by Roxanne -

You’re Invited!

The most amazing invitation you can imagine has been offered to each of us.

Transformative healing or wholeness – salvation. This is God’s promise. This is the religious end of Christianity. Its goal or promise is salvation.

What does “salvation” mean? It comes from the same root word as the Latin word salve meaning “to heal” or “to make whole.” Think about a salve you might put on your skin to heal it.

Is salvation heaven? If “heaven” is understood as a place far away, up in the clouds or in another universe elsewhere – then no, salvation is NOT heaven. In the gospels, Jesus’ resurrection breaks into this world. His disciples do not get whisked off to some other universe to encounter him. It is this world that God promises to heal and make right.

Read C. S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce if you think heaven is another place where all our materialistic desires are met. The characters in this story begin their journey in “Grey Town” where they can have anything and everything they desire – and it is most assuredly NOT heaven.

The story of salvation in Judeo-Christian history recounted in the bible is a story of freedom, liberation and healing, as in the story of Exodus, the stories of the exile and return from Babylon and the stories of healing and wholeness Jesus brings.

Likewise the meaning of “resurrection” in the Old Testament refers to the understanding that God will “set things right” in the world. Resurrect meaning “to stand up” to “stand with” and “to stand for.”  In resurrection we will be able to stand up, in right relationship with God, for each other and with the world.

Salvation and resurrection. Both speak of a process that begins now, in this lifetime and continues beyond our death. It requires our acceptance or consent. God/reality will not coerce us.

Salvation and resurrection. Healing and wholeness. Surrender to the process is all that is required.

Your invitation beckons. Will you accept?

You may also like What is Your Story?, Happiness is a Choice, and Estrangement – The High Cost of Leaving or Living?

by Roxanne -

Walk Out of the Tomb

Beginning with Lent, our journey comes to a close.

The great liturgy, Triduum, began on Thursday.

We gathered.

Our feet were washed. We washed the feet of others.

We shared bread and wine.

Friday we prayed.

Saturday we waited.

At sundown tonight, Easter arrives. The liturgy continues.

We are all gathered.

The church is dark.

The wreath is placed in the fireplace. The bonfire is lit. In the darkness we wait and watch.

The Easter candle is lit.

In the darkness, the procession slowly enters the church. The bells jingle. The banners shimmer.

The bonfire glows outside the window.

The light is passed to everyone gathered.

Music starts. Readings begin.

Fragrant incense annoints us all.

And we remember.

Whatever tomb we think we are in, God can do things for us that we cannot imagine for ourselves.

We can walk out of the tomb.

Death is not the end.

Image Think Israel.org

You may also like Happiness is a Choice and What Is Your Story?

by Roxanne -

Good Friday

The beginning of Richard Rohr’s Meditation today says it well –

“Today the primary human problem, the core issue that defeats human history, is both revealed and resolved.  It is indeed a “good” Friday.  The central issue at work is the human inclination to kill others, in any multitude of ways, instead of dying ourselves—to our own illusions, pretenses, narcissism, and self-defeating behaviors.  Jesus dies “for” us not in the sense of “in place of” but “in solidarity with.” The first is merely a heavenly transaction of sorts; the second is a transformation of our very soul and the trajectory of history.”

Read the rest here.

by Roxanne -

The Great Liturgy Begins

Last night was the beginning of the great three-day liturgy – the Triduum – for Catholics. It is by far the most important liturgy. It is the the focus or the center of the liturgical year and our faith life. It is so important that three days are devoted to its completion.

Expectation is in the air. My colleague exclaimed “At last, Lent is over!” At sundown on Holy Thursday we gather together. Tonight we feast. The church is bright with candlelight. Expectation is in the air.

We leave chronos time and enter kairos time . . .

The music begins. The three oils are brought in and placed before those assembled. This procession begins the liturgy. Liturgy quite simply means “the work of the people.”

We hear the story of Exodus – the story of the Passover Seder. We hear from St. Paul, the voice of the early Church. We hear the story of the Last Supper in the gospel of John. In this gospel, Eucharist is a foot washing. Jesus demonstrates that service brings healing.

Large baskets of white towels and pitchers of warm water await. We, too, wash each others’ feet. Large and small, tired or hurting – each washes and is washed in turn.

Then the banquet. Lots of incense – for the table, for the assembly, for the servers and the presiders. The plumes drift upward.

The table is carefully dressed. The large table cloth is unfolded until it hangs completely to the floor. Real bread and wine are brought forward along with our other gifts. Baskets of used towels symbolize our gift of ourselves in service.

We bless, break and share the bread. We drink the wine. We remember to “do this in memory of me.” What is it we are to do? We are to allow ourselves to be blessed, broken and shared. We come and learn to share bread, in order to go out into the world and share bread! Many are hungry.

Then the lights dim. The liturgy does not end here. It has only just begun.

We leave in silence and we wait.

by Roxanne -

“More Roman Than Catholic?” is here!

My newest book has just arrived. Yes! It was a long time in coming but it’s finally here. It is available here, soon at Amazon Books and Barnes & Noble.

The book explores this topic: Are we more Roman than Catholic?

As Roman Catholics, have we over-emphasized values from ancient Roman culture that clash with what it means to be truly Catholic? Have power and privilege for a few and external authority without accountability trumped cooperation, shared leadership and discernment by the whole community? What does this mean for our Catholicity? For the future of the Church?

We have seen a Catholicism that fosters an ongoing reliance on external authority. This is problematic and dangerous. True Roman Catholicism must foster within each person a reliance on internal authority and integrity to one’s own values within a community. A vision of the Church without this is no vision at all.

If you are an interested Catholic or just want to know more – order a copy.

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