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Love, overflowing with small gestures of mutual care, is also civic and political, and it makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world. Love for society and commitment to the common good are outstanding expressions of a charity which affects not only relationships between individuals, but also “macro-relationships, social, economic and political ones.” …social love is the key to authentic development.
- Laudato Si’: Encyclical Letter of The Holy Father Francis
In Philippians 3:17, we hear St. Paul challenge “Sisters and brothers, join in imitating me.” How can we imitate Paul? We see it in the earlier passage (3 b) “for Him I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in Him.” Paul put his faith in God as did Abram in our first reading, Genesis 15:5
How blessed we are today to know that we have Christ and have a place in Him if we keep our eyes fixed on Him, trust Him and as Paul encourages “stand firm in the Lord”.
In St. Luke’s Gospel 9:28-36, the Transfiguration is the final event before Jesus took the road to Jerusalem. Peter, James and John saw the divinity of Jesus – yet in their human weakness during Jesus’ Passion, Peter denied Jesus and the other two ran away.
How often do we fail to see the divine in those we meet daily? The first line of a hymn that we sing on this Sunday is– “We behold the splendor of God, shining on the face of Jesus.” Let us replace the word “Jesus” with the names of those we meet today.
If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, “He will transform our wretched bodies into copies of his glorious body.” Phil. 3:21
- Carole Anne Guay CSJ
Through all his writing, speaking and preaching, Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury 2003-2012, would want us to experience the God he knows, the God who is “not a tame lion.” The quote comes from C.S. Lewis’s series of children’s books, Chronicles of Narnia, in which many of the characters, in discussing the Lion Aslan, who represents God, will remark., “He’s not a tame lion you know.” Lewis and Williams highlight this God of surprises, the God who does the unexpected and asks us to surprise ourselves too. This God is wild, powerful, unpredictable, as well as loving.
Archbishop Williams is the author of many books and is a theologian, scholar, poet and mystic. He speaks 11 languages. However, when Williams speaks of his experience of God, he poetically reflects the Mystery, where words about God cannot go. That’s why his insights on the Narnia Chronicles are so powerful and helpful. He reminds us that this God of surprises stretches us and calls us to surprise ourselves. In his book, The Lion’s World: A Journey into the Heart of Narnia, (2012) Williams says: “The truth of God is found in rebellion against the oppressive clichés of the world.” He reminds us that our idea of God is often soft and cuddly and may come from our own ego needs and not our experience...
In his latest book, Christ: The Heart of Creation (2018) Williams further challenges our ideas about God and asks us to confront the inadequacies and dangers that come from ideas and beliefs, but not from a true and personal experience of God. He wants to connect us again to the God who people experienced in the life and resurrection of Jesus. This God is not a tame lion.
A C.S. Lewis Lenten Series (2013) is available here
Even better for us, Dr. Rowan Williams will be in London beginning Saturday March 16th for three events:
For further information please click here
Sister Sue Wilson, LPRC (London Poverty Research Centre) Co-chair, explores the larger structural drivers of precarious employment linking them to the situation in London, Ontario. This paper highlights the historical changes and macro trends in economic theory and corporate practices which have underpinned the weakening of labour protections and job security over the last 40 years. Central to this discussion is the recognition that although the economy has been growing, the benefits of this growth has not translated into decent work and security for many, but rather increases in CEO compensation and concentrated wealth.
Download the full paper here Why Are Workers Struggling in Good Times and Bad?
