Perhaps this spiritual insight from a well-known psychiatrist named Gerard May, who wrote a book called ADDICTION AND GRACE some years ago, is worth considering during these early days of Lent. He writes:
After twenty years of listening to the yearnings of people’s hearts, I’m convinced that all human beings have an inborn desire of God whether they are consciously religious or not, this desire for God is our deepest longing and our most precious treasure. It gives us meaning. Some of them have repressed this desire, burying it beneath so many other interests that we are completely unaware of it. Or we may experience it in different ways—as a longing for wholeness, fulfillment, and completion. Regardless of how we describe it, it is a longing for love. It is a hunger for love, to be loved, and to move closer to the source of love.
But something gets in the way of our inborn desire of God. The longing at the center of our hearts repeatedly disappears from our awareness and its energy is usurped by forces that are not at all loving. Our desires are captured, and we give ourselves over to things, that in our deepest honesty, we really do not want.
When Catholics and other Christians like you and me live our faith “as Jesus taught,” then we can become a potential lifesaver to those whom Gerard May states have let other things get in the way of our deepest longing and desire—God. The one caveat is this: if we reflect a false image of Christ, if we come across as judgmental, arrogant or narrow, if we are not living the life of authentic love of Christ and one another, then we can negatively affect the faith life of the very persons we are attempting to reach out to.
The call of Christ is this: to repent or to see transformation of ourselves. Second, it is the call to mission, to reach out to others. And beyond all things, Christ calls us to live the life of love: Love is patient, love is kind, love is not self-seeking, it is never rude. It is not snobbish, it does not put on heirs. . .
Let us reflect with Christ as our model, examine our consciences under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and let us resolve to live as brothers and sisters who share one common source, “Our Father, Who art in Heaven.”
May your Lenten journey continue to be a holy and blessed one!
After twenty years of listening to the yearnings of people’s hearts, I’m convinced that all human beings have an inborn desire of God whether they are consciously religious or not, this desire for God is our deepest longing and our most precious treasure. It gives us meaning. Some of them have repressed this desire, burying it beneath so many other interests that we are completely unaware of it. Or we may experience it in different ways—as a longing for wholeness, fulfillment, and completion. Regardless of how we describe it, it is a longing for love. It is a hunger for love, to be loved, and to move closer to the source of love.
But something gets in the way of our inborn desire of God. The longing at the center of our hearts repeatedly disappears from our awareness and its energy is usurped by forces that are not at all loving. Our desires are captured, and we give ourselves over to things, that in our deepest honesty, we really do not want.
When Catholics and other Christians like you and me live our faith “as Jesus taught,” then we can become a potential lifesaver to those whom Gerard May states have let other things get in the way of our deepest longing and desire—God. The one caveat is this: if we reflect a false image of Christ, if we come across as judgmental, arrogant or narrow, if we are not living the life of authentic love of Christ and one another, then we can negatively affect the faith life of the very persons we are attempting to reach out to.
The call of Christ is this: to repent or to see transformation of ourselves. Second, it is the call to mission, to reach out to others. And beyond all things, Christ calls us to live the life of love: Love is patient, love is kind, love is not self-seeking, it is never rude. It is not snobbish, it does not put on heirs. . .
Let us reflect with Christ as our model, examine our consciences under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and let us resolve to live as brothers and sisters who share one common source, “Our Father, Who art in Heaven.”
May your Lenten journey continue to be a holy and blessed one!
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