Asking And Giving -- II

OK, I stand corrected, or perhaps improved is a better way of putting it. In my musing about Asking and Giving, it was pointed out to me that the solution discussed failed to mention a key point: Prayer. Or as it was put to me: in these difficult times, what we need to be doing is filling in the GAP, with considerations of our Giving, Asking, and Praying. Well put, my friend.

That reminds me of this excerpt from Fr Cantalamessa’s meditation which touches on the value of other people. Often we think we are the experts on a matter, or that the Holy Spirit only speaks to us, and we too easily dismiss others’ opinions. There is Wisdom to be obtained from every person. While we value our own opinions highly, we are replaceable, and in fact will be replaced some day.

Orig: 12/12/07: Remember Jesus Christ

Chapter 6: Obedient unto Death
Why does God want to be obeyed by us so much? Certainly not because he likes to give orders and have subjects! It is important because in obeying we do the will of God; we want the same things that God wants, and thus we fulfill our original ocation to be “in his image and likeness.” Dante Alighieri summarized all this in the verse: “in His will is our peace.”

One difficult case of obedience to circumstances is the one that comes to all of us because of age, namely, retirement from activity, the termination of a position, the need to hand over matters to others, perhaps leaving some projects unfinished and some initiatives still in process. Someone has jokingly said that the office of a superior is a cross, but that sometimes the most difficult thing to accept is not being raised up onto that cross but coming down from it, being deposed from the cross!

I am certainly not making fun of others in such a sensitive situation, since no one knows how he or she will react until it happens. This is one kind of obedience that brings us closer to that of Christ in his passion. Jesus suspended his teaching, stopped all activity, and did not let himself think of what would happen to his apostles. He was not anxious about what would happen to his words that were entrusted only to the poor memory of some fishermen. He did not let himself think of his mother, whom he was leaving alone, either. There was no complaint, no attempt to change the Father’s decision: “I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go hence” (John 14:31).

Responding to the Challenges of Faith in Our Time By Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap