Into the Sacred Hills of Jade

DAILY DEVOTIONAL
Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Why are there so many divisions among us?

At the close of the parable that we commonly refer to as The Parable of the Prodigal Son (though it might more accurately called The Parable of the Unforgiving Brother), we have this interaction between the father and the older brother ….

”The older brother then said, ‘But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ To this the father responded, “‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” – Luke 15:30-32

Inspired thought by way of inspired writing … the juxtaposition of the older brother referring to the father’s son against the father referring to the older brother’s brother. And such is the insight provided by Christ … Love is about how we perceive our relationship to others. Are they yours or are they mine? What is the significance of God being the Father/Parent of us all.

Are those people of another color to be considered my people?

Are those people who live within another nation’s declared borders to be considered part of my family?

Are those people who understand the faith in ways different from my own to be still considered as members of my family?

Are those people who stray away and squander their inheritance still to be thought as family?

In God’s Realm, in God’s household, God sees us all as family, though some members of the family disagree. And if God loves them as family, so ought we to love them as family.
But sadly … we are too eager to have them belong to someone else. And God is so disappointed when do.

In His Service always,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

DAILY DEVOTIONAL
Monday, May 7, 2018

Are we to be avengers or peacemakers?

A moment of mystery in the story of Christ and scholars can but voice conjecture. It involves the presence of two swords …

Christ said to disciples in the Upper Room, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in Me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.” The disciples responded, “Lord, here are two swords.” “That’s enough!” Christ replied. – Luke 22:36-38

Everyone ought to buy his or her own sword, yet two swords are enough!(?) The disciples carry with them two swords, and yet a few minutes later Christ warns that those who live by the sword will die by the sword!(?)

Many consider the two swords symbolically. Possibly the two swords are Truth and Justice, or maybe, Truth and Mercy; or maybe … well, maybe, any combination that one might consider. And this may be the true interpretation, but I lean toward another interpretation.

My interpretation is that Christ recognizes the need to protect the innocent from those who persecute, but we ourselves as the Christian community will not be an army of warriors. Whatever swords may be required then we are to gather no more than what is necessarily required. And as to our own mission as Christian disciples, we will place ourselves in jeopardy if we must, choosing to transform the earth using the instruments of mercy, grace, and peace rather than the instruments of judgment, hatred, and violence. We are the Peace-makers because we are the Children of God as was Christ our Lord.

Millions will disagree with me … but here I stand with the Lord beside me.

Always in His Service,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

DAILY DEVOTIONAL
Sunday, May 6, 2018

What is the balance between inner peace and prophetic witness?

“I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.” – John 10:9

Here is one of those declarations of “I AM” found in the Gospel of John. Christ draws upon the image of the sheepfold, a place of refuge for the flock during the night when the wolves do prowl. I suspect the sheepfold was a wall of gathered stones with an opening for the doorway, sometimes with a gate, other times with but the bodies of the shepherds. As was Christ’s way, He used metaphors well-known in His place and time. (As I think we ought to do in our own place and time.)

This metaphor of Christ’s I believe speaks to the rhythm of spirituality. The Lord provides us places of shelter, free from anxiety, free from fear, safe places one finds in the new Realm of God. But with this provision of shelter is also the doorway into the world where ministry is accomplished, where witness is shred, where we find the nourishment of life experience is to be found. Reaching out beyond the stone walls and the finding of shelter from what is prowling beyond those stone walls, the rhythm of servant spirituality. And both journeys come by way of the Person of Christ. He is our safe refuge and He is our venturing forth.

I find Sabbath is a sheltering place, readying our souls for the venturing forth.

Always in His Service,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

Dispatches from Fr. Charitas de la Cruz
Saturday, May 5, 2018

I sojourn in these sacred hills of jade and here the Realm of God can be found. When I travel through this faraway place, I find Peace, Love, Joy, Harmony, Wisdom, Community, and Beauty. Yes, here in these sacred hills of jade, heaven and earth are one. Oh, mind you, this wondrous Realm is not everywhere present, but here and there, the Heavenly Realm has poked through the resistance and the reluctance of the world. Mind you, the ways and spirit of the Realm of God is more embraced by some than by too many others. These others are the ones who live in the lesser realm of worldly reasoning and worldly passions. But one by one … the Realm is growing stronger, more quickly in some souls, more slowly in others, and yes, barely stirring at all in a number.

