In my office hangs a painting by the artist Janet McKenzie. The painting is entitled, “Mother and Child” but knowing the artist’s tradition of depicting the Holy Family via marginalized peoples and groups, I easily see within the painting a depiction of Mary and the young Jesus.
Here is what I see in the painting.
The young Jesus’ eyes are turned downward towards a flower he holds in his hands. He does not look forward. His time of mission has not yet arrived. He is now in the quiet time of growing and learning the hope and faith of the people of Israel and his mother and foster-father are the ones chosen to teach and guide him. His time of mission will come – as he contemplates the flower he holds – but for now he is in the care and love of his earthly parents.
He is partially wrapped in the cloak of his mother. There is a protective tenderness seen here. It is a worthy prayer to ask Mary to be always kept within the mantle of her protection. Mary is the new Eve who crushes the head of the serpent. In tender love she protects all those who turn to her.
In her eyes and straight posture is found strength, resolve and freedom. Mary is not bent in on herself in sin. She stands fully before God in her dignity and worth as the handmaid of the Lord. Her steady gaze invites the viewer into the same trust in God and freedom that she knows. True freedom is found and fulfilled in saying “yes” to the will of God.
I do not know the full intent of the artist in placing the young Jesus as she does before Mary but I see within the placement of the two a reflection of the strength of a mother bison protecting her calf. This is said to give full honor. The strength of the bison is a powerful and noble thing. Mary’s strength of love for her son is an unmovable and unstoppable force.
The white of her cloak echoes the stars in the cloak of our Lady of Guadalupe.
Behind the two figures are seen colors and animals important and sacred to the Native American peoples revealing that Mary is mother to all tribes and nations just as her son is Lord and Savior to all peoples.
I pray before this image. In it I find comfort and resolve and I hear the invitation to freedom found in saying “yes” to God’s will.
Once, when I was assigned in Chattanooga, I had the experience of driving by the regional airport just as Air Force One took off in flight. The president had been in the city promoting an industry and now he was leaving for his next destination. The sight of the plane filled my car window as it was directly in front of me and only a couple of hundred feet above me. Air Force One certainly grabs your attention and this is intentional. The plane is a visual statement about the power and the authority of the President of the United States.
This is what we expect from the ruling powers of our world, whether it be the office of a president, a king or queen, a royal family, a dictator or a tyrant. These authorities want us to look toward them and for the whole world to see in the trappings of their office – whether that be a plane, a crown, a missile launch – a statement of their power and authority. The ruling powers of the world want us to see them. They want our attention, and they want to be noticed.
Our faith and today’s gospel (Mt. 25:31-46) tell us that when Christ returns in glory all nations and peoples will be assembled before him but until that great and final day, our humble king wants us to turn our attention elsewhere. Our Lord wants us to look upon our brothers and sisters in need. Jesus wants us to see the least ones. Both those persons judged righteous and those persons judged unrighteous in today’s gospel ask the same question, “Lord, when did we see you…” Jesus’ answer is that when we allow ourselves to look upon the one who is hungry, thirsty, the stranger, naked, ill or in prison and then act in compassion we encounter him and we are judged righteous. When we do not allow ourselves to see, when we do not act in compassion then a harsh judgment follows.
It all starts with seeing and Jesus proclaims the importance of being willing to see the other, especially the least among us, throughout his ministry.
In the midst of the crowded Temple with people moving back and forth and all sorts of commotion, we are told that Jesus spotted the poor widow giving not from her surplus but from her poverty (Lk. 21:1-4). He saw her and he points her out to his disciples who were there present with him, and he points her out to us. Jesus saw her.
Jesus asks Simon the Pharisee (Lk. 7:36-50), “Do you see this woman?” referring to the woman who had come into the dinner party uninvited, a woman seeking mercy who was bathing the feet of Jesus with her tears. Simon did not “see” the woman because in his heart he had already judged her a sinner not worthy of his attention. Jesus forgives the woman her many sins and tells her to then, “go in peace” while it seems Simon and the other guests at table remain locked in their inability to see.
Jesus, in the parable of the rich man and the poor beggar Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31), tells us that the rich man easily did not see the poor beggar lying at his doorstep and only after they both die does the rich man finally notice Lazarus, now at rest with Abraham, and then it is only to request that Lazarus be sent on an errand for him! The rich man, both in life and then in death, did not “see” Lazarus and this led to his ruin.
