Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Living the hope of Jesus in the Jubilee Year 2025



For the last few years, I have tried to spend some time reflecting on the year that has past and to pray for the Lord to give me a word for the upcoming year. 

Last year I received Matthew 1:23 which I will admit, I received rather skeptically as it is very generic and also being so close to Christmas it was easy to dismiss as being something I would’ve recently heard. But it stuck with me, and so I reluctantly accepted it - but without appreciation or any gratitude. 

But the other week as I was preparing myself to reflect on the year past and see where the word that the Lord gave me has applied - it struck me quickly that it was exactly the word I needed for this past year! It can be very easy to talk about Practicing the Presence of God in a general way, but that is very different from learning how to live everyday the reality of Emmanuel - God with us! Not just a generic “us”, but more specifically God-with-me. God always present with me and in my life, in the ordinary day to day mundane messiness of my life without any dramatic signs or phenomena. 

Learning to not only recognise and appreciate this concrete presence of God-with-me, has forced me also to focus on the presence of Jesus with me at all moments and times. In the good and bad times, in the boring and mundane times. In my times of strength and achievement, but also just as present in my times of struggle with health and even mediocrity. My moments of unfaithfulness,  often manifested Jesus’ faithfulness to me more than any other moments in prayer and contemplation, his gentle faithful and loving presence with me always and everywhere. 

This year has not been as “busy” for me as previous years, nor have I had a lot of “achievements” to be proud of. This has forced me to step back and reflect time and time again by asking myself “why do I feel I need to DO something to PROVE myself?” then praying - “Lord what are you trying to teach me right now? Why am I struggling to rest in you? Why do I keep struggling with a sense of unworthiness and failure, instead of rejoicing in your love for me and your presence that sustains me and offers me rest?” 

So in a sense, this year has been for me a year of purification and detachment. Forcing me to find my nourishment and rest in Christ, instead of creating my own sense of worth through accomplishments. In another sense, it has felt a mixture between a dark night of senses, combined with a second “novitiate” for me as a hermit. Learning to let go of identity and externalism, so I can remain in the desert with Christ so he can give me rest and peace of soul. The peace that cannot be understood, that only he can give me and continuously calls me back to (Philippians 4:7, John 14:27). 

Part of this “letting go” and detachment has been in accepting that I am now on a Disability Pension and for the first time since I have been about 11, I no longer need to or have to work. But the Lord still keeps me busy through my online ministry with others, often ministering to me through the same words I am using to help others in their walk with the Lord. 

Moments that I am grateful for this year 
- Having my Disability Claim approved 
- Finally completing my Diploma in Counselling 
- Becoming a Registered Counsellor with the Australian Counsellors Association 
- Starting my online Private Practice “Logismoi Therapy”
- Designing my own Logo & creating the website for it as well www.logismoitherapy.com.au 
- Continuing to support others in Climbing the Mountain Spiritual Direction, especially seeing the progress made by directees I have worked with long term. The surprise of requests from new directees, as well as letting go other directees who have chosen not to continue for their own reasons but still remaining in contact with me 
- Continuing my Graduate Level Studies in Spiritual Theology with Avila Institute 
- The birth of my first niece Macy Voštan! 
- The visit of my Aunty Beth & Uncle Eric from England visiting us to spend time together 

One of the hardest parts of this year has been learning the difficult news of my mum having Stage 4 Lung Cancer. It has been a fine line between trying to remain positive and support my mum during treatment, while also preparing myself (emotionally and spiritually) for the inevitable reality when the time comes. 

It hit me the other week, that this is exactly why the Lord gave me the word of Matthew 1:23. Without the preparation from this word, and learning to live this reality everyday - I do not think I would have been able to handle the news about my mum’s diagnosis as well as I have. This does not mean that I have not had moments of crying and grief in accepting the news, because Lord knows how weak I am and how much I love my mum! But at the same time, in the midst of the grieving preparation/processing the news - I have been able to have a subtle but firm peace, knowing that God-is-with-me, my Emmanuel always faithful and ever loving. Purifying and strengthening my faith, while always drawing me deeper to himself through faith in darkness. But always trusting in his promise at the end of time to wipe away all  my tears (Rev 21:4). So that I can feel the presence of the Lord in my mum’s love for me, and that she too will experience Jesus’ love for her through my relationship with her. 

So what new word has the Lord given me for 2025? 

As I prayed today, I was reflecting on it also being the 2 year anniversary of the death of my beloved Pope Benedict XVI. Going through my saved quotes of his, I was reminded of his teachings on the virtue of Hope and the essential necessity of it in our spiritual life. I then felt the Lord speaking to me - “Do not live as one without hope!”. As I looked this up I found it in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, but the context is regarding grieving the loss of loved ones. So as I prayed on this to discern if this is really the word the Lord is giving me, I then felt him confirm it for me with the words “you have a living hope” which come from 1 Peter 1:3

With this upcoming year 2025 it could be easily for me to dismiss this word and confirmation from the Lord because this year is also the Jubilee Year of Hope! But believe it or not, I completely forgot about this until after I reflected on the verses from the Lord and then saw that 2025 is the Jubilee Year of Hope. So rather than invalidating my word, I see it as confirming it for me! This is because it is clear that not only is the entire Church called to live out our Hope in 2025, but in my own personal way the Lord is also calling me to learn how to live as one with WITH hope, because it is Jesus himself who is my living hope! 

Thankyou Lord for your love for me that can so easily be forgotten, dismissed or ignored. So you yourself through the mystery of your Incarnation have become love made flesh as my Emmanuel, God-with-me. Your faithful presence is always the source of my hope, because are the Lord of the living who gives me new life - you are my living hope always with me, now and forever. Amen 🙌








Monday, December 16, 2024

The longing desire for God - expressed in the power of “Oh!”




As we enter into the final week of Advent, I wanted to remind you about the beautiful and powerful “O Antiphons” that the Liturgy gives to us during this time. These Antiphons are poetic scriptural prophecies about the Messiah and highlight important typological symbolism prophesied about Christ in the Old Testament. 

Just as Jesus taught the disciples on the way to Emmaus about how all of the Prophets and Moses spoke about him before they could recognise him in the “breaking of the bread”(Luke 24:30-35) - so too does Jesus still reveal himself to us today through the Liturgy (Luke 24:26-27). 

Traditionally these O Antiphons are prayed in the Divine Office before the Magnificat during Evening Prayer/Vespers from 17-23 December. You may notice that there is a simplified version of these that are part of the Gospel Acclaimation during Mass from the same period of 17-23 December. 

It can be a good custom to take one of these each day to meditate on, so the Holy Spirit can help you enter into the deeper meaning of the final week of Advent. As I recently highlighted to you all in previous post, one of the prophecies about Jesus is as the “Desire of the Nations” and the link between the season of Advent and the yearning of the Patriarchs and Prophets in the Old Testament for the Messiah.

Think about how we use the term “Oh” in everyday life… it is often used as a form of exacerbation as well as exclamation! Oh my goodness! Oh yes! Oh well… oh that’s ok… Oh wow!! This helps to highlight the felt sense we are meant to feel and experience in praying the “Oh” Antiphons. As you pray them and hear them, meditating on them and feeling the expectation of the desire for salvation - listen to what the Lord is speaking to your heart through them. 

Which Messianic title and invocation speaks the most to you today?  What do you feel the Holy Spirit revealing to you in these words passages? 
  • Do you feel yourself feeling excited and yearning for the Coming of the Lord with a burning desire?
  • Or do you have a faint ache in your heart that starts to awaken hopefully? 
So this final week, intensify your own desire and yearning for Christ - learn how to pray to him according to his Messianic titles and discover a new depth to your understanding of who Jesus the Christ is for you, and for all who believe in him 🙌
—-

- O Sapientia/O Wisdom (December 17) 

O Wisdom (Sirach 24:3), You came forth from the mouth of the Most High (Sirach 24:3), and reaching from beginning to end You ordered all things mightily and sweetly (Wisdom 8:1). * Come, and teach us the way of prudence (Isaiah 40:14).




- O Adonai/O Lord and Ruler (December 18) 

O Adonai (Exod 3:14) and Ruler of the house of Israel (Matt 2:6; Micah 5:1; 2 Sam 5:2), You appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush (Exod 3:2) and on Mount Sinai gave him Your Law (Exod 20). 
* Come, and with an outstretched arm redeem us (Jeremiah 32:21).




- O Radix Jesse/O Root of Jesse (December 19) 

O Root of Jesse, (Isaiah 11:1) You stand for the ensign of mankind (Isaiah 11:10); before You kings shall keep silence and to You all nations shall have recourse (Isaiah 52:15). 
* Come, save us, and do not delay (Habakkuk 2:3).




- O Clavis David/O Key of David (December 20) 

O Key of David, (Isaiah 22:22; Revelation 3:7)  and Scepter of the house of Israel (Numbers 24:17): You open and no man closes; you close and no man opens (Isaiah 22:22). 
* Come, and deliver him from the chains of prison who sits in darkness and in the shadow of death (Ps 107:10).




- O Oriens/O Rising Dawn or Morning Star (December 21) 

O Rising Dawn, (Jer 23:5; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12), Radiance of the Light eternal (Habakkuk 3:4; Wisdom 7:26; Hebrews 1:3) and Sun of Justice (Malachi 3:20): 
* Come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death (Ps 107:10; Lk 1:78).




- O Rex Gentium/O King of the Nations (December 22) 

O King of the Gentiles (Jeremiah 10:7; Haggai 2:7), and the Desired of all, You are the Cornerstone that binds two into one (Isaiah 28:16; Matthew 21:42; Ephesians 2:20). 
* Come, and save man whom You fashioned out of clay (Genesis 2:7).




