The Talkative
Lover
A lover pressed his suit unsuccessfully for many months, suffering the atrocious pains of rejection. Finally his sweetheart yielded. "Come to such and such a place, at such and such an hour," she said.
So the lover finally found himself seated beside his beloved. He pulled out a sheaf of love letters that he had written to her over the months. They were passionate expressions of pain and burning desire. He began to read them aloud. The minutes passed and he read on and on.
Finally the woman burst out, "What kind of a person are you? Those letters tell of your longing. Well, here I am with you at last, and you are lost in your ludicrous letters."
"Here I am with you," says God, "and you keep thinking of me in your head, talking of me with your tongue, and searching for me in your books. When will you shut up and see?".
(The Talkative lover, p.118, The Song of the
Bird by Anthony de Mello S.J.)
To answer the question "What is our Mission" we must listen. Listen to the heartbeat of God. The ancient Churches define well the purpose of mankind. "Why did God make us?" "God made us to know, love, and serve Him here on Earth, and forever and ever in Heaven". More than 37 years have passed since I first memorized that statement and it still calls me forth from the illusions of religion and pietism into the realities of the search for community through relationship.
All humans share this call, but none more so than the Christian. We see the icon of Christ's life as a "show & tell" which reveals the Father's way & purpose for mankind. We are those who have heard the call to "Come and see...".
For those of us who have embraced the vocation of the monks calling, in married or celibate state, the invitation to know, to love, to serve, represents our very reason for being.
What is our mission? To so identify with the Beloved that we know as we are known, that we love as we are loved, that we serve as we are served. The monk is called to pursue the knowledge of the Beloved until he or she becomes an icon of the Beloved for others. This is how we will fulfill the great commission and lead others to Christ. "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses...".
To really know, love, and serve God will not come by accident. We can not drift into spiritual reality. We must pursue it. There are substitutes for reality much like those of the above parable. Head knowledge can be confused for heart relationship. Feelings and sentimentality can be confused for the decision and commitment of true love. Projects and ministries can be confused with obedient & submissive service. In a thousand ways the heart seek to maintain control and centrality at any cost. We fear the death to self that true love brings. Yet, only in this dying, can we taste the joys of new resurrection life.
Dropping the "I"
Disciple: I have come to offer you my
service.
Master: If you dropped the "I", service
would certainly follow.
You could give all your goods to feed the
poor and your body to be burnt and not have love at all.
Keep your goods and drop the "I". Don't burn
your body; burn the ego. Love will instantly arise.
(Dropping the "I", p.119, Song of the Bird
by Anthony de Mello, S.J.).
Here is the specific abandonment and mission of our calling. What is our Mission...?
To allow ourselves to be loved that we might learn what love is.
- We consecrate time to be available for our God.
- We pray the Divine Office to learn the discipline of prayer.
- We read and listen to Scripture to hear and obey the Father's heart.
- We seek true self knowledge so that we may offer our true selves to God.
- We open our lives to the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of the Order that we may not be hidden, but be known and loved for who we really are.
- We submit to formation because we wish to know transformation in our walk.
What is our Mission? To become Christ-like through Prayer, Community, Service and thus communicate Christ through our being and becoming rather than the guarded, self protecting, and shallow gifts of projects and services.
What is our Mission? Our mission is to communication God to others through love in word and in deed.
What is our Mission? To allow ourselves to be touched, troubled, and changed by love.
Welcome to your mission!
Your Servant,
Gerard +
Missionary of the Holy Spirit.