Our Lord, who will come again in glory and before whom all the nations will be gathered, is quite clear regarding our pilgrimage through this world and where we should direct our attention – the royal road for entrance into the fullness of the Kingdom of God is found in being willing to see the least among us and to then act in compassion.
This last week I bought a 1935 buffalo nickel for $3.00 in an antique store. The nickel has the image of an American Indian on one side and on the other side it has the image of a buffalo. I like the coin because it is a piece of American history and it is a reflection of our nation’s complicated story with both the indigenous peoples and the buffalo – a story that is far from over and continues.
(A funny story to share regarding a priest who has now gone home to God. This priest was known for being very, very frugal with money, so frugal in fact that people joked that if he ever had a buffalo nickel, he would squeeze it so tight that the Indian would end up riding the buffalo! But I digress.)
In answer to the Pharisee’s question about the lawfulness of paying the census tax to Caesar or not in today’s gospel (Mt. 22:15-21) our Lord asks to see a Roman coin. Remember that “census” is about citizenship and being a subject. Subjects pay tax to the authority that rules and governs, whether that be a government, a king or an empire. On the coin is an image of Caesar with his inscription. This is more than the image of George Washington on our dollar bill. Caesar was considered a god in the empire. In fact, the common greeting that subjects would give one another in the Roman Empire was, “Caesar is Lord!” When the first Christians began to greet one another with, “Christ is Lord!” they were doing something very intentional and even dangerous as the Roman authorities would regard such a greeting as an act of treason. The first Christians gave this greeting precisely because they had learned what our Lord was teaching in this gospel passage.
“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar (let him and all the powers of the world have their piece of dead metal) and to God what belongs to God.” If the coin belongs to Caesar because it bears his image, then what belongs to God because it bears his image? Genesis 1:27 gives the answer, “God created man in his image, in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.” We bear the image of God; we belong to God and while we walk this earth, yes, with earthly citizenship and responsibilities, we know that our true citizenship is in the Kingdom of God and we strive to live our lives by God’s truth. We must repay to God what belongs to God.
There is another truth to our Lord’s answer that we need to let sink into our hearts. God desires us, each one of us. God desires the unique image of himself that he has crafted within each one of us. God rejoices as we receive his love and as our own unique image of him begins to grow and shine! We are not meant to repay half-heartedly nor grudgingly the image that God has placed within each of us but rather repay it back in abundance and love. We do this by receiving God’s love and living in that love. We come from God, we are with God and we are in journey back to God!
Census is about citizenship; it is about being a subject of a kingdom. Our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God and even now, we strive to live by the light of God’s Kingdom. Repay to God what belongs to God.
Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God. Therefore, put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. (James 1:19-21)
We humans are not created to remain in anger and this includes even anger that is righteous. All anger when it is held on to and nursed quickly becomes toxic and this toxicity deadens life whether that be the life of an individual, of a community and even the life of a people and nation. Christians are not immune to the toxicity of anger and it is exactly because of the faith and hope we hold and profess as well as the ideals we cling to, that I believe Christians are even more susceptible to the toxicity of righteous anger than the non-religious person.
We proclaim the coming Kingdom of God – a Kingdom where all tears will be wiped away and all injuries and injustices will be healed – yet we live in a world where there is grave injustice, violence and sin. We see it and we can even be the victims of it ourselves. Sometimes these injustices can be addressed and overcome on both the individual and societal levels in our world and history and these moments are to be celebrated and upheld (i.e. the end of slavery and segregation, the acknowledgment of the dignity and rights of women, the growing awareness of the rights and heritage of indigenous peoples, an abused woman gaining the strength to walk away from her abuser, a man caught in the mechanisms of addiction breaking free) but sometimes – for a variety of reasons – there cannot be full healing and restoration in this world. Our belief in the resurrection and final judgment gives us the sure hope and belief that God – in God’s way not ours – will indeed wipe away all tears and answer all injustices but what do we do with the anger that remains in the meantime?
This is the conundrum. All anger, even when righteous, becomes toxic.
To me, there seems to be three options when we are confronted with injustices inflicted upon us that cannot be fully answered and remedied in this world. The first option is to just lay down and die. This happens, both literally and figuratively. People do physically die from injustices endured. Sadly, we see and read this in the news all the time. But there is also figurative death that results from injustice endured. People give up; quiet resignation sets in and people just subsist through life. The hurt experienced overshadows everything and remains a constant shade in the background of the person’s life.
The second option is to hold on to the injustice experienced, ruminate upon it and therefore nurse the anger within. Here is where the wisdom and warning of James is worth heeding, …the wrath of a man does not accomplish the righteousness of God. We are not created to remain in anger. We are not made in the image of anger even when righteous but rather the image of God. If we nurse anger then we make anger an idol – we forget God and we devalue ourselves. All anger, when held on to, becomes toxic. The righteousness of God is not found in anger.
The third option is to – with God’s grace – stand up again, brush ourselves off, remember that we are a child of God and make the choice that – despite whatever may be thrown at us – we will live, walk and act always as a child of God. This third option gets to the advice given by St. James, …put away all filth and excess and humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Put away the filth of resentment and nursed anger and remember that the word we have been given, the word of salvation in Christ and our dignity as a child of God, goes deeper and is ever more enduring than any injustice inflicted. No injustice can take away this truth. If we focus on this truth and not the injustice and the anger that springs from it, we will move beyond the temptation to make an idol of our anger. …humbly welcome the word …
All anger becomes toxic. The good news is that we are not created to remain in anger. We are created in the image and likeness of God and saved through the sacrifice of the Son. This is the truth that endures and saves … humbly welcome it.
In the time of Jesus, as there are now, there were faith-healers and people who claimed to have power over demons who could be hired and, for the right amount of money, would pretend to heal someone or cast out demons. These people were charlatans, but people would pay the money in a desperate attempt to bring healing to a loved one. These supposed “healers” took advantage of people in their suffering and what they offered was not real faith but rather magic – the illusion of healing that was not real.
Our Lord knew of these faith-healers and how they operated. He also saw how they took advantage of people. The Canaanite woman also knew of these faith-healers and the promises they made. It is possible that she had already paid faith-healers in attempts to bring healing to her daughter but all to no success.
This context helps to explain this interaction of Jesus with the Canaanite woman.
This woman, who has heard of the man Jesus and who initially sees him as just another faith-healer, calls out on behalf of her daughter and, more than likely, she is willing to pay the cost that Jesus will demand. The disciples, as observant Jews could not abide faith-healers, they know that Jesus was not a faith-healer and they do not want to be associated with faith-healers so they ask Jesus to send the woman away because she, “keeps calling after us”.
Jesus knows that he is not a charlatan and he knows that this woman is looking to hire him and that she wants a magical healing for her daughter and so he says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus has a mission from the Father and he is not for hire for magical healings.
But then something happens. The scripture says that the woman, “came to Jesus and did him homage”. The word “homage” is important here. “Homage” implies faith, it implies kneeling in wonder and need before the divine mystery. The woman does not come to Jesus to offer what she will pay him as one would when bargaining with a faith-healer, rather she gives him not money but “homage”.
What changed for the woman? Was it her desperation for her daughter, was it an intuition in her soul that something was different about this man named Jesus, was it the movement of the Holy Spirit in the woman’s heart? Something changed and Jesus sees it.
Jesus then tests it to make certain. “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” Now, in this new moment, the woman responds, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” The woman shows her faith.
Satisfied and probably with an abundance of joy in his divine heart, Jesus answers, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish!”
Jesus is not a faith-healer for hire. Jesus does not deal in the illusion of magic. Jesus comes looking for faith in our hearts and it is in faith that our Lord meets us and brings the healing that only he can give.
Magic is an illusion. Faith is real and it is only in faith that Jesus encounters us.
The statue of the Madonna and Child is from my home growing up. It belonged to my parents and sat in our living room on a table that served, for all intents and purposes although we never named it, as our home altar. On the table was found this statue, our family Bible, various little statues and holy cards and baptismal candles. Every day growing up I would see this statue – usually just passing by on my way to whatever I was up to but the statue was always there and remains with me to this day.
I have always appreciated the tenderness expressed by the statue. Mary cradles her infant son and holds him close to her breast. Her head leans in towards him and his towards her. There is a familiarity and an intimacy and she presents her child to the world. Here is the Son of God born of a humble woman in a small part of vast empire. He will save us from our sins,
The holy card is from the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome. The basilica is one of the oldest churches in Rome and the first to be dedicated to Mary. The card depicts an image from the mosaic of the Dormition of Mary. The dormition of Mary is the Eastern Church’s celebration of the great mystery of the Virgin Mary being taken body and soul into the fullness of the Kingdom of God. In the West, we focus on the Assumption of Mary and our images depict that. In the Eastern Church the focus is on the Dormition – or Mary’s falling asleep to then be taken up into the Kingdom – and their images depict this. It is the same mystery we celebrate. Immaculate Mary, mother of the Incarnate Word, is brought into the fullness of God’s Kingdom. Where she has been brought, we have the hope to also follow.
