CHRISTIAN WALK
Grace Does Not Come to Order
Deacon Keith A. Fournier
Third Millennium, LLC
CBN.com
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No one has ever seen God; but as long as we love one another
God will live in us and his love will be complete in us. We
can know that we are living in him and he is living in us because
he lets us share his Spirit.
— 1 John 4
Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will
love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with
him.
— John 14:23
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears
my voice and opens the door, (then) I will enter his house and
dine with him, and he with me.
— Rev. 3:21
Humility is not the will to do nothing in order to become
all: rather it is the acceptance of self in openness to the
Other. For a Christian the divine cannot be reduced to the exploration
of one’s own inner life or the acquisition of cosmic ‘powers’.
The divine has nothing to do with scientism, however spiritualistically
inclined. It is Someone who comes to us in the sovereign freedom
of His love. Grace does not come to order. We can only prepare
ourselves to receive it, making ourselves attentive to the possibility
of a meeting.”
— Olivier Clement,
“The Roots of Christian Mysticism”
In an age of fast food, cars, and the Internet, we seem to be
running all the time. Yet, even with our digital calendars, we
risk missing the most important meeting of all, our appointment
with the Lord. That is not to say that these technological advances
have to be an impediment to the encounter. Rather, when we allow
them to become our measuring stick for satisfaction in every area
of our lives, we will look for quick prayer and quick “results”
from what we believe are “our” efforts.
Prayer is not about results or even our efforts, but about love.
In fact, it is really not about us at all, but about the One who
hungers to be known and loved, the “Other,” who calls
us into the intimacy of communion with Himself in His Son and
lives His life within us and through us by His Spirit.
The Lord whom we seek is outside of time, having given time as
a gift to those whom He now prepares for eternity. He dwells in
the eternal now and invites us through prayer along a path to
the fullness of life. That path passes through humility.
Preparing ourselves for the “possibility of a meeting”
means learning to silence the clamor of the age, stop the ever
accelerating pace of the futile quests that so often occupy our
hearts, and live in the eternal now by surrendering ourselves
-- and even our best aspirations -- to the One who created us
-- and now re-creates us -- in His Son Jesus Christ.
It is there, in the emptied place, in the stillness of the eternal
now, where we prepare a room for the King of all hearts. And,
in that encounter, we soon find the longing of our heart fulfilled.
Grace does not come to order. Rather, it is freely given, lavished
in fact, upon those who learn to live in God and live as though
God lives in them.
In this fast-paced age, the Holy Spirit is calling for a generation
of contemplatives. We tend to believe that the contemplative life
is reserved for those who, by special vocation, can “leave”
the world. They are a true treasure and a prophetic sign of the
life to come. However, all who are baptized into Christ are called
to the same meeting.
Copyright © 2005 Third Millennium, LLC.
Deacon Keith Fournier is a married Roman Catholic
Deacon of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia who also serves the
Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy with permission. He is a human
rights lawyer and public policy advocate. Deacon Fournier is a
graduate of the Franciscan University of Steubenville (BA), the
John Paul II Institute of the Lateran University(MTS), and the
University of Pittsburgh School of Law(JD). He also holds honorary
Doctorates in Humane letters and Divinity (LLD,DD) He is the Senior
Editor and Correspondent for Catholic
Online and a contributing Editor for Traditional Catholic
Reports and Reflections. Deacon Fournier has written hundreds
of articles on faith and life and seven books. His eighth book,
"The Prayer of Mary: Living the Surrendered Life” will
be released by Thomas Nelson this summer. Long active in efforts
to bring Christians together, Fournier is well known in the broad
Christian community. Having recently turned fifty, he has dedicated
the “second half of life” to making the teachings
of Pope John Paul II known to the world.
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