Willing to Become Visible

Peter says, "Let every thought be captivated by the Spirit" (1 Pt 1:13). That is sacrifice in itself. Can you imagine? Before we even express a thought, if it has been captivated by the Spirit, then that thought and that word and that action is going to come forth as Jesus. Jesus, Himself, as we know, was always led by the Spirit. The Spirit was Our Lady's director as well. You cannot go wrong with a spiritual director like the Holy Spirit. He is holy. He is a Holy Spirit.

At Cana (John 2:1-11) we can see Our Lady being led by the Spirit, being prompted by the Spirit. It did not seem to be the intention of Jesus, or part of the plan at that moment, that God was going to ask Him to do a miracle. The Wedding Feast of Cana had to do with wine. That has to do with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the new wine. It seemed like He was quite concerned that they were running out of wine. The whole world today is running out of wine. Have you ever walked down the street and just looked at people's faces? Do you see them smiling? Do you see them laughing? Do you see joy?

When I was in the cloister I said to the Lord, "I still need more confirmations on why You are calling me out. Why?" He gave me that very image of a very crowded street in a big city. People coming and going, passing each other, rushing and right away I said, "Oh Lord, they look so unhappy." He said, "That is right. They haven't any wine."

We need this consecration because we need to tread the winepress now. We need to produce this new wine for the Church. So Mary was prompted by the Spirit Himself and she responded to that prompting in her heart and brought it to her son. "They haven't any wine." When He responded, He called her, "Woman." It was not "mother" now. "Woman, what does that have to do with you and Me? My hour has not yet come." He knew exactly what she was referring to and she knew what the Spirit was referring to. It is costly. Is it not, to respond to the promptings of the Spirit? Mary could have ignored that prompting. She knew that it meant that the apron strings would be cut. He would do the miracle - she knew that. She knew He could. She knew who He was and she knew the mission had started and that, once He did this, they would be visible to the world. She would never have Him totally to herself again as she did in the privacy of Nazareth. It had begun.

Many of the promptings in our heart, of the Spirit, will be costly because the day of the Lord is here. It has truly begun. Jesus says, "Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it simply remains a grain of wheat, but if it dies, it produces much fruit" (John 12:24). The fruit of is always Jesus. There is no other fruit. Jesus is the fruit of Mary's womb. Jesus is the fruit of our obedient love. The fruit is always, always Jesus.

As He becomes more visible through this consecration by the Spirit, we become more invisible. That is the difficult part. Are we willing to become invisible so that others may see only Jesus? Paul was willing. The saints were willing. Paul says, "For me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21). Can we say that? For me to live is Jesus? Then he said, "For me to die is gain." He knew in this dying process he was bringing forth Jesus. It is a birthing. It goes on constantly.

Thomas Aquinas says tells us that there is a way to tell if we are really people of prayer, if we are truly contemplatives. He said, "Thee essence of authentic prayer is obedience". That means that to pray always, if we really are praying always, is simply to do what Our Lady directed us to do at Cana, "Whatever He tells you". If we are doing whatever He is telling us, then we definitely are praying always. We are living a lifestyle of prayer.

Just in case we missed the point in the Gospels, Jesus tells us at every single Mass, "Now you do this in memory of Me" (Lk 22:19). You do this. You become consecrated. You give your life. You give your blood. You give your commitment. You give your love. You do this in memory of me. You now become Eucharist. You now become a sacrament of sacrifice, a sacrament of agape love.

In this Eucharistic presence we too enter more fully into this baptism of agape love. It is a baptism of victim-hood love, "Making up now in our bodies what is still lacking to the sufferings of Christ for the sake of His body, the Church" (Col 1:24).

The Church needs this new wine. The Church needs to be fed. That was the directive that Jesus gave to Peter. Of all the things He could have said to Peter who was not a farmer, remember. He was formerly a fisherman. Jesus said to him, "Peter, do you love Me" (Jn 21:15-17)? Do you love Me more than yourself, more than anybody, more than anything?

"Yes Lord".

Then Jesus said, "Feed My sheep." Feed My lambs. They need to be fed. The Church is dying of starvation. There is a famine today of God's word, of God's food.

We have this beautiful little picture on the altar at home of the Eucharist. The caption says, "Lord, make me like Your body, Your bread. Take me Lord. Bless me. Break me and pass me around among Your people." That is freedom isn't it? It is total freedom to let God do whatever, whatever, whatever. We become living a fiat of "be it done, be it done according your word, your way." Greater love than this, this agape love, no one has.

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