DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Paul writes …“Not that I have already obtained oneness with Christ or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:12-14

Christianity is neither a way of belief that is frozen in time nor a way of belief that is lost in the past, but rather is a forward-looking journey into the future by way of faithfulness in the Present Moment.

The Christian Way is a creative way of life.  The Church, though we are often tempted to make it so, is not a museum but more like an artist’s studio.  Like a weaver at a loom, the Church weaves eternity, each day a passing of the shuttle through the threads.  Day after day, we weave a tapestry that one day in the future we will finally behold in its fulfillment.

The Christian Way is a visionary way of life.  Though the Church has its recollections, its living vibrancy is found in its dreams and visions.  We are dreamers of what could be; we are envision-ers of what will be.  It is the spirit of the prophets to interpret the present times in light of what will come to be.  It is not a yearning for what was, but rather a yearning for what could yet be.

The Christian Way is an unfolding way of life.  The Church is part of the unfolding Creation.  Through the ages of Time we can see that Creation was not a static event but rather a dynamic event.  Creation included within itself this yet unrealized potential that would slowly progress through Time until its ultimate fulfillment.  The Church thus has as its work not the preservation of the past whenever that “sacred past” might have been, but rather the work of blazing the trail into the frontiers of the unfolding future.

We indeed press on toward the goal for the prize of a heavenly, beckoning, guiding, inspiring call.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz