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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260416
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DTSTAMP:20260412T060151
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UID:14815-1776297600-1776383999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:From a reading by \nFR HUGO RAHNER \n◊◊◊ \nPrecisely in weakness the Church of the crucified is the very essence of \nGod’s force of grace\, the sacramentally humble symbol of the irresistibly \nvictorious love of the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The weak Church is the \njoy of our faith. Not only despite her weakness\, but rather because she is weak. \nThis is no theological dialectic that would release us from the responsibility of \nconstantly attempting anew to perfect the power of the Church’s witness\, her \nholiness\, even her glory that can be dramatized here on earth. \nHowever\, our faith in the Church remains pure\, resilient\, filled with \nunshatterable joy in the victory of Our Lord\, only if we perceive that the power \nand dominion of God\, which is totally different in nature from anything else in \nour experience\, chooses to show itself most often in earthly impotence and \ndespicability – as long as we in the midst of the Church celebrate the death of \nOur Lord\, until Christ returns as the Messiah of glory. Christ\, once and for all\, \ndied beyond the barricades of human comprehensibility\, and therefore the \nChurch must bear his disgrace. \nAlas\, this is so difficult for us here below to comprehend. Our eyes are \nveiled\, and our hearts are still as dull as those of the journeying disciples of \nEmmaus. They recognized the Lord only after the breaking of bread. Then\, \nhowever\, their hearts burned. It is the same with us… \nThis also holds true for the mystery of the Church. It is the same for her as \nit was for Our Lord: In sacrifice has he conquered\, in the breaking of bread he \ninflamed joy\, in the fact that he was killed has he driven out the prince of this \nworld. Therefore we recognize him and his Church only in the breaking of bread\, \nin the breaking of our believing hearts. \nAnd from his broken Church we discover with the quiet delight of tested\, \nsuffered\, disappointed and wise faith: Here is the Lord. Here is his Church\, the \nholy\, the catholic. Then our hearts also burn. Then we know: She is still on the \ndesert path\, but this leads into the promised land. She is still on the way of the \ncross to death’s place of skulls\, but only so will the Pasch come\, and this means \nthe transition to the eternal… \n“Probably there is much in the Church that betrays the weaknesses of our \nhuman nature. Her divine founder\, however\, endures these weaknesses. He \nendures them even in the higher members of his mystical body… Therefore\, the \nfact that many members suffer from spiritual infirmity is no reason for us to \nlessen our love for the Church\, rather it is an occasion for us to feel deeper \nsympathy with her members.” \nLook about in this world – everywhere there is desert\, aimless wandering\, \nthirst that cannot be quenched\, strangers who no longer know home. But in this \ndesert you see a thornbush burst into flames\, and you hear the divine words: “The \nplace where you stand is holy ground”. This is a type\, a model of the holy Church. \nShe is a wretched\, prickly shrub in the desert\, but even now she bursts into flames \nwith heavenly fire. Here we stand: we believe in this Church of weak brambles \nand tremendous fire. She is our trial of faith and our love’s joy.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-418/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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