- O Emmanuel/O God-with-us (December 23) 

O Emmanuel (Isaiah 7:14; 8:8; Luke 1:31-33), our King and Lawgiver (Genesis 49:10; cf. Ezekiel 21:32), the Expected of the nations and their Savior (Isa 33:22): 
* Come, and save us, O Lord our God.



Monday, December 2, 2024

The power of Christ’s Coming, still available now



Advent is now here, the annual Liturgical season where we focus on the Coming of the Lord - historically he came 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, and he will one day gloriously come again at the end of time. Both of these are part of the twofold Coming of Christ which is the essence of Advent. 

In the lead up to Christmas with all the carols, advent calendars, nativity scenes, and gift buying we can easily fall into a form of indifferentism that forgets or fails to recognise the powerful cosmic significance of what the birth of Christ meant, and continues to mean. In the Office of Readings for today, there is a Pastoral Letter from St Charles Borromeo who beautifully encourages us to understand the importance of Advent it’s mystagogical value.  

Advent is the Latin term for Coming, and this refers to the Coming of Christ. Christ is the Greek term for what the Bible falls the Messiah - the Anointed and Chosen one. The Messiah is a long awaited, deeply yearned and longed for, future coming leader of Israel and figure that is prophesied throughout the Old Testament. This figure is referred to as the “Branch of David” who will rule with righteousness and integrity, as we heard in the 1st Reading for the First Sunday of Advent (Jeremiah 33:14-16). Even more powerfully, the Messiah is referred to by the Prophet Haggai as the “Desire of the Nations” who will be directly connected to the Glory of the Lord filling the Temple (Haggai  2:1-9). 

From the above, we can only imagine just how eagerly awaited and longed after was this prophesied Messiah - the Christ. As St Charles Borromeo reminds us, all the Patriarchs and Prophets all yearned and waited for the Coming of this Messiah. But it was the righteous Simeon who got to finally see and welcome the prophesied Christ into the Temple (Luke 2:25-28). Simeon on behalf of all Israel was able to receive, welcome and bless the arrival of the Desire of the Nations into the Temple of the Lord. Holding the infant Messiah in his arms and offering him to the Lord, Simeon joyfully declares the baby as the Light of the Gentiles and the Glory of Israel (Luke 22:29-32). He had waited his entire life for this wonderful moment, and in that very moment, all the Patriarchs and Prophets rejoiced together with him, as he the servant of the Lord sees the Salvation of the Lord revealed in the Temple and manifested in the flesh of the infant Jesus. This moment fulfilled the prophecy of Haggai about the Glory of the Lord filling the Temple, because the infant Jesus is himself the Glory of God, full of grace and truth (John 1:14-18) who now is manifested and fills the Temple. As the Only Son of the Father, he is the visible image of the invisible Father, and thus in his own flesh he reveals the Glory and face of the Father, for he is our salvation (John1:14, John 1:18, Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:15, John 14:9-10, Luke 22:30)



The Coming of Christ both heralded and brought us into the Final Days of the Eschaton. The Final and Eternal Word of the Father who is the ultimate fulfilment of revelation that began with the Patriarchs and Prophets (Hebrews 1:1-3). The Son who is the Word of the Father, is the Word made Flesh (John 1:14) for our salvation in these latter days of the Lord. The End Times began with the Coming of the Lord, and will be fulfilled at the final Coming of the Lord in glory. The Mystery of the birth of the Messiah, is the moment of arrival that revealed the goodness and kindness of God made manifest (Titus 3:5). 

Just as the Patriarchs and Prophets prepared Israel for the Coming of the Messiah, so too must we prepare ourselves to receive Christ in our heart. Our preparation to welcome and receive Christ is not just for his Final Coming at the End of Time - it is also to receive him now through faith at every moment we live, and especially tangible through the power he communicates to us through the Sacraments. His Coming is always available to us when we know where to look, and when we know how to welcome and receive him. 





This Advent, may we truly learn to yearn and ache for the Coming of Christ, just as the Patriarchs and Prophets did. May we joyfully receive Christ like Simeon did, whenever we receive the Eucharist in Holy Communion so that we can learn how to “depart in peace” (Luke 2:29). The more we can recognise and appreciate the ways Christ still Comes to us everyday, then the better we can prepare and long for his Final Coming without fear or worry. We will not be taken unaware or distracted by the “cares of life” (Luke 31:34) as we heard in the Gospel on Sunday for Advent. 

Instead, we should always and at all times call out from the depths of our heart “Come Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 2:22), so that the Desire of the Nations, will also become the deepest desire of your heart - the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer who came and who is to come. Let us learn to always call out to Jesus in faith and love, “Maranatha, Come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22).