Cherry trees do blossom and rivers do shape the stones … for these are among the innocent parts of Creation in its becoming what it was meant to become. But with humanity, we tend to either retreat into the past or rush into the future … what we need is to allow the Present Moment to progress into tomorrow.

The other day a pilgrim asked me, “Would Creation be better off without humanity?” A thoughtful question. I think sometimes it would be and sometimes, it would not.

I recall the Lord teaching about how the Realm of God will arrive …”It will grow like a seed well-planted … a bit each day, every day, in its process and in its time.”

Yes, here in these sacred hills of jade the Realm of God can be found. And also it can be found in all the places I have ever been and all the places I will ever go.

Always in His Service,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

DAILY DEVOTIONAL
Saturday, May 5, 2018

Why is the world so bent on destruction and self-destruction?

“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.” – Matthew 5:5

Gentle is an elusive word to define for the word itself is filled with its own definition. Dictionaries try to define “gentle” as mild, considerate, tender and kind; not harsh or severe. The King James uses the word “meek” but like so many other words in the English language the connotations of words change. So, I define “gentle” in terms of metaphors and usages … “a sparrow settles gently upon a branch”, “a gentle breeze stirs the leaves of the willow tree”, “a gentle rain has a whispering voice”.

Though I am clumsy in so many ways, I do desire to be a “gentle” soul. I want to speak with gentle words delivered in gentle tones, but the injustices in the world demand more strident words and tones. I want to gain a gentle touch in all things I do, even when I do hard work. I want to walk gently on the earth leaving but the faintest of footprints; I want to serve others in gentle ways.

But what was Christ trying to communicate when He spoke of this ideal, ”Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.” Years of thought I have invested in trying to understand. In my maturity, I think Christ was reminding us that our rage eventually consumes ourselves, even for the “victor” war is self-destructive. I sense Christ is saying that we endure and prosper when we are gentle with each other, gentle with the earth, even gentle with our own personhood. We endure and prosper not through conquest and consumption but through cooperation and creativity.

I know … so many have dismissed the idea of gentle love as being naïve and unrealistic. I like to think of it as stewardship of all we have been given.

In His Service always,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

Dispatches from Fr. Charitas de la Cruz
Friday, May 4, 2018

A cormorant has his wings outstretched, drying his feathers in the wind. This is not a time for flying, but a time for getting ready to fly. And the flying is for the purpose of fishing and the fishing requires getting his feathers wet. The rhythm of devotion and servanthood is much like what is required of the cormorant. Readying for the work and then plunging in, recovering from the work to ready to plunge in once more.

When I first began pastoral ministry, I nurtured the habit of pausing to pray before I entered a home, a hospital room or a nursing home room. I paused to quiet my soul so that I might be ready to listen; I paused to clear my vision so that I might be ready to see. No, not a prayer for the person, but a prayer for me. During the visit we usually prayed, but always as I left through that door through which I entered I whispered one more prayer for them. This became the rhythm of my pastoral service. It kept me in tune; it kept me spontaneous; it kept me refreshed; and in a certain way, kept me human but still Divinely graced.

This has continued to be an aspect of my prayerfulness … I pray when I come to a door. First to get ready to plunge into a pastoral moment; second, to remember the moment that was.

In His Service always,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Friday, May 4, 2018

How does the Spirit of Christ become more and more of our own spirit?

Jesus said to a woman who was drawing water from a well, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – John 4:13,14

In the Christian life, in the spiritual life, in the contemplative life, a subtle yet significant transition takes place as one matures in prayer and service. This transition has to do water and wells, flowing rivers and streams, fresh water springs and the renewal of soul.

I have observed this transition over and over again through my years of ministry. I watch people come searching for the water that will quench their unnamed thirst. I watch them then to sip from the still waters of the Spirit. I watch them bathe then splash in their baptismal waters. I then watch them draw water from the deeper realm of the well. And eventually I watch a spring of cool waters, heavenly waters, gracious waters, begin to flow forth from within them. It is the contemplative journey from the sensing of one’s thirst to the finding of the water that quenches that thirst. It is the contemplative journey that becomes intentional with one’s baptism, one’s commitment to the journey. It is the contemplative journey to desire learning of the deeper understanding of the ways of Christ and the Spirit. It is the contemplative journey into creative spirituality that allows the fresh, living water from heaven to flow through one’s own creativity of life.

To live the Christian life, the spiritual life, the contemplative is the process by which a desperate thirst transforms into creative expression. I call it … becoming one with the river that flows from the heart of God.

Always in His Service,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

Dispatches from Fr. Charitas
Thursday, May 3, 2018

Though my walks are but a few steps these days, maybe thirty, maybe forty, being sure I am strong enough to make it back to home, my vistas are vaster than they have ever been before when dreams were a lesser share of my day. Where once I explored yet-to-be-known places, not I imagine realms that may or may not be there, realms that could be, realms that might be, and I suspect realms that will never be. Yes, my life ahead will be journeys into my imagination, and I sense as I slowly lose my words, the imagination will be all the more.

If in years to come, if they come, and you visit me in whatever place of care where I might abide, look not upon the stillness of my visage nor listen to the silence of my voice, but look into my eyes and imagine the dreams I am having there within my soul.

My life is more than my legs. My life is more than my voice. My life is to follow my Lord wherever in my imaginings He chooses me to go. I will ever be the sojourner; I will ever be the traveler; I will ever be the missionary … by whatever means I have.

Loved Ones, do not die before it is the time to die.

Always in His Service,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Why does certain expressions of Christianity seem not deeply Christ-like?

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. – Matthew 23:15

Mighty hard words to the religious leaders of the times, the scribes who were the teachers of the Hebrew scriptures, the Pharisees, those who called a return to the righteousness of the past. These were the “holy” men, the devout and conservative holy men, the men who went in search of converts. And to these leaders of the faith, Christ said, “You make converts, but you do not transform them into authentic people of God!” Mighty hard words, indeed.

Converts in those days made a public declaration of their new-found faith and after a ritual of baptism became Jewish. But as is the case throughout history, the convert and the convert-maker ended up much the same. Even today … people try to make easy converts and then pressure them and model for them more the faith of the convert-maker than faith in Christ Himself.

My understanding of my work of evangelism is not to make converts but to tell the Great Story of how a soul named Jesus of Nazareth was sent into this world in which we live to begin the process of heaven coming upon the earth and the process of the human and the Divine coming together as blended One. It is the Story, it is the retelling of the words of Christ, it is the introduction to the One who changed and still is changing my life to others who have yet met Him that is my work as Evangelist. Not making converts to my way of thinking but to allow them to hear Christ’s way of thinking. I live as best I can and with the help of the Lord … the way Christ would live my life.

In His Service always,
Fr. Charitas de la Cruz

Dispatches from Fr. Charitas
Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Christ approached a blind man and asked him, “What would have me to do for you?” The man answered, “I want to see!”

And I too have often answered that same question asked of by the Lord, “Lord, I want see. I want to see clearly. I want my eyes to be able see the truth of the matter. I want to not be deluded or deceived … I want to see with eyes Divine.”

In the latter part of my life … much of my day is devoted to ridding my eyes of the specks of dust so that I might see more clearly. Much of my time is devoted to seeing not what I want to see but to see what is actually happening. Every day, sometimes every hour, I beg for the Lord to heal my vision of the tints and distortions my culture places on my eyes. I want to see through the eyes of Christ.

I have learned through the decades of my ministry that a large share people think they see with clear vision, but actually they do not. They look at life through tinted lenses, tinted with cultural prejudices, greedy self-interest, patriotism, economics, commitment to worldly ideologies, delusions and denials. Sometimes they look through lenses that distort the vision without even being aware of the distortion. You might say it is a stigmatism of the soul, seeing life and circumstance, God and humanity, in an image that can never get focused. I know other people has this struggle, for I have this struggle and I am not much different from all others.

“Lord, wash my eyes, correct my astigmatism, remove the lenses through which I view life.”

Always in His Service,
Fr. Charitas de al Cruz