{"id":23421,"date":"2016-03-11T00:15:33","date_gmt":"2016-03-11T06:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=23421"},"modified":"2017-04-27T19:37:09","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T23:37:09","slug":"the-grace-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-grace-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"The Grace Moment","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

LENTEN RETREAT
\n Day 27<\/p>\n

\"dishes\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

WHEN <\/strong>God entered human history in the flesh through the person of Jesus, one could say that He baptized time<\/em> itself. Suddenly, God\u2014to whom all eternity is present\u2014was walking through seconds,\u00a0minutes, hours, and days. Jesus was revealing that\u00a0time itself is\u00a0an intersection between Heaven\u00a0and earth. His communion with the Father, His solitude in prayer,\u00a0and\u00a0His whole ministry were all measured in time\u00a0and<\/em> eternity at once…. And then He turned to us and said…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. (John 12:26)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How can we, who remain on earth, be with Christ, who is seated in Heaven? The answer is to be where He is on earth: in the present moment<\/em>. The moment past is gone; the one to come hasn’t arrived. The only moment that is, <\/em>is the present moment. And\u00a0thus, that too is where God is\u2014that’s why\u00a0it is the Grace Moment<\/em>. So when Jesus said, “seek first the kingdom of God”<\/em>, the only place to seek it is where it is, in God’s will in the present moment. As Jesus said,<\/p>\n

\u2026the kingdom of God is near. (Matt 3:2)<\/span><\/p>\n

The spiritual pilgrim, then, is not one who runs ahead, but one who carefully and lovingly takes one little stepping stone at a time.\u00a0While the world\u00a0meanders down the wide and easy road, God’s will is expressed in whatever\u00a0the next demand our state of life requires. Just as Jesus kissed His Cross, we should kiss these little moments of changing diapers, filing taxes, or sweeping the floor, because there<\/em> is God’s will.<\/p>\n

At the age of 12, Jesus\u00a0sanctified the ordinary<\/em> when He left the temple in Jerusalem\u00a0and returned home with his parents.<\/p>\n

\n

He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them… And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.\u00a0(Luke 2:51-42)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But for\u00a0the next 18 years, Our Lord did nothing more than the duty of the moment. So one\u00a0would be tragically wrong to say that this was not an essential<\/em> part of Christ’s ministry and witness. If Jesus transformed the skin of lepers years later, in Nazareth he was transforming the nature of work: God was sanctifying the duty of the moment.<\/em> He made hallow doing the dishes, sweeping the floor, and wiping sawdust off the furniture; He made sacred carrying water, making the bed, and milking a goat; He made holy casting a fish net, hoeing the garden, and washing the clothes. For this was the Father’s will for Him.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. (John 4:34)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Then at first, the work of the Father was to be a carpenter! Could we not imagine that this next little saying of Jesus was perhaps an echo from the wisdom of Mary or Joseph when He was growing up?<\/p>\n

\n

Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. (Luke 16:10)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yesterday, I spoke about total abandonment to God\u00a0by being faithful<\/em> in each moment, whether God’s will brings consolations or crosses. This abandonment includes letting go of both the past and the future. As Jesus said,<\/p>\n

\n

Even the smallest things are beyond your control. (Luke 12:26)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Or as the Russian proverb goes:<\/p>\n

\n

If you do not die first, you will have time to do it. If you die before it is done, you don\u2019t need to do it.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade puts it this way:<\/p>\n

\n

Our only satisfaction must be to live in\u00a0the present moment as if there were nothing to expect beyond it.<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence<\/em>, translated by John Beevers, p. (introduction)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And so, “Do not worry about tomorrow,”<\/em> Jesus said, “tomorrow will take care of itself.” <\/em>[1]<\/sup><\/a>Matt 6:34<\/span><\/span>