What is the law really for? It’s not to make God love
you. God already loves you, and you cannot make God love you any more or any
less by any technique whatsoever. The purpose of spiritual law is to sharpen
your awareness about your own weaknesses and about who God is for you in that
situation. When you recognize your own radical inability to really obey the
purpose of the law and, in that same moment ask for God’s mercy, you have
achieved its deepest purpose. If you have ever tried to get rid of a negative
thought by mere will power, instead of by a “Higher Power,” you have surely
experienced this reality. Surrender is the goal, not personal success.
God not
only allows us to make mistakes, but even uses our mistakes in our favor! That
is the brilliant Gospel economy of grace, and it is the only thing worthy of
being called “good news and a joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). When you
come out of the boxing ring of the creative tension of law and grace, you will
know that you have finally won the match; but ironically, you will have won by
losing! – Fr. Richard Rhor
No comments:
Post a Comment