Memorial of Pope Saint John Paul II

Lectionary: 476

I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

 

Scholars believe that the Letter to the Ephesians was written in the spirit of Saint Paul, but not by the man himself. Although his themes of Spirit, grace, and salvation by faith appear in Ephesians, the style and vocabulary are quite different. This epistle has few of the Apostle’s nitty-gritty remarks about people and situations; it is more abstract but nonetheless inspired and inspirational.

And this author certainly copies the endless, intense sentences of Saint Paul. His words, piling on top of each other, are as rich as death-by-chocolate ice cream. Our reading today consists of two sentences, the first wants to be analyzed, studied, and contemplated like Michelangelo’s Sistine chapel.

 

He envisions the Christian's total submersion in God's love; we are swallowed up by its breadth and length and height and depth. Religion is not a part-time thing for us. It is not a hobby or pastime, nor is it an option. We don't choose our religion. The Lord chooses us. 

I have read a piece by Archbishop Lori in the Columbia Magazine -- an organ of the Knights of Columbus -- in which he deplores innumerable attacks on religion in the United States, especially the attacks on our statues. I would add to his list the wide-spread heresy that spirituality and religion are separate things. We're told one can be "spiritual but not religious." 

Saint John Henry Newman would describe that dualistic belief as monophysite; the belief "that Jesus Christ’s nature remains altogether divine and not human even though he has taken on an earthly and human body with its cycle of birth, life, and death." Recognizing the heresy in his Anglican tradition drove him to Roman Catholicism.

Accepting the gift of faith, we ask the Lord for more than external conformity to the rituals, without denying their importance. We learn to make the sign of the cross, for instance, not like children or teenagers, but as adults, with careful attention to its significance. With the gesture we put on Christ, specifically his cross, as we invoke the most sacred Trinitarian "name." We stop everything, as the Mass begins, to receive that blessing; and we hold on for one more moment as we sign ourselves at the end of Mass, before heading for the parking lot. 

If we can do that, we can read these amazing words of Saint Paul. There are eight references to kneeling in the New Testament. It is a gesture of prayer and petition, and a recognition of the authority of the one who can bestow favors. It is also a expression of every creature in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. When we genuflect or kneel, as Saint Paul does "before the Father," we join the whole universe in the worship of God. If we're listening closely and with the imagination of faith, we might hear the thunder of billions of knees hitting the floor, accompanied by the whispering flutter of angel wings. 

I said in a recent blog, that individualistic religion is an oxymoron. I might add, a religion that excludes anyone in heaven, on earth, or under the earth, must be some form of racism. 

Saint Paul is profoundly aware of the strength which surges through us in the presence of God. We are, "strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self...." But he is not talking about a Pacman power pill. This is not a power to threaten, control or manipulate others; it is a power "rooted and grounded in love." It is a power over oneself that can say please, thank you, I'm sorry, and, I forgive you." It is a power to be silent when silence speaks most loudly, and to listen when words must be heard. 

It is a power to inspire and invite others to worship our God with Saint Paul's sense of wonder as we fall on our knees before the Father of Jesus.