In the icon of the Dormition of Mary it is common to see Mary asleep in her passing surrounded by the twelve apostles and in the icon is also represented the risen Christ tenderly holding the soul of his mother. The iconographic tradition is to depict the soul – an immaterial reality – as a person wrapped almost like a child in swaddling clothes. The son holds the mother in anticipation of uniting soul and body in the glory of the resurrection.
There is a tenderness here too. The Son, in love, holds the mother again in an expression of familiarity and intimacy. Mary is wrapped in white which is an expression of the glory of the resurrection where all sin, death and darkness is overcome! Christ holds Mary out also as a sign of hope for all the world. Mary is the first to be brought into the glory of Christ’s resurrection. A hope that every Christian now carries through baptism.
One truth of these images and of today’s Feast of the Assumption is the tenderness of God as well as the value of tenderness in the Christian life. God welcomed the tender love of a humble woman and, in return, Christ tenderly welcomes his mother home.
We often underrate the importance of tenderness in life, I believe. But tenderness, as depicted, stands at the heart of the relation of Christ to his mother and, it seems, also at the heart of our Lord’s relationship to every believer. We have a tender God, a tender Savior. This is important because tenderness gives birth to hope and hope produces perseverance. We all need tenderness on the journey of faith. Tenderness keeps us moving forward toward the fullness of the Kingdom of God that awaits us and that also beckons us.
Two images – a statue and a holy card – showing the truth of tenderness and giving a hope that endures.
Holy Mary, tender mother of our Savior, pray for us!
“Peter walking on the Water” by Lester Yokum. Image may be subject to copyright.
My friends, there is a simple truth found in today’s gospel that is worthy of our reflection.
We are told that the disciples are in the boat in the middle of the night and are being tossed about by the waves of the sea. The disciples are caught in fear and dread. Our Lord comes towards them walking on the water. Jesus calls to them and tells them to not be afraid and in response Peter cries, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
“Command me.”
Peter does not say, “Lord, calm the sea.”. Peter does not say, “Lord, take away this storm.” Nor does Peter remain in the little safety of the boat, waiting for the Lord to arrive. Peter says, “command me to come to you on the water.” Peter (in his cry to the Lord, in his prayer) is asking for the grace to look beyond the crashing waves, to move beyond the limits of his own fear and to have the faith to walk towards Jesus on the water.
This is the truth – there will be storms in life, there will be struggles and pain and doubt. We will know fear and uncertainty. The waves of life can be strong, high and crushing and it might even seem like everything is going to be lost. The temptation in such moments is to pray to God to take away the storm, to calm the waters and to right whatever is the wrong that we are facing. But is that the right prayer?
The prayer that Peter made was not to take away the storm but to have the faith to walk through the storm, the faith to keep his eyes on Jesus even in the midst of the storm. The gospel gives no indication that the sea calmed while Peter walked on the water. The waves still crashed but Peter did walk on the water and when his faith faltered, Jesus was there to lift him up and save him.
My friends, the right prayer may not always be “Lord, take this storm away. Take away this struggle. Take away my fear.” The right prayer may be, “Lord, give me the faith to walk through this storm trusting that you walk with me and that you are with me to protect me.”
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
This week the world has given us the tale of two crowds for our consideration.
The first crowd was a group of a few thousand people brought together at Union Square in Manhattan on Friday afternoon by the internet streamer and influencer Kai Cetan. The people came for a hyped giveaway hoping for free PlayStations, computers and other devices. The crowd quickly turned unruly – climbing on vehicles, hurling chairs and throwing punches. The police were called in and only after a number of hours were they able to disperse the crowd and bring calm back to the area. Kai Cetan is now charged with inciting a riot.
The second gathering is going on right now in Lisbon, Portugal. Over four hundred thousand young people representing every nation in the world except one (Maldives) are gathering these days for World Youth Day. These young adults are gathering with Pope Francis, cardinals, bishops, priests and religious from around the world. Rather than unrest and rioting; this gathering is marked by prayer, song, service to others and worship.
The two crowds are certainly set apart by their actions but also by what brings them together and their focus.
A craving for material things and the need to be near the pseudo-celebrity of a social media influencer brought the first crowd together. My hunch is that people saw the crowd gathered while realizing the limited number of items to be given away with the result being that the energy of the excitement of getting something for free quickly turning into a riot. Hence the charge of “inciting a riot”. In this crowd, people saw one another solely as competition for something they wanted.
