The beginnings one can only watch and see. Father Quinn as mentioned in prior posts has a work up in Door County. A couple of weeks ago I have a word burning hot from the Lord for Him. His reply , thanks Steve, I thought you might like to know it is the seventh year to the day of my ordination. A week later our wonderful Bishop calls all Priests for retreat in the Diocese, Father has been planning a silent retreat for all the staff up North on the Holy Spirit. I go to pick up my daughter from a HS retreat and during Mass, the Lord told Father I was suppose to deliver the talks. And that I did, with every ounce of energy in my body, only time will tell the effects. After the first talk, the reading the next morning for Mass began with you guessed it Isaiah 49. I mentioned this the night before in my story of faith. A young Nun mentioned it to my wife , like what in the world is going on. The talks themselves were built upon what I had already blogged, for I had a week to prepare six talks lasting over an hour each. Much of what I have written last year was the summation of my faith life through everything I have seen and heard through twenty 20 of seeking the King. With that I shall leave you with my talk and leave the effects to God. I think this is just the beginning, my hiding is over.

My calling: revivalist.

   THE GOD WHO IS PENTECOST

Union and communion swallowed up by love sustains the universe;  that is the presence of God himself–eternal interchange of persons.

Once I was walking home from a day of preaching in the streets.  A few blocks from home I looked toward the heavens. I was looking at God, or shall I say God was looking at me, but it was beyond a thick presence of love that is my common experience.

Sometimes I would have a deep interior sense of one of the persons in God, or some attribute that was inflamed by the Holy Spirit of God within me, or enigma like the Lion and the lamb, the contradiction of love and dread.  At other times I would be considering some theological concept that would just turn into heaven’s flame within me, but this day was different.

Trinity is what I saw, even through a glass darkly, and not in a theological moment of inspiration.  Simply God as God. How can I explain what my mind could not wrap around?

 Aware of three watching me as one, what I took away from it even now causes me too tingle. What I saw was love!  Love of three loving me, but the love between them caused something like a chain reaction with no beginning within God.  It was like love had a life of its own within God.  Not a fourth entity or some kind of heresy of sorts, it was like their persons generated uncreated love, and I could see it burn between them.

 

The burning was interchange as one, but it was not stagnant like calm waters, it was moving like flames within a camp fire. As I watched I felt my spirit and body in wonder, pressure, and ecstasy.That is the clearest I have ever seen the beatific vision.  Only if we could see, we would all be ruined for Pentecost , totally ruined.

Theology applied to reality

Through the blood sacrifice of the Christ we are brought by love into this abyss of love and fire. This triune eternal celebration of love, as bride of God, and the two shall become one flesh.  Salvation is nothing short of being welcomed to share in the mystery and majesty of God Himself.  If we could see what God has prepared for those that love Him, we would be undone whith  joy unspeakable.

Christ is the doorway that leads to the joy of the presence.  Jesus Christ our hero captain of love, blazing heaven with His blood, all the way to the right hand of God almighty.  What I saw corresponds to what He has done, how else could Pentecost be brought about, than by the man from Nazareth?

It’s true!   It’s all true.  That man walked on the seas, fed the thousands, raised the dead.  He was and is the life giver; nothing can hold Him back from His destiny.  A communion of love that burns forever, pushes him forward, nothing can stop him.  Not even our unbelief, fear, or doubt, will hold Him back, for He is compelled by a love that knows no beginning and has no end.Amongst the triune bliss one has been named among men as Lord and giver of Life who proceeds from the Father and the Son who with the Father and Son is both worshiped and glorified.

Triune pentecostal love burning with unspeakable fire and light could not contain the mystery of deity. An uncreated love sprang from the depths of love itself, and that disclosure was LET THEIR BE LIGHT, or what I like to say, LET THEIR BE PENTECOST

And the created order came to be, all the stars  of the heavens could not hold His love, the birds of the air that sang His endless praise left Him wanting, the beast of the field the chewed the cud satisfied not His love,the mountains and valleys, fields and streams, oceans of the deep. Were signs of His eternal beauty for sure, yet it was a custom design for the object of all His eternal pentecost affections.

The prize of pentecostal creative love was oriented toward one end alone for which  the visible world was made at all, namely You!!!

 

It is you that moved His heart my sister my bride, it has always been you, never was it not you, nor will there ever be another. From times eternity past it is you, His love has His sights on you from everlasting to everlasting. And nothing shall stand in His way.

You are God’s prized possession.  His gift of selfless self giving love cannot and will not be contained because God is love. And you are the subject of that love unspeakable.   And it is good, very good.

 

Faith seeks understanding

 

All scripture is God breathed given under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, not as dictation but holy inspiration and ecstasy under the glory of heaven, human personalities meeting a personal God.  How else would God disclose Himself to the peoples of the earth but through people created in His likeness and image?

And this is the subject matter to which I would like to draw attention when reflecting upon the first chapter of Genesis. All things in their proper place–in the disclosure of divine creative love.

light/darkness, day/night, seed bearing plants according to their kind, beasts of the field according to their kind, birds of the air according to their kind, sea creatures according to their kind, dry land, the waters of the deep, all in accord with nature.  But what I am about to articulate is the deep calling unto deep.

And then it happens, God creates a creature that stands outside of the natural order of things. This is so powerful, if you could see with the eyes of the Holy Spirit you would tremble under its glory!  This being is not created after its kind, it is a creature created after another kind, and its nature is created as an image, but image of what? Image of Whom, but God Himself!

