Carla Mae's Blog

The great feasts are over…Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity, Corpus Christ. Liturgically it’s a bit like Fourth of July when the fireworks disappear from the night sky. We enter Ordinary Time. Lush green appears on our vestments, and in our summer fields. It’s the growing time in the North Temperate Zone. Summer is here and the fields are lush with new life. Truly, this mirrors our grace-lives liturgically. All the wonders of an unspeakable love have been shown to us, and now it is quiet. In the fields of our hearts much unseen will be going on. The texts will be calling forth growth from the great Mysteries. New life, new growth, new challenges to our cranky old ego with its blaming-shaming-complaining-whining-worrying-withdrawing ways. Oh, yes…our egoism has a voice. We can listen for it. Three ugly sisters, and three feverish brothers. They need to be put to ‘bed’ and get a good long healing ‘sleep.’ In their place we welcome joy, cultivate constant pray...

St. Augustine (in the Office of Readings) reminds us that there are two ‘times’ during the Liturgical Year: the time before Easter and the time after Easter. These two times reflect the ‘Paschal Mystery’ in our lives. The time before Easter is a time of struggle and penance in faith; the time after Easter is a time of unbounded joy and hope in the promise of our future. So now we have celebrated the ‘big’ feasts. The Lord has risen and ascended, taking our humble transformed humanness with him to the throne of his Father. They have sent their common Spirit-Gift. The Spirit now dwells and burns like a holy Fire in the midst of the Church. What has Jesus been teaching them - and us - during this precious ‘time after Easter?’ He has been teaching us ‘Now you see me, now you don’t.’ He appears when they are together, especially at meals. Then he is gone, breaking the pattern of his former time with them. In former times he was always visible to them. Now he isn’t. So – he is ...

This is to be the new normal…after the resurrection, that is. There will be no usual physical presence, but the Risen One has found a way to be with us always. His presence is a realized hope in faith’s dark light. Pope Francis points out that this hope of our is communal. It is a ‘we.’ It is ours together. But if faith’s light is so dark, how are we going to know that this Risen One, who now is present in a new way in the depths of our hearts, is there? Is there some evidence we can point to? Some assurance? Francis says the Holy Spirit is the living sign of God’s hope. With Jesus we have a picture…we have a human form, but with the Spirit…? As Jesus is God’s Word in our human form, so the Spirit is God’ ‘hands.’ Seven beautiful scriptural images come to mind: Dove, Fire, Wind, Water, Oil, Blood, and Wine. Wherever they appear, there is Spirit-work going on. God is acting. So we can be on the watch in our own humble lives: these seven translate into comforting, c...