The focus of World Youth Day is not for a “thing” nor for the hollow fame of an influencer, the focus of the gathering of four hundred thousand in Lisbon is on the Lord of Life and an authentic encounter with Him. In this gathering, the participants recognize one another not as competitors for things but as brothers and sisters in the great family of God – a family which crosses all borders, nationalities, languages and social divisions. The participants at World Youth Day are gathered in Christ.
Today’s Feast of the Transfiguration focuses our eyes on Christ. Jesus is revealed as the long-awaited Messiah as prophesied by Daniel (Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14) and witnessed to by the presence of Moses and Elijah gathered with Jesus on the mountain (Mt. 17:1-9). The voice of the Father is heard by Peter, James and John and the same truth is proclaimed to us today, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
Listen to Jesus. Stay focused on Jesus throughout the journey of life. Do not seek after things that do not last and that fail to satisfy. Such things only end in ruin and hurt. Stay focused on the Lord of Life and, by so doing, receive life in abundance.
The world has put before us the tale of two crowds this week. In one is found only self-centeredness and rioting. In the other is found true community, life, hope and joy. Choose wisely.
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
What book are you currently reading? I am reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, which I am thoroughly enjoying. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist, poet and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. In her writing she synthesizes and balances her scientific inquiry and indigenous heritage and insight in a writing style that is very engaging.
Early on in her book, the author reflects on the term, “Indian giver” and demonstrates how this term developed out of a, “cross-cultural misinterpretation between an Indigenous culture operating in a gift economy and a colonial culture predicated on the concept of private property.”
When gifts were given to the settlers by the Native inhabitants, the recipientsunderstood that they were valuable and were intended to be retained. Giving themaway would have been an affront. But the Indigenous people understood the valueof the gift to be based on reciprocity and would be affronted if the gifts did notcirculate back to them. Many of our ancient teachings counsel that whatever wehave been given is supposed to be given away again.
From the viewpoint of a private property economy, the “gift” is deemed tobe “free” because we obtain it free of charge, at no cost. But in the gift economy,gifts are not free. The essence of the gift is that it creates a set of relationships.The currency of the gift economy is, at its root, reciprocity. In Western thinking,private land is understood to be a “bundle of rights,” whereas in a gift economyproperty has a “bundle of responsibilities” attached.
I believe that God approaches us in terms of “gift economy”. We have been given the gift of salvation in Christ, but this gift does not free us to do whatever we want; the gift is not “free” in the distinction that Kimmerer makes, the gift draws us directly into relationships and responsibilities towards all of our brothers and sisters, towards the truth of who we are, towards creation and towards God.
In the images that our Lord gives us about the Kingdom of heaven in today’s gospel (Mt. 13: 44-46) there is an important truth given – the man sells all he has and buys the field containing the buried treasure, the merchant sells all he has and buys the “pearl of great price”. They make the choice to freely and fully set their lives by the gift that they have been given, that they have found. They allow the gift to direct and focus their lives.
This is part and parcel of what it means to receive the gift of the Kingdom of God. The gift of the Kingdom of God is not “free”. The gift, by its very nature, moves us into reciprocity and relationship and, in this, we find the fullness of life.
I recently heard these words offered at a symposium on the priesthood and they ring true – not just in the life of the priest but in all of what it means to be Christian and to be Church.
If there is a “theme” in my own spiritual journey over the past few years it is that of a growing awareness of the Holy Spirit and relationship with the Holy Spirit – trust in the Spirit, awareness of the Spirit, crying out to the Holy Spirit, delight in the Holy Spirit, fear of wounding my relationship with the Holy Spirit, awe and wonder at the movement of the Holy Spirit, learning to rejoice in that which the Spirit rejoices in and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead me into truth.
I love the Holy Spirit.
The days between Ascension and Pentecost are a privileged time to receive the Holy Spirit as a welcome guest in our hearts. The words, “welcome guest,” are key here I believe. The Holy Spirit is not an automatic in the life of the Christian and should never be thought of in such a manner. Nor is the Spirit passive. The Holy Spirit chooses and is active. Although the Holy Spirit can and does work through very limited means (I use myself in my priesthood as an example here), the Spirit chooses how to move, where to move and where to abide and in what degree of fullness. The Holy Spirit will not abide in fullness with neither sin nor duplicity.
