Thursday, April 16, 2009

Easter Thursday--a Quiet Day of Reflection

Today was a reflective day during retreat. I was homilist at the Mass, whose gospel continued Jesus' meeting with his disciples in the upper room, overcoming their "disbelieving joy" by showing them the marks of his Passion, now glorified in his risen state. We learn that none of our sufferings offered in communion with Christ's sufferings on the Cross (and for the benefit of the Church and humanity) is lost: each will become in eternal life a token of glory.

We studied briefly Pope Benedict XVI's address to the men and women of culture (not necessarily believers) at the start of his Pastoral Visit to France on September 12, 2008. The Holy Father noted that when all the certainties of the past were disappearing in Europe, the monastic movement set about to build a new order. By searching to find God they, in effect, created a culture. They sought the Logos (God's Word) by exploring human words and science.

In that context, the monastic movement became a school, needing a library and other resources to carry out God's service. In order not to distort the ultimate questions, they sensed the need to maintain contact with past history, with tradition. A very interesting text with much material for reflection on the issues of our day, as the pope concludes by arguing that the quest for God should not be excluded from contemporary discussion.

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