John, talks about a new beginning.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Jn 1:1).  "And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us" (Jn 1:13-14).  This is the new creation, isn't it?  God Himself coming now and becoming flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone.  This is an awesome mystery that God is doing.  St. Paul said,  that God gave me to preach among you His word in its fullness - that word, "the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.  But now it has been manifested to his holy ones, to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you" (Col 1:25-27) - in other words, the Word that has become flesh now within us. Isn't that amazing?  That mystery was hidden all those ages and now is being revealed to us.  In Hebrews 10:5-7 we hear Jesus speaking, "A body you have prepared for Me.  Behold I come to do Your will."  Jesus is looking for bodies today and here we are like the little stars.  "Here we are, Lord, come and dwell within me.  Come and live within me.  Come and use me.  Come and do Your Father's will within me." 

This new creation begins for us as it did for Our Lady at the Annunciation.  Really, it begins with the same words, "Yes, Lord."  Every yes is a new creation for us, a new coming of the Lord.  It's a new Annunciation experience.  "Be it done unto me according to your word."  That word becomes en-fleshed more and more in this new creation process with every single "yes."

If there is ever a grace that we want from the Lord, it is this.  It's simply the grace that Mary herself received, her fiat grace, "Yes, Lord."  Now this sounds very simple.  In fact, have you ever noticed how simple God is and how simple the Gospels are?  Yet when we try to incorporate them into our lives and our flesh and blood, it gets kind of complicated and difficult.  Yet it really is simple.  We know in the beginning stages of prayer that we're not used to saying "yes, Lord" all the time, in season and out of season.  So these yeses oftentimes are purchased at great price.  In these beginning stages of prayer, there will be many, many tears, sacrifices and struggles for these yeses, but when the grace comes for that yes, there's phenomenal peace.

I think it seems more difficult in the beginning stages because we have not been used to always saying yes to someone else.  That's part of the damage of original sin.  We go through that rebellion, the "terrible two's," you might say.  It's "No, no, no," and God says it has to be "Yes, yes, yes."  When I began to realize this myself, I remember saying to the Lord, "Is this it?  Is this my vocabulary?  Is this THE vocabulary in the interior life?  Is this all I need to know - to say yes?"  And He replied, "Yes."  Oh, He is simple!  In the beginning, Scripture tells us, that this Word that became flesh grew in wisdom and grace before God and man.  He grew.  This is Jesus.  This is the beautiful hidden life, the interior life of grace, the Nazareth years that were so important to Jesus.  He is teaching us something very important to us through His example.

Excerpt, Mother Nadine's "New Creation," Omaha, NE, 2004.