The Contemplative Companion for Monday, April 17, 2017

Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever. – Psalm 16.9 – 11

Easter crowns our Lenten Journey with joy.

I trust your Lenten and Holy Week experiences were deeply meaningful, and led to increased understanding – of yourself, of those you interact with, and of spiritual Truths.

The journey into joy continues as we move toward Ascension.

Incarnation – Crucifixion – Resurrection – Ascension

Christmas – Holy Week – Easter – Pentecost

These four movements of the Spirit in and through the Life of Jesus reveal to us the Christian Way. The Jesus of History grounds the Way of these Events on the stage of human experience. But his Life isn’t just to be Remembered liturgically. His Life is to be Followed. The threefold pattern isn’t just historical. It is also our spiritual Way of Being.

To increasingly come more into our body – the Temple of the Spirit.

To increasingly “die” to sin/self (i.e. consent to the Spirit’s presence and action of transformation within).

To increasingly be raised from one degree of understanding, faith, maturity to the next – and receive the grace of transforming divine union: I, not I, Christ in me (Galatians 2.20; Ephesians 4.13).

To increasingly decrease and “disappear” into the light, life and love of God so that Christ might be all in all (1 Corinthians 15.28).

As best I can tell, to varying degrees and in different expressions in different people, this Way happens in every dimension of human existence: spiritual, intellectual, emotional, physical, cultural, biological, cosmological.

The Psalm today is an anthem for this fourfold spiritual Way. Deeper into joy. Deeper into love. Deeper into the Divine Mystery revealed in and through and as Christ. It’s a beautiful passage to embed within our heart and mind and rehearse when life situations and relationships, demands and difficulties conspire just as they do to keep us from Remembering, Receiving and Realizing the Gifts made possible through Jesus’ Life, Demonstration and Invitation to follow in the Way.