Freedom of spirit.
It's a gift. I think an 'ordinary mystical' experience of it is common after making a good confession. That peace and joy one experiences after absolution, the grace which expands the heart in charity and gratitude. When the Holy Father talks about these things, I think he echoes the Psalmist:
I wonder if this is what the Holy Father means when he speaks against rigidity?
I will run the way of your commands;
you give freedom to my heart. - Ps. 119: 32
33 Teach me the demands of your statutes
and I will keep them to the end.
34 Train me to observe your law,
to keep it with my heart.
35 Guide me in the path of your commands;
for there is my delight.
36 Bend my heart to your will
and not to love of gain.
37 Keep my eyes from what is false;
by your word, give me life.
38 Keep the promise you have made
to the servant who fears you.
39 Keep me from the scorn I dread,
for your decrees are good.
40 See, I long for your precepts;
then in your justice, give me life.
41 Lord, let your love come upon me,
the saving help of your promise.
42 And I shall answer those who taunt me
for I trust in your word.
Doing all for the Lord is meaningful only if one has love.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, it is cold, dead, rigid.
“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over ONE repentant sinner.”
ReplyDeleteSometimes when I am in line waiting for confession, I look at the faces of the people leaving the confessional and then imagine the joy the repentant sinners have just returned to the angels in heaven.
And then I start doing the math… It only requires 1,440 repentant sinners (one per minute) around the world each day to create a kind of permanent joy for the angels in heaven.
So when I see ten people in front of me waiting for confession, instead of allowing myself to become impatient, I focus on the joy those 10 people will give to the angels.
We are conditioned to expect and ask for joy to descend upon us from heaven (“Give me joy in my heart, I pray”). But the reality is that the joy goes up as well. It loops.
Makes me think of Isaiah 55:10
DeleteMy sister has been reading the newest Benedict XVI interview book w/Seewald and filling me in as she goes. One bit we found both hilarious and thought-provoking was Benedict's mention of his initial worry when that my-way-or-the-highway, hard-line, grouchy Bergoglio guy was elected pope. Would he be properly pastoral in his new role?
ReplyDelete