I know I’ve read and reviewed books of Fr. Robert Spitzer in the past. He is a deeply spiritual man who can express that spirituality in a way we can all understand. I am in the first part of his latest book: Escape from Evil’s Darkness, which has its focus on spiritual conversion (detachment from the world) and moral conversion (increased virtue and resistance to sin).
Early on, Fr. Spitzer notes: “The idea that our relationship with God can be isolated from others whom the Lord dearly loves and wants to love, misunderstands the purpose of life in this world. The Lord created us as imperfect beings in need of one another, to call us to serve and be served --- that is, to care and love as He has loved us. This entails koinonia --- community belief, worship and service.“ He’s talking about the need for a church community, a focus of much of this book. The section of the book I have now gotten to talks about spiritual conversion and in particular the receiving of Jesus’ Body and Blood in the Eucharist, Holy Communion.
Fr. Spitzer starts by giving the example of a baby in a room of adults. It doesn’t understand what they are saying, but if they begin laughing together, the baby will begin laughing also. “It has an unconscious empathy with all of us.” He then speaks of how that community spirituality exists in the Eucharist, something I had not considered before (despite the title of “Holy Communion” which it often goes by).
When I receive Holy Eucharist, as I did at mass this morning, I had perceived it as a time of Jesus’ presence in me, a special, intimate time of prayer between me and Him. My God has come to be with me. But Fr. Spitzer notes: “The unifying aspect of the Holy Eucharist is not limited to the enhancement of individual believers who receive it; it is a way for each believer to participate in the universal Church --- both in the world and in the Kingdom of Heaven (the communion of the saints). There can be little doubt Jesus intended the Eucharist to be both a universal and unifying gift. The themes of unity of believers and ‘life of the world’ were picked up by the early Church Fathers. The theme is further mentioned in a number of papal letters and encyclicals. “Thus, the Eucharist is the occasion to pray for (and with) the local Church community, the worldwide Church community, and the life of the world.”
“It cannot be held to the domain of personal, by the intention of Jesus, and therefore by its nature (unconditional love), It reaches out to the whole world. It gives life to those in spiritual and temporal need. It unifies the Church in its life-giving nature and mission, and It moves through the Church to the rest of the world. Thus, when we receive the Holy Eucharist, we not only pray for personal transformation, we pray for the Church, the unity of the Church, the life of the world, and the Church reaching out to the world in its spiritual and temporal need.”
I had always considered receiving Jesus in the Eucharist as a very personal thing --- which it is --- but Spitzer notes it is also a unification of us in Him. I can pray “WE praise You and thank You, and WE love You.”
In a world so torn as now (and emphasizing selfishness) it is good that we pray prayers of unity, for the Christians in Afghanistan, Haiti, and in the whole world, and for the conversion of their persecutors, who are also God’s children.
I think that type of prayer, of unity, and of spiritual light, is part of what Spitzer implies in his book’s title: Escape from Evil’s Darkness.” I look forward to the rest of his words and insights.
No comments:
Post a Comment