Transcript of Abbot Clement=s Talk on Monday, January 10,2005
Surely if we reflected on the text from Sunday
=s Masses we really have to see that the Lord intends to transform us and that transformation is rather profound.In the first reading of the Old Testament in Sunday
=s text was that the Lord raised up a servant who was quite different from raising up a king who had power and would proclaim the kind of war he would perform and therefore put his order into the society. This servant would be meek and humble and would renew the community. Matthew tells us that Jesus fulfills this. What is God really doing? God has created a flesh that=s new and different. He=s created a heart that=s different and a soul that=s different. He has the flesh, a body, that is poured out. That is, for others, it=s delivered. A soul that is a life that lives for others and a heart that loves. This is what=s given to us freely. As opposed to the world=s approach to things which tries to make us forget where we come from, where we are going and therefore makes us focused on the present moment of what would make me happy and especially pleasant and convenient and the more convenient and comfortable the better.So the Lord hasn
=t just revealed in these texts his determined will to renew the face of the earth. What do we see? We see as soon as Jesus is baptized he comes out of the water, the heavens open, a dove appears, and the Father=s voice is heard saying AThis is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.@So one of the first characteristics of the new life is a relationship with the Trinity. Each of us is called to live this new life in a deeper relationship to each person of the Trinity. We are to turn to the Father as his children, as sons for us, daughters for others, but never the less, children of God. We are to be able to be companions with Jesus and also friends. Disciples as well as friends, and we are supposed to allow the reign of the Spirit to take over our hearts like he did the heart of Jesus.
That
=s the first interior or the area that the Lord is working on in us. Because he said he wants to do this. For God it=s not an invitation, it=s not a ho-hum I=ve got nothing else to do. It=s a determined pursuit, a plan. If that=s the interior dimension then it has to reach out to the world. This means that we have to ask ourselves how do we participate in making sure that the abundance of life that God wants to give touches the world. For us primarily, I=m sure, it is a question of making sure we intercede for God=s mercy upon the world. That=s certainly is a strong point for us but if we have vocations and opportunities then we must also help people because our world is sadly in the state of the opposite position. It=s a position of death.I just want to give you two examples and then you can think of others, I
=m sure, that are rather devastating. In the book that I=m reading on Idols in the Household by Ted Flynn he talks about the entertainment media and his first example is the Columbine situation. Those two kids actually customized a video called Doom. They translated it into their life situation and then executed it. The video was filled with violence and of evil culturing. The entertainment society, the whole domain of entertainment, has this element. Another example he gave dealing with cloning was from the Washington Post, I think 2001, that these two lesbians were living together, homosexuals and they decided they wanted to have a child so they managed to get the sperm from some deaf person because they were deaf and they wanted the child to be deaf. Sure enough they got the sperm from a deaf person and sure enough there=s the son who is now deaf.What
=s the difference between that and the Nazi medical things that were happening under Hitler? There=s no difference. So this is the pervasive attitude toward life, it sucks! It=s lousy and therefore we simply pursue our own ends and forget about God and life.We have to really take seriously Sunday
=s message. First and foremost the proclamation and the celebration of life. A proclamation that God is committed to make us fully alive and to live a supernatural life. Life in the Spirit and that life has power to transform not only us individually but a whole society and the whole world.This is the first and foremost issue and for us on the practical level it means are we growing really in our relationships to the three Persons of the Trinity in terms of getting to know the Father, getting intimate with the Son, and allowing the Spirit to reign in us. That
=s the first and foremost part of that new life but it can=t stop there it has to move out into the world. That=s where our prayer life and our intercession is very important but also other opportunities we get a chance to talk to people who maybe are considering things that are really death dealing.