Fr Richard's words for the 6th Sunday of Easter
God "in" us
“…I am in my Father
and you in me and I in you.”
For Jesus to be ‘in’ us - a statement in today’s Gospel that
is quite extraordinary. Jesus tells his disciples – if they love him and keep
the Commandments, they will be ‘in’ Jesus, and He will be ‘in’ them. Moreover, another
Advocate, the Spirit of truth, will be sent to them and will be ‘in’ them.
God is so close to those who love Him that He’s literally “in”
them. Have we ever stopped to meditate on the true magnitude of that truth? I
spoke on Monday about the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in our hearts. It’s
this same awesome reality that is opened up for us in today’s Mass.
If we love Him and are obedient to His Law, the Lord God dwells
in our hearts. The Son and the Holy Spirit are sent to live in each of us and, wherever
the Second and Third Persons of the Trinity dwell, so too, by grace, is the
Father. This intimacy which God wants to have with us is truly staggering. What
is more, by being ‘in’ us, God invites us to be ‘in’ Him – literally, to be
drawn up into mystical union with the Trinity.
The 19th/20th century Discalced Carmelite
nun, Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, opened up in her writings the stunning truth
we’re speaking of. In fact, she’s often called “the saint of divine indwelling”.
The young mystic once wrote to her mother: “Oh, may the Master reveal to you
His divine presence, it is so pleasant and sweet, it gives so much strength to
the soul; to believe that God loves us to the point of living in us, to become
the Companion of our exile, our Confidant, our Friend at every moment.” (1)
St Elizabeth gets over to us something of the fortitude our
soul gains by being inhabited by the living God. Of course, St Paul enhances
our understanding when he refers to Christians as “temples of the Holy Spirit” (1
Cor 6:19). With this sublime dignity we have, comes a responsibility: to
respect and honour the God who deigns to call our hearts His home. In the first
words of today’s second reading, St Peter expresses well this call: to “reverence
the Lord Christ in your hearts…” We do this by praising Him, as today’s
Psalmist says, by singing “to the glory of His name” (Psalm 65). We reverence Christ
also by striving to avoid occasions of sin with the help of grace. By rejecting
all that defiles us, our hearts can remain the place where God makes His
dwelling.
As well as our bodies, the universal Church is also referred
to by St Paul as the “temple of the Holy Spirit” (Eph 2:19-22). It’s why Jesus
also says in the Gospel that the Spirit will dwell “with” his disciples as well
as “in” them. (2) As parts of the Body of Christ, we are united and shaped by
the power of the Holy Spirit who acts in the Church, especially in her Sacraments.
It’s by the Sacrament of all Sacraments, the Eucharist, that Christ “joins himself
to us in the most perfect union” (3) by our reception of Holy Communion. Sadly,
you’re not able to receive the Lord physically at the moment. But reflecting on
Jesus “in” us, we’re reminded of the significance of the “spiritual communions”
you are making in these days. As the traditional prayer by St Alphonsus Liguori
makes clear, we show our desire to receive Christ spiritually into our soul and
to embrace Him “as if [He] were already there.”
In our present situation, when we’re continuing to spend more
time at home, perhaps even alone, let us never forget the mind-blowing truth
that the Holy Trinity abides in our hearts – loving us, comforting us, sanctifying
us.
We end with the Prayer of St Elizabeth of the Trinity, used
in the Catechism:
“O my God, Trinity whom I adore,
help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and
peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble
my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring
me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven,
your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you
there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith,
entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action. Amen.” (CCC 260)
(1) https://www.helpfellowship.org/Blessed_Elizabeth_of_the_Trinity.htm;
(2) Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament - Second Catholic Edition RSV, p. 190;
(3) Nicolas Cabasilas, Life in Christ, IV, 10: SCh 355, 270, quoted in John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 2003, 34.
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