In grace we must always strive to make of our hearts a worthy place to receive this “welcome guest”. How so? Striving to keep our will and actions sincere, honest, pure and humble. Remaining focused on Christ as Lord and Savior and showing reverence to the image and likeness of God found in every person.
A sure way to experience the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit is to try to use another person in any way, shape or form. This was an abiding sin of the rich man in the parable that our Lord gave us of the rich man and the poor beggar Lazarus. Even in the torment of afterlife; the unnamed rich man, rather than rejoicing in seeing the poor beggar Lazarus resting now in the bosom of Abraham, wanted to use the very one whom he had ignored and stepped over during his life to be sent on an errand for him to warn his brothers. The rich man is denied. One wonders what would have happened if the rich man had rather said, “I rejoice in seeing Lazarus, whom I now recognize as a brother and who knew such pain in life, now resting in the peace of God’s love.” Some scholars suggest that the sin of Judas (who believed Jesus was the Messiah but who felt Jesus wasn’t acting swift or sure enough in his view) was to try to force the hand of Jesus to show his messiahship, in other words – use him, by handing him over to the authorities. In John’s account of the Last Supper, we are told that Satan enters into the heart of Judas and that he departs into the darkness of night. To use another while neither respecting nor reverencing the image of God in which that person is made is a sin that God will not abide.
In all things, we must continually strive, by avoiding that which grieves the Holy Spirit and doing that which pleases the Holy Spirit, to make of our hearts truly a place of welcome for this most honored of guests!
I want to end this post by sharing a reflection by Cardinal Cantalamessa given in his book, “The Holy Spirit in the Life of Jesus’. The quote is long but I share it because these words helped to enliven my heart to a deeper awareness of the Holy Spirit. Cardinal Cantalamessa writes,
But an unbidden question springs to mind: why the long interval between the moments when Jesus received his anointing in the Jordan and when, on the cross and at Pentecost, the outpouring of the Spirit occurred? And why does St. John the Evangelist say that the Holy Spirit could not be given while Jesus “had not yet been glorified”? St. Irenaeus gives the answer: the Holy Spirit had first to become accustomed to dwelling among human beings; he had, so to speak, to be humanized and historicized in Jesus, so as to be able, one day, to sanctify all human beings from within their human condition while respecting the times and modes of human behavior and suffering. “The Holy Spirit,” he writes, “descended upon the Son of God, made the Son of man, becoming accustomed (adsuescens) in him to dwell and rest among the human race, so as to be able to work the Father’s willin them and renew them from their old habitsinto the newness of Christ.” Through Jesus, the Spirit is able to make grace “take root” in human nature; in Jesus who has not sinned, the Spirit can “come down and remain” (John 1:33), and get used to staying among us, unlike in the Old Testament where his presence in the world was only occasional. In a sense, the Holy Spirit becomes incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, even if in the case of “becomes incarnate” means something different, i.e., “comes to dwell in a physical body.” “Between us and the Spirit of God,” writes Cabasilas, “there was a double wall of separation: that of nature and that of the will corrupted by evil; the former was taken away by the Savior with his incarnation (and, we may add, with his anointing) and the latter with his crucifixion, since the cross destroyed sin. Both obstacles being removed, nothing further can now impede the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh.”
The same author explains how the wall of separation constituted by nature, that is, by the fact that God is “spirit” and we are “flesh,” came to be removed. The Savior’s human nature, he says, was like an alabaster vessel which in one way contained the fullness of the Spirit, but in another way prevented this perfume from spreading abroad. Only if, by some miracle, the alabaster vessel were itself transformed into perfume would the perfume inside no longer be separated from the outside air and no longer stay shut up in the only vessel to contain it. Now, this was exactly what took place during Jesus’ life on earth: the alabaster vessel, which was the pure human nature of the Savior, was itself changed into perfume; in other words, by virtue of his full and total assent to the Father’s will, the flesh of Christ gradually became spiritualized, until at the resurrection it became “a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44), the “Christ according to the Spirit” (cf. Rom. 1:4). The cross was the moment when the last barrier fell; the alabaster vessel was then shattered, as at the anointing at Bethany, and the Spirit poured out, filling, “the whole house,” that is to say the entire Church, with perfume. The Holy Spirit is the trail of perfume Jesus left behind when he walked the earth! The martyr St. Ignatius of Antioch admirably combines the two moments we have been considering – that of the anointing and that of the outpouring of the Spirit – where he writes: “The Lord received a perfumed (myron) ointment on his head, so that he could breathe incorruptibility on the Church.”
The Alternate Path 