My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian witnesses and writers in reflecting on life, encounters, and various situations, in a desire to enhance our understanding of what it means to be a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ at the service of the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.
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A continuation of the reflection begun in a previous post:
Humanity is a mess... Part 1 - What exactly has God our Creator been doing about it all these past 14 billion years?
"A man who lives at peace suspects no one. But a man who is tense and agitated by enil is troubled with all kinds of suspicions; he is never at peace with himself, nor does he permit others to be at peace. He often speaks when he should be silent, and he fails to say what would be truly useful. He is well aware of the obligations of others but neglects his own. so be zealous first of all with yourself, and then you will be more justified in expressing zeal for your neighbour. You are good at excusing and justifying your own deeds, and yet you will not listen to the excuses of otehrs. It would be more just to accuse yourself and to excuse your brother., I f you wish others to put up with you, first put up with them. From The Imitation of Christ by St. Thomas à Kempis (England 1418-1427)
Of what importance is this old writing?
This very thoughtful and spiritual book was first published in Medieval Latin and then translated into English. The above quotation is from the second reading in the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours for Tuesday in the second week of Advent. It has come at an opportune time; when I feel overwhelmed by all that is reported in the news, or not reported, of events among the many societies of humanity all over our Planet Earth in this year of Our Lord 2025; which is rapidly winding to its end.
It is easy to judge, more difficult to understand.
It seems so natural and easy for us to draw hasty conclusions or to pass judgements about the hordes of peope we see and hear as they are reported in the news; isn't it? That may be because it takes little or no effort for us to look at the world through the prism of our own experience and perspective; as though the experience and perspective of others was irrelevant, but it isn't, is it? What other people have experienced before and what they experience today has a great bearing on how they will act, does it not?
What the hell is going on today?
Some life events have a much heavier impact on us than others; so, out of curiosity, I did an internet search on severe traumas. Since much of what affects us Canadians comes from the U.S.A. or is their experience; what I came up with is that 70% of American adults have or will experience severe trauma in their lifetimes. In addition, the major currents in American society would seem to favour the wealthy and influential and exclude everyone else. Consider the difficult access to or high costs of housing, food, clothing, medical and social services, justice and legal action, and all manner of "consumer products". There are obvious signs of manipulation of the rest of us by the wealthy and influential: consider only such factors as price fixing and the algorithms used in advertising and social media. This was event true before various applications of AI "turbo-charged" the Internet.
Vast hordes of people suffer invisibly due to traumas....
This would seem to imply that very few children and youth, if any, escape the fallout of all that trauma, inequality, injustice, and exploitation. We can see some rather tangible fallout in the forms of addictions, marriage and family breakdowns, relational upheaval, identity confusion, inability to make commitments or decisions, social withdrawal, political and labour conflicts, and the various forms of disintegration of health: in our bodies, minds, and spirits.
What are we to do? What is God doing?
The first question organically generated within us, in light of all that is happening everywhere, may be: "What can I possibly do about all of this? What can I possibly do for myself, for my family, for my marriage? A second question, but perhaps more crucial or important for our mental, spiritual, and physical health may be: "What is God doing about all of this?"
There is no common measure or comparison....
Recently, I have seen up close how much confusion, stress, and hardship people endure from a simple move. From our relatively comfortable existence here in North America, it is difficult, if not impossible to imagine to what degree and intensity human life is changed and even destroyed by any number of traumatic experiences: conflicts and war, financial and economic ruin, dramatic climate changes, violent tectonic and volcanic events, and extreme storms; radiation and other forms of pollution, and so on. It has become common knowledge how traumatic events have caused various forms of dependency and the disruption of married and family life; as well as severe or chronic medical conditions. Such widespread misery has deep impacts on how people live and behave today.
The great and lasting value of Advent and Christmas....
This is no doubt why the Advent and Christmas seasons are of such value. While common sense might indicate that human beings are helpless at the hands of these huge events and impacts; God has an entirely different view of life. What we consider closed or locked, God opens; what we consider failed or useless, God transforms; what we consider weak, God empowers; what we consider dead, God raises up; what we consider hopeless, God renews.
The People of Israel expected a warrior king to free them from the Romans; instead, God gave his only begotten Son to come among us as one of us, Jesus; so that He might set us free from sin, despair, and all forms of evil, misery, and even death. By coming among us as a helpless Baby, Jesus teaches that God prefers to make use of our weakness and helplessness; rather than our prowess. All we need to do is to embrace what we are and invite Him to empower us. As we do that through these Advent days, God stirs up within us hope, peace, joy, and love.... As we pass from December 16th to 17th... can you begin to hear bells? They are the little bells on the donkey Mary is riding, as Joseph takes her from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the Roman census.... These 9 days are the first novena... the first 9-day journey of faith in silence and prayer.... "Come, Lord Jesus!"
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My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian witnesses and writers in reflecting on life, encounters, and various situations, in a desire to enhance our understanding of what it means to be a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ at the service of the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.
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© 2004-2025 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2004-2025 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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