The pull to write is taking me in an unexpected direction. Have you heard the term pastiche? According to Dictonary.com a pastiche is, “an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.” I’m not claiming to be artistic, but I’m compelled to write a “spiritual pastiche”; a compendium of quilted truisms hopefully repackaged in a memorable way.

Here’s a background story. About two weeks ago I was facing what’s become a du jour onslaught of overwhelming world chaos. I observed my flippancy. Have you ever found yourself shirking problematic happenings, disengaging from vexing dynamics, or writing off insidious authorities when these things are out of your control? Maybe like me you’ve found yourself thinking, “this isn’t my problem, it’s out of my paygrade.”

On this occasion, as soon as that thought crossed my mind, I heard our Lord gently rebuke me. He reminded me that these troubling things might be out of my pay grade, but they weren’t out of my prayer grade. I imagine Jesus saying these things with His quintessential, charming, disarming yet piercing wink as He disappears leaving me to sort out His guidance.

PAYGRADE VS. PRAYER GRADE

You’ve probably got the gist of this one. Surrender is necessary; most parts of our lives are out of our control. Maybe control is way overrated. As I become more dependent on my guardian angel, St. Gemma Galgani (one of my go to saints) and most of all, the Holy Spirit, I’m getting marginally better at letting go and letting God.

There’s a big difference between surrendering and disengaging. As God’s people we’re commanded to be prayer warriors. Now if God gives us the command, He’s not going to leave us ill-equipped. Our prayers are infinitely powerful. Yes, I mean infinite. As Fr. Patrick Dooling likes to remind us, once a prayer is set in motion it rises like incense before the throne of God, and never ends. We add our prayers to the holy fabric of the Communion of Saints and angelic hosts. Prayers may lack physical, easy to spot evidence that actions usually have, but in the veiled agencies of God’s Grace, prayers move mountains.

Our prayers situate us as co-creators of the Kingdom of God. Prayers are saturated with their accumulating propensity to tip the tides of exigencies. When we act according to our prayer grade, by going beyond our requisite personal petitions, we rise above ourselves and commune in the Mystical Body of Christ. Consider: we have no problem believing how our body’s white blood cells’ mount coordinated assaults on infections. Isn’t the world infected with BIG problems? Our prayers are like white blood cells. Whether their healing work is seen or felt, they affect things. Through the Grace of God, may we employ prayer as the most important and efficacious antidote to any, and all problems especially the seemingly most intractable ones.

So…are you currently performing at your prayer grade?

THE UNCONDITIONAL CONDITION

Unconditional Love is the Heart of God’s relationship with us. God’s Love is so great that He sent His only begotten Son to be our Way, Truth and Life. Love begets Love in an endless cycle of creation and relationships. The nexus of Love’s motive power is sacrifice. Jesus’ obedience to His Divine Unconditional Loving Nature necessitated that He take up, and glorify, the cross by shedding every drop of His human blood.

Sacrifice is an unconditional condition of mercy. It enfolds the potentiating sacred energy that enraptures wholeness. Sacrifice gathers us into the ark of restoration—the restoration of mortality with immortality—the restoration of body with soul— the restoration of earth with heaven.

Earth School or “The Dojo” as my dear brother in Christ Michael and I like to say, is all about getting onboard with Unconditional Love. Whatever our life circumstances, we’re graced with crosses. Think of these as heavenly allowed or orchestrated “learning opportunities” to exercise our unconditional muscles. Parenthood is a perfect example. It’s certain to bulk up our muscles. Parenthood naturally invites and often cajoles us to dive deeper into Unconditional Love. We’re not going to plumb Unconditional Love’s mysteries or lessons (we have eternity for that) but we’re called to surrender to its Way.

Let’s make this real and consider a hypothetical…

Human relationships endear us to embrace sacrificial quests of Unconditional Love.  Imagine a deep, special connection between two people. What if time blessed this pair with rich spiritual treasures and a repository of tangible expressions of their extraordinary connection? Yet for whatever reason these two became distant. The story between them is riddled with persistent uncanny care for each other. There’s something unchangeable about it and despite the current distance between them the connection is as intense as it was when they were in regular contact with each other. However, life with its demands, and circumstance leads them in separate directions.  A time may come when one or both of them cultivate, nourish, and build a blessed bond with another person.

What sacrifice might Unconditional Love require in this situation? Perhaps any traces of the pair’s special connection need to disappear. These beautiful artifacts honoring the pair’s special connection could be hurtful to someone else. Compassionating sacred imagination will assure the person entering a blessed new bond that if he needs or decides to get rid of any of these artifacts she would not be upset. Unconditional Love ensures that there’s no place for anger, resentment, or hurt. Unless guided otherwise this would include desisting from initiating any form of future communication while always remaining open to receiving them.

Unconditional Love wants what’s best for the other. In this example, Unconditional Love guides her to sacrifice her needs, desires, and hopes to cherish and protect his well-being. The Graces of Unconditional Love show her how to be a guardian of his soul and every sacred decision and path he chooses.  Whatever actions are taken or not taken are at his discretion and wholly accepted and blessed by her. As the adage goes, “if you love someone, set them free.” Sting has a great song that celebrates this sacred wisdom. Check it out: Sting – If You Love Somebody Set Them Free

Okay let’s put away our tissues. I think you get the point: the one condition of Unconditional Love is sacrifice. What that sacrifice looks like will vary. Our job is to approach each situation with humble prayers and wait for discernment. Our Good and Great God will answer us.

OUR SUBMISSION MISSION

We’re on a mission from God. Are you submitting? Let me posit an ironic realism. Our earthly missions (and let’s not consider our heavenly ones) are so complex that they don’t come with detailed plans! If we’re inevitable hapless foes of “the slings, and arrows of outrageous fortune” (Shakespeare, Hamlet) what can keep our ship righted in tumultuous storms?  There’s no playbook, no master strategy, and no predefined tactics for countering the challenges on our path. God gives us something better. God gives us His Divine Will.

Jesus shows how His Word must be entrusted to His Father’s Divine Will. Our Savior submits to God’s Holy Will. Can we define God’s Holy Will? The closing prayer from the Divine Mercy Chaplet gives a definition:

Eternal God, in Whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. (Source: Divine Mercy Chaplet).

The unfathomable depths of God’s unfolding creation are supersaturated in a substrate elixir of God’s Love and Mercy. Because of His Love, and its inextricable adherence to Mercy, we have endless recourse to God’s power. In submission on our mission, and freed from human will, we step into the radiance of God’s Divine Will. God’s endless Mercy guarantees that we can never be separated from the Love of God (Romans 8: 38-39).

Jesus’ Love for His Father and us, makes His submission to Divine Will a fete complete. Let’s take inventory. What are we doing to stoke our fires of love for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit so that our submission to God’s Divine Will becomes His fete complete that gives Glory to Him now and forever.

Let’s look at another Christ entrained prayer from our essential spiritual regimen. Every Our Father implores God to enact, “His Will on earth as it is in heaven.” We observed earlier that prayers are never in vain. God’s submission mission for us will be actualized and gloriously completed whether we submit or not. Thank you, Lord, in Your Greatness and Goodness You have rigged the Game of Games for our success. Of course, we can exercise our human free will and opt out from playing but why would we do that. Let’s help each other grow closer to Him by accepting our submission mission.

PRAYER

Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
John 10: 7-10

Father, the Craftsman of the Majestic Door to Everything, Jesus, the infinitely wide Door of endless Mercy, and Holy Spirit, the Key of Unconditional Love to the Door of eternal Joy, show us the Way. Cast away every false teacher, prophet, and apostatic assertion that might lead us astray. Make us deaf to any message that is contrary to Your Truth. Keep us immersed in Your Glorious Story. Draw us deeper into Your Sacred Heart. We will heed Your Voice and through Your Grace mend our lives. Your Way is rich in Wisdom and Love. Sanctify the relationships in our lives that they may become living signposts pointing to Your Way. Transform our mundane, simple, daily activities into sacred creative acts. Infuse Your gentle, sweet, tender Ways into our intentions. Let others look upon us, and see fountains showering them with Your Living Waters. With Your abundant Help, we will grow daily in faith, trust, hope, charity, and love. Father, open the gates of Your Glory before us and fill us with Your Light. Jesus, our Victory and Triumph over death belong to You. And Beautiful Spirit, clothe us in dazzling robes of Perfect Peace and Unconditional Love. “Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul. Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.”* AMEN

* Psalm 143: 7-8