FOUND KNEELING ^_[1]

GRASPING IT AS A VESSEL

1.  One of the great attractions of Christianity is the relationship Jesus shared with his Father. The heart of this Father-son affiliation was this: that Jesus emptied himself of his divine prerogatives and became a servant.  [cf. Phi 2:6-11]  He offered his life as a servant-son. Jesus humbly served his Father in heaven and lovingly ministered to mankind as the Father's mediator. He taught the twelve, "If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all."   [Mk 9:35]  Jesus taught that all who desired to be in relationship with his Father were to follow his example. To be a follower of Jesus, one was required to become a servant of the Father. They were to purify the vessel of their hearts. The soul "cannot pour forth from the same opening fresh water and brackish".  [Jas 3:11]  Each disciple was to empty himself of human advantage: pride, ambition, greed, hatred, and self-interest. A servant-disciple had to accuse his old nature and condemn it to death.  [cf. Col 3:1-4; Phi 1:21; Rom 14:8]  Our Lord directed his followers to pursue and practice holiness. He taught them that all persons were in need of God. Even so, human need alone cannot suffice for a relationship with God any more than a problem is its own solution. Need is human potential unrealized. Man's limited and flawed capacity to fulfill his own potential requires that he cooperate with God. Every human creature has to recognize the weakness of his own powers. Desiring to be rescued from his mortal ways, he must kneel before his Sovereign Lord and ask to be rescued from futility. He begins discipleship by appraising his life according to the teachings and merits of the master. Having identified his human offenses, the servant must choose decisively for personal holiness and change the direction of his life. This decision is fundamental. Understanding that human nature cannot empty itself, Jesus taught that one becomes a servant by being holy. The Holy Spirit, the exemplar of holiness, is the power through which servants are sanctified. Jesus' disciples are to ask for this divine gift. When a disciple asks for this gift, the Spirit takes hold of his human soul and, grasping it as a vessel, begins to pour out everything brackish. Simultaneously, the Spirit fills the waiting heart with the cleansing, transparent waters of baptism. Man's potential, wilted by sin and sorrow, is brought to flower by divine potency. Jesus enjoins his followers to be washed clean by the Holy Spirit in the fountain of baptism. Thereafter, Jesus' disciples are to refresh themselves often through the Spirit's power to forgive sins and to perpetuate the sacrifice of his body and blood for the life of his followers. By a habit of frequent refreshment, the disciple strengthens his filial relationship with Christ:  "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."  [Mt 12:50]  Our Lord is brother, sister or mother to all who, having put on the mind of Christ  [cf. 1Cor 2:16], humbly submit to God and one another. 

REQUIREMENT FOR ENTRANCE

2.  Christians who do not know Christ and his Bride, the Church, cannot know the Father. They "are paralyzed with fear"  [Mt 28:4]  because they do not understand how Christ prevailed on the cross and in the tomb. It was Christ alone who opened up the world beyond for us. Before he rose from the grave as a life-offering, no entrance to heaven existed, and none opens now except through him. He, who died and was raised on the third day, is the "way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by him".  [Jn 14:6]  If we dwell in our Father's house in this mortal life, we shall live in his house in the next life. To whom should we entrust our loyalty? To the Father of all good? Or to the Prince of Lies? The kingdom of darkness has only one requirement for entrance: Marked indifference to the heavenly Father in this life. On this solemnity of Easter, the most holy day of the year, we celebrate the concrete reality of Our Lord's resurrection from the dead. This titanic fact is the bedrock of our faith! Without it, the human person is nothing but a clever animal, his potential is a cry never heard, his soul is a ghost without a home. We rejoice that all who serve Christ, all who place their trust in him, all whose loyalty remains steadfast to the end, "increase in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man".  [Lk 2:52]  Therefore Jesus Christ alone, to whom God has "bestowed the name above every other name"  [cf. Phi 2:9], has conferred upon us who believe in him the surname of Christian. If we are worthy of the Easter Proclamation, if we are deserving of the name, we will be found kneeling in the assembly of God's people, "confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father".  [Phi 2:6-11]  This, then, is my prayer: Father in heaven, may my desire for human privilege be poured out like water upon the ground. Decant the life of heaven into my thirsty soul. Enfold my will into yours that I may be remembered in the hour of death. May my life be hidden now with Christ in you. To your Son, obedient in all things, I ask: Make of me a willing servant, humble in human spirit, mighty in divine works. Open my heart to hear your Word. Refresh me in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Feed me in the Sacrament of your Body and Blood. To the Holy Spirit, sent by you Father, and your Son, my Saviour, I ask: Give me the grace of holiness, the habit of steadfast discipleship, and the courage to incarnate the words of everlasting life: "Not my will, but thine, be done."  [Lk 22:42]   I give you the joy of Easter and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead!