The Passion

This week, as we (hopefully) immerse ourselves in the Passion of Christ, we reflect on how we can live that Passion, with passion, in our own lives.  For a Catholic, our saints are our role models for the spiritual journey, and Deacon Tim shares some insights he gained from a retreat which used St. Francis as the guide.  He's more than just a garden statue, you know!  As promised in the podcast, here's a reflection from St. Francis, which I hope will give you a renewed vision of Christ and the Mass.

Let the whole of mankind tremble
     the whole world shake
     and the heavens exult
when Christ, the Son of the living God,
     is on the altar
     in the hands of a priest.
O admirable heights and sublime lowliness!
O sublime humility!
O humble sublimity!
That the Lord of the universe,
     God and the Son of God,
so humbles Himself
that for our salvation
He hides Himself under the little form of bread!
Look, brothers, at the humility of God
and pour out your hearts before Him!
Humble yourselves, as well,
     that you may be exalted by Him.
Therefore,
     hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves
so that
He Who gives Himself totally to you
     may receive you totally.

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Comments

[Barb]

The movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon is the only thing I know about St. Francis and I loved that (just added to my netflix queue). It seems that St. Francis, from what you said deacon Tim, lived in total abandon to and for God. No inhibitions, no concern for what others thought of him, no self. What freedom! I find myself too aware of my neighbor in worship and neglect to give myself fully to God because of that. But those words: Therefore,
hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves
so that
He Who gives Himself totally to you
may receive you totally.

Wow, you're right Cyndi, life-changing. And it fully explains St. Francis' emotional state, constant crying.
Now to take this into my everyday world!

[Snafu]

Here is a link to a very short bio on St. Francis of Assisi: http://www.dlshq.org/saints/francis.htm

Wow, Barb- I was surprised to read that the Brother Sun Sister Moon movie made an impression! If you haven't seen that film in a few years, you'll see immediately that it was an attempt to make a connection between the Saint and the (then) "hippie" generation. I'd like to see it again too.

[ClaireOKC]

I've been doing a lot of study about the construction, design and meaning of the ancient Tabernacle - primarily the one in the dessert - the portable one. And something that is so significant and sometimes gets missed is the tearing of the curtain, from top to bottom, in the temple the hour that Christ dies. I would love to hear Deacon Tim expound a little on the significance (opening the Holies of Holy), and it's application today. It seems one of the most important events, when described in the Bible, but somehow today we seem to just skip over it or miss the symbolism all together.