Mark Dohle
Well-Known Member
All Saints Day 2020
“If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom 8:31): this is the source of the peace found in the saints. Such inner strength makes it possible for us, in our fast-paced, noisy and aggressive world, to give a witness of holiness through patience and constancy in doing good. It is a sign of the fidelity born of love, for those who put their faith in God (pístis) can also be faithful to others (pistós). They do not desert others in bad times; they accompany them in their anxiety and distress, even though doing so may not bring immediate satisfaction. (112)—Pope Francis
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What is a Saint? I would say that a Saint is one wherein the “Flame-of-Love”, which is Jesus Christ in his Incarnation, has hollowed out a human heart from instinctive, fearful, angry, and aggressive stances towards others. I for one am a long way from that reality, yet I feel the slow burn of God’s love in my heart, slowly, according to my ability to accept, drawing me closer to union with his perfect, loving, compassionate, humanity. Jesus only spoke the truth, and when he spoke in ‘anger’ it was only to break through resistance. He did not use anger to simply attack, humiliate, and dominate anyone.
To be fearful, or anxious, or angry is to be off-center, wobbly, weak. Being forceful is for me a cover-up for my own inner chaos and pain, which has deep roots in my past. So, I would say that to grow in love, the past has to be understood, but not allowed to control how I relate to others ‘today’. My own inner struggles allows self-knowledge to grow, humility to deepen, as well as empathy. My own struggle with aggression is probably one of the most common struggles for humanity.
So to be constant in the face of inner resistance, to be patient when I do not feel it, to be loving in the face of my own often cold and rocky heart, I have to say is my spiritual path. Struggle, as well as suffering, is the forge that draws me deeper into the Heart of Jesus Christ.
I find I judge harshly when I am floundering in my own inner pain, or when I am in full flight from it. To become more loving, to accept others, is to be able to respond to the grace that allows self-knowledge to grow without becoming disconsolate over what I may see. It can deepen trust in God’s all-encompassing mercy, and in that experience, I can give it to others.
To allow Christ Jesus to work through us, to allow His heart to become one with ours, is to become more human, less fearful, and in humility not to be shocked when there are many failures……there is always a new beginning.
We are all beloved of God. In some Jesus may be asleep, In others, still dead in the tomb, but there is always hope that His light will shine, all we need do is to not dowse the flame of the Spirit, but to encourage it by our love of others, and when we speak the truth, too not seek to dominate, but to understand we are there to plant seeds, not to hammer someone over the head. It does not work with me, so why should it work with anyone else?—Br.MD
