2nd Sunday of Lent, Cycle B
Retreat for Married Couples
Priest Field, West Virginia
March 5, 2012
The “Look of Love”
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
SEAN AND REBECCA
I’m seeing Sean and Rebecca as they prepare for their marriage in May. They both live in London so we’ve been using Skype for our meetings. The interesting thing with using Skype is that I can see both their faces on my computer screen in a single 8x10 view.
I am always struck by the way each looks at the other when he or she is speaking. It’s as if there is no one else in the world, but the two of them.
The way they gaze at each other, speak, smile, sit close – the look of Love seems to dominate them.
You can say that Love has transfigured them. They have been overwhelmed – even “ambushed” – by Intimate Love.
When someone loves you, it always changes you. In the gaze of a trusted Beloved, we are fulfilled, empowered, energized, transfigured, affirmed, and excited .
JESUS AND THE FATHER
Today, all this happens to Jesus. After months of frustrating ministry, rejected by most religious leaders, Jesus turns to his Father.
Going up the mountain to be alone with him, Jesus hears again the message that anchors him: “You are my beloved Son!”
We are told that the intense Spirit of Love between Father and Son totally transfigures Jesus. “His clothes became dazzlingly white … Elijah appears along with Moses; the two are in conversation with Jesus.”
Empowered by this “look of Love” Jesus is able to return to his ministry and to his destiny as the Gospel says, “setting his have towards Jerusalem.”
WE AND THE FATHER
As we walk through this world, we feel pressured by life’s burdens; we get beaten down by problems; we get shaken up by fear and worry.
It is important
Ø That we “wounded warriors” pause occasionally to allow that “look of Love” to overshadow us once again
Ø That we allow God to overwhelm us with Love
Ø That we “waste time” with the One whose Love and affection for us is intimate and eternal
THE PRESENT MOMENT
The mystics tell us that all we need to – not only get by, but to thrive – can be found in the present moment.
If we can trust that fact and are willing to take a few deep breaths and insert ourselves into that present moment, God’s presence, God’s love and support will be found there. Our hope will be renewed; our courage affirmed.
Abraham could never have gone up the mountain to sacrifice his very son had he not been living in the present and in close communication with his God. What he was asked to do was too horrible to contemplate without that presence.
Yes, being in God’s presence in the moment is what it takes and doing that, Peter’s words in the Gospel become ours: “Lord, it is good for us to be here!” Good, indeed.
The stresses in our daily lives should be triggers to get us into God’s presence in the moment through simple deep breathing. There we can be soaked in God’s look of Love upon us, God’s gaze not with judgment or expectation, but of infinite patience and tender intimacy.
Who cannot thrive in such an atmosphere!
And you don’t have to wait for a crisis or discomfort, a conflict or a displeasure to be in the moment and God’s gaze. Begin each day by centering yourself in your true identity – as a beloved son or daughter of God, a beloved child of a benevolent God.
FEATHERING
Once you’ve been “in the moment” renewed with tender mercies, we reach out and give the “look of Love” to someone else. Divine love, instead, multiplies when it is shared with others.
Begin with your spouse, then others at home, and only then move to the difficult ones at work and elsewhere
Jesus’ words, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another” are not so much a command as they are the answer to a secret to having the love you’ve received flourish in giving it away.
In summary: Sit before your God, and bask in the “look of Love.” Then stand before all to return that Love to the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment