"Rivers of Renewal"
"Restful Rivers"
Recently,
I was in a Catholic Church that has a beautiful back altar. On the vertical
front of this back altar, in the center set in relief, was an image of the
Victorious Lamb reclining on the top of a closed book that had a red cover and
golden page edges. Seven golden tabs were draped from within the book (the book
may have been The Book of Revelation, and the seven tabs symbolic of the
seven seals--certainly, in the bible the number seven refers to perfection). Resting
diagonally in front of the Lamb on a pole was the white flag of the Victorious
Lamb with a red cross in the center. The entire image had a blue background
(the color blue made me think of The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Incarnation).
As I pondered this image a thought came to mind: The victory is in the
surrender! It certainly was for Jesus on the cross. He surrendered his life
in total trust into the hands of the Father. This is the essential passover we
are all called to as contemplative intercessors--to die to self and allow the
Spirit of Jesus to rest within us: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord
from now on." "Yes," said the Spirit, "let them find rest from their
labors..." (Rev.14:13). To find this kind of rest is to "find" the only One Who
can really give us this experience of contemplative rest: "My soul rests in God
alone" (Psalm 62:2).
Falling
in love with God entails letting go of everything else that is not of God, and
learning how to "recline", to rest in His love for each of us. In the interior
life surrender is of supreme importance. This is yet one more reason why the
baptism in the Holy Spirit is essential for effective ministry as
contemplative, communal, intercessors. True freedom only occurs by way of
surrender, and this true freedom is what the Holy Spirit desires for each of
us. Recall what St. Paul says about the Holy Spirit and freedom: "Now the Lord
is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom"
(2 Cr. 3:17). Where is the Spirit? He is within each of us who choose to open
ourselves to Him. Jesus says this about freedom: "The truth will set you
free" (John 8:32). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth; so, He always
wants to lead us to the truth. Certainly, He wants to lead each of us to the
truth of Who He is and the truth of our identity. The key is to let go of
ourselves and allow ourselves to be led. Jesus, himself, is always led by the
Holy Spirit: "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be
tempted by the devil" (Mt. 4:1). The Holy Spirit is the expert at bringing us
into surrender.
What
I am being asked to surrender is my false self--the "me" whom I believe falsely
to be my true identity at the center of my being, and hence whom I further
believe falsely I can't live without. The gift of surrender really answers the
question, "Whose life is it really about anyway?" St. Paul answers this
question in Gal. 2:20: "Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me."
Surrender involves a passover from self into Jesus who is my true identity.
Surrender is really about giving to Jesus what is rightfully his anyway: My
life! In truth I exist to serve the "LIFE" Who lives within me. Jesus
desires to continue to live His total "yes"--His total surrender--to the Father
now through my humanity. He desires to continue to do what pleases the Father
now from within me.
One
of the essential keys of the spiritual life is to allow myself to be "loved to
death" by the Trinity and Mary: To be so overwhelmed by both the depth of the
richness of Their love and by the profound holiness of Their love to the point
of letting go of myself. Only then can I really "rest in peace" as the Trinity
rests within me. The Holy Spirit enters into me and helps me to let go of my
self so that the deeper process of purification and sanctification can occur.
This is one of the Holy Spirit's essential functions in our lives. He brings me
into a docility and a submission to the Father's will; for, Jesus always lives
in total submission to the Father: "Not what I will but what you will"
(Mark 14:36), and Jesus is now living within me through the Sacrament of
Baptism.
Surrender
entails a letting go of my will, my way, my word and allowing Jesus to now live
as the "Final Word" within me. I am reminded that in St. Luke's Gospel Jesus'
final word on the cross is, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit"
(Luke 23:46). Surrender is relational just as my true identity is relational. I
cannot come into my true identity except through surrender. This is one of the
reasons why surrender is so essential to the authentic interior life. To
surrender is to trust the One whom I know loves me--the One whom I have come to
know and love. The Holy Spirit empowers me to hand myself over into the
Father's Hands in every situation throughout the day. I can let go of myself
because of my love for the Father. I surrender in love to the One Who is love.
I know in loving trust that the Father will carry me through each
circumstance and encounter during the day.
The
life in the Spirit is the "Life" of the true Son, Jesus, living within me in
Spirit in the presence of the Father. The spirituality of the life in the
Spirit is expressed by a life of complete docility to the Holy Spirit. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "The more we renounce ourselves,
the more we "walk by the Spirit" (CCC#736). Love requires a constant
renunciation of self if it is to grow. Indeed, self is the enemy of true life
in the Spirit, the enemy of baptismal growth, and the enemy of this charism;
for, Jesus is this charism! He is the One who "surrendered himself to
death" (Is. 53:12); "handed himself over to the one who judges justly"
(1 Pet. 2:23); "was handed over for our transgressions..." (Rom. 4:25);
"submitted and opened not his mouth; "like a lamb led to the slaughter
or a sheep before the shearers...he was silent and opened not his mouth" (Is.
53:7). In a surrendered interior there is inner silence and stillness; for, in
surrender one lives in the present moment presence of the God Who is
"silent",eternal Love.
At
the Annunciation Mary modeled this gift of surrendered interiority as she gave
herself completely and trusted totally in the word of the One Whom she loved
wholeheartedly. At the Annunciation Jesus united Mary to his total surrender to
the Father. She surrendered to God's will, and the world has forever been
changed by this. At the Annunciation Mary accepted the Mystery without knowing
all of the details, just like the consent given at a wedding is a surrender to
everything that will follow in the marriage. At the Annunciation the Holy
Spirit took possession of Mary for the Father and the Son. The Spirit drew
Mary, and she allowed herself to be drawn into the intimate Life of the
Trinity: "Draw me!--we will follow you eagerly" (Songs 1:4). Mary's "yes"
(me) was given in the name of the entire human race (we)!
Expectation becomes realization through the gift of surrender: "May it be
done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). At the Annunciation what
God promised Mary through the angel, Gabriel,
Jesus promises to each of us: The gift of himself. All we have to do
is surrender.
Scriptures:
1
Sam. 4:7; Rom 8: 14; Gal. 5:25; Jas. 4:7
Questions:
1)
What do I find most difficult to let go of (surrender) in my life?
2)
Has the Holy Spirit revealed to me any aspects of my false self?
3)
Am I aware of any areas in my life that I have been able to
surrender over to God?
