PALM
SUNDAY MORNING
Robert
Trabold
Lovely day – full sunshine
blue sky – no clouds – air
still cold – snow should
come tomorrow. Only crocuses
are blooming – purple – yellow.
Winter garden is quiet – still
full
of brown – dull green colors.
Juice of spring is slow to come
this year.
I sit in quiet – feel
mystery of winter – spring – dull
colors but bright sunshine.
Feel mystery of Jesus – His life
death – resurrection. Life has
many turns – up – down – backward
forward. These touched Jesus’
life – our lives
life of the world – with
violence – wars – hatred.
Let me sit in quiet -
quiet of Palm Sunday.
Sun is warm despite
predicted snow for tomorrow.
Spring will break through
give us lovely garden flowers.
Let Jesus’ resurrection break
through – give us hope for
for our lives – life of the
world.
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LIGHT
OF EASTERTIME
Robert
Trabold
As
we enter into the Easter season, we pass through the time of Lent with fasting
and penance reminding us of how Jesus suffered on the cross. We then experience the feast of His
Resurrection and we are called to share in His victory and the light of Easter
morning which the holy women experienced when they went to His tomb. This
passage of going from darkness into light is a symbol of our life in the
world. Certainly, we look around us and
see the many injustices and violence and we realize that these things are what
Jesus came to correct. The Christian churches share in this darkness and are
having a hard time to adjust to the modernity of today. They still feel more comfortable in the
medieval way of thinking and acting as such and many of the church structures
are dying and fading away. The de-Christianization of Western Europe continues
on without abatement. In these United States, we see also the decline of many
church structures; 30% of people under the age of 30 do not believe in God.
This country is about 50 years behind Western Europe in this regard. Latin
America and the Caribbean nations are quickly converting to the Pentecostal
Churches and these are also spreading in Africa and many parts of Asia bringing
a birth and rebirth of Christianity there.
All
these changes in the churches and the world cause us confusion and concern but
there is also a hopeful sign in all of this. Since the 1960’s in Western Europe
and the Americas, we are experiencing the rebirth in Western Christianity of
contemplative and mystical prayer. This rebirth happened when religious leaders
of the West, like Thomas Merton, Thomas Keating, the German Zen leaders, etc., discovered
the Christian mystical prayer tradition that had been lost since the
Reformation. It was a silent revolution that entered the churches. This
reentrance of contemplative prayer was and is being led by ordinary men and
women who live in the world making their living and raising their families. The
many and different contemplative prayer movements are basically lay people who
are living the silent and contemplative movement in their daily lives. They are
building and participating in monasteries without walls. It is a silent
revolution that is making its presence felt in the various Christian communities
and is a source of optimism because through this prayer, Christians are
encountering in a deep way the Lord Jesus who is ultimately the source of
salvation for ourselves and the world we live in.
When
we get discouraged with the problems of our world which seem to be unsolvable
and the immobility of many Christian churches to face the challenges of today,
we know that through our prayer we are in touch with the source of redemption,
Jesus. In our prayer life, we develop a deep relationship with Him who will
transform us and we can be that light in the world which is so needed. Those
fruits of the Spirit that the scriptures speak about – love, peace, joy,
patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness and self-control, which we manifest
in our lives will be noticed by the people around us. Hopefully they will show
to our neighbors and communities a new way to live and act in the world.
Through our contemplative prayer, we are participating in the silent revolution
which can make a difference in the way we live. In this Easter season we remember
the victory of Jesus and His Resurrection, the light and hope He brings to us.
We need not be stuck in the darkness of our world and the stuttering of the Christian
churches. We are faithful to our discipline of silence in meditating twice a
day knowing that ultimately it will make a difference in our life and that of
the world. Jesus brings us this light on Easter morning - our source of hope.
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