HOPE’S JUBILEE

Your every breath

This book is written, not just for those who can be described as fervent, but for everyone.

What I have tried to do in this book is to help you become more and more convinced that you have a vital role in the “kingdom of priests”. Christ our Lord is completing the process of bringing the whole of creation to resurrection. Your life breath is to offer the “spiritual sacrifices” which make up in your own body and soul what is still to be endured in Christ's forming of the new humanity. Read how happy St Paul is to do this in Colossians 1: 24.

You are a star in the spiritual realm which is descending ever more surely to “renew the face of the earth”. You and all God’s people are stars as yet unrecognised. You at least must recognise your dignity and calling. Every single action of yours contributes to or detracts from the coming of the kingdom. Clinging on to Jesus during pain and feelings of emptiness is an especially rich offering.

Piercing the cloud

The breakdown within our humanity, which began in the original sin, is clouding our world. Clouds make it impossible to see the sun. They just let a little of its light through, but not enough to see the world and other people as they really are, not enough to perform needful tasks gracefully. You have been given the power in Baptism for your spirit to go up into the cloud nearer and nearer to God, and to bring his light down to earth.

Faith

This is a spiritual and not a physical ascent. You won’t do this by becoming an astronaut and traveling in space. That impressive endeavour requires hard work, but no less is required of those who journey into the mystery of God. Astronauts have to endure great stresses as they break free of earth’s atmosphere, next, they experience the disorientation of weightlessness, until they adjust to living and moving in another environment, but they have put their faith in the craft they travel in. We endure the stresses of contemplation, seeking the face of God, each day and, as we become familiar with contemplation, we increasingly become aware of the real environment in which we “live and move and have our being”. Space crafts are prone to malfunction, but our faith is in Jesus – enough said!

"Do you love me?"

Perhaps the most revealing moment in the Gospels is when Jesus asked Peter three times “do you love me”. All that Peter ever did or ever could do is profitless unless he opens his heart to Jesus so that Jesus can live there. On his own Peter is powerless. But as Jesus increasingly lives in him, and he lives in Jesus, he becomes a fountain of divine grace. He will remain a sinner, and make great mistakes until his dying day, but he is an earthen vessel which holds treasure, the golden key to unbind the chains of sin. You, as a lover of Jesus, hold your own unique key to liberate creation.

Much of the time, Peter’s faith would be challenged, and he would have to move forward without seeing where he was going. It is the same with you, Oh lover of God. Peter would only discover what impact his sacrifices had in the unfolding of the Father’s plan when he finally saw the face of God in heaven. It will be the same with you.

Hope

Hope is the supernatural power placed in your soul to perceive even dimly the true nature of God’s plan. May it grow until its work is done and you finally behold in heaven the utter beauty of God’s lovely process of salvation, the Church in glory, the Bride of the Lamb!

There is no greater fact of your existence on earth than the fact that you are critically essential to the completion of God’s plan of salvation. God will lead you into the cloud that descended on Tabor when Jesus was transfigured and supported by the greatest prophets, Moses and Elijah. Jesus himself will teach you how to proceed. Remember the words of Jesus: “Do not fear, little flock, it has delighted the Father to give you the Kingdom”.

And the Kingdom you are serving is nothing less than the homecoming of all your sisters and brothers in the human race. Simply being at home in the mind and heart of Jesus, and being drawn humbly into his prayer that the will of the Father to be done is Intercession. Intercession is the prayer that moves mountains. Its work is hidden in the mind of God, but as hope grows, so does call to intercession.

Love

I cannot finish this book without advising you to think again about the reality that underpins contemplation and intercession, Love. St Paul calls it the "highest gift" of God to his children. Traditionally we call it "Charity", but that word has come to mean outreach to those in need. If you forget to use the word "Chariy" and substitute the original Greek word that St Paul used, "AGAPE", a far richer dynamic opens up, and we come to understand why St Paul urges us to be "ambitious" for it.

Agape is the very foundation of our lives as Christians. It may help you to read the section on Agape in our book A Message For Its Own Time (Chapters 9 & 10). You can access it on this website by clicking the link   hereERE.

In the new age of Christianity which is emerging, mountains which we think unshakable will move through the prayer of the saints on earth and in heaven. May your journey into sharing the intercession of Jesus continue to deepen and bear much fruit!