 

A creature created to share in another being’s likeness and image.  But this is not mere colorful romanticism.  The created order is still in process of creation, the creator is not yet finished with His creation. How shall the creator bring about such a union or image? Bringing this image we call man to His likeness, as unto a reflection.

A reading from the gospel of St. John

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being  in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.  He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.  But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,  who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,]full of grace and truth.

In the fullness of the times and seasons of His creation, the creator becomes the image of His own likeness, while retaining His being,  both substance of God  and likeness of man, fully God and fully man so that these privileged creatures could share or commune with God Himself.

 

We were not created for our kind, as all other creatures; we were created to share not only in our nature, but in a super nature, a divine nature, a PENTECOSTAL NATURE! What Christ is by Nature we become by Pentecost.

A nature designed and destined for PENTECOSTAL TRINITARIAN LOVE.

 

Divinity took on our nature so we could be created and then recreated into a divine nature…………..WE are the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus, those who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, Christ means anointing or Pentecost

We are creatures created to become divine, after the FIERY image OF THE TRIUNE PENTECOST of God all mighty

“And we do not know what we shall be but when we see Him we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.” …………………………..

Would you like to see our Kind, our King , our Captain of the Hosts of Heaven. The Word made flesh, the eternal Logos of God, the brightness of the Father.

 

A reading from Paul’s book to the Colossians

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

THE PASSION OF PENTECOST

 

The glory of man fully alive in the Son of God Son of Mary had a price, it was paid in the love blood of God.

 

The blood of Christ has been shed over all creation, only unbelief blinds us to it. Your soul is covered in the blood of Christ, all of your pain is covered in the blood of Christ, all your losses are covered in the blood of Christ.

His blood flows into the earth, into the deep hidden places of pain where we are afraid to journey, only our lack of faith keeps us from this mighty wave that ever flows. We drink the blood of the King. His blood is so mighty, so terrible in holiness, so cleansing, that if we could see we would be undone with love, truly our bodies could not bear the weight of the power of the blood.

By His blood we are saved in time and eternity, by his blood He stormed the gates of hell, by His blood He purchased men for God, by His blood man has been lifted up to the right hand of the Father, by His blood we stand forgiven declaring the wonders of the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ. By His blood my words fall short and the mystery of God’s love for man is made manifest.

His blood destroyed death, His blood brought everlasting life, His blood rent the veil in two, His blood sets us free from guilt and shame, His blood enables a priest to give us the mighty sacrament, His blood is what grants the words of absolution, His blood gives us strength to carry on when we have none.

Our faith journey started with the cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb, and when our journey comes to an end it will be by the blood of the Lamb. We can’t merit it, deserve it, earn it, We I can only believe it. His blood increases our faith when we have none, His blood releases hope when all hope is lost , His blood sets us free when we feel like slaves. His blood forever declares that We are loved and precious to God.

If His blood won’t move us then nothing will, If His blood doesn’t empower us to live in His life then nothing can. Christianity stands or falls on the blood of the King. The more we enter into His blood our blemishes wash away, holy unto the Lord is brought about by the blood of the Lamb. Blood my friends, blood that flows from the heart of God, without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. The blood makes us Holy before the Lord. The precious blood of Jesus Christ friends the precious blood of Christ.

Jesus Christ is Lord, power from on high. I stand with the old Negro preacher for my atonement theology, “I don’t know how the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from my sin, but I know it does.”

I say His name on my lips, and His blood begins to flow. I look at a crucifix, and I know the power of God found a place to destroy hell.  I see that Priest raise heaven in His hand and say, “This is my body broken for you” as I reply “Only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

Satisfaction of justice or a satisfaction of a conquering King of Love–who shall lay any charge against His elect? It is God who justifies.

If justice was His motive for our redemption and it took the blood of God to do it, then it goes way beyond appeasing wrath, for God is love, and the justice it satisfied was God being true to what He is, Love.

Love stormed the gates of hell, love hung on a cross, love rose from the dead, and love poured out His Spirit on all flesh.  Love could not contain Him any longer, love demanded flesh in the manger, love demanded the desert with the devil, love demanded forgive them Father, they know not what they do.

Love breaks my hard heart by love. His blood is so mighty, so terrible that it reaches into the fall and puts it to death once for all. Love conquered death by death, and shattered justice into mercy. Hilarious mercy, God trampled on justice by a mercy flowing from Him as God from God, as light from light.

The real question is: Will humanity respond to this cosmic mercy where justice has been abolished through the rending of His flesh?  Justice wasn’t satisfied in the death of God; mercy was satisfied, for mercy triumphs over judgment.

Love is the way, the truth, the life. Love is the answer to our human dilemma. If that bloody God lifted up before a world dying for love, dying to be loved, can’t reach us nothing will.  He satisfied the law of injustice by loving the unlovable.  Salvation has absolutely nothing to do with justice. His passion is the greatest act of injustice ever committed against man, for man by the God man.

Justice doesn’t demand a response, for even to respond to such mercy would be an act of injustice on our part. Only mercy can respond to this dread act of mercy. Have mercy on us Lord, and before we even say it we see mercy lifted up even to the right hand of the Father full of grace and truth, only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

All I can ever receive from God is mercy.  I can only receive what He gives in mercy, and all I have left to give away is mercy.

The law of reciprocation is a law of the fair, “Hey, that’s not fair.”  It’s not fair that I got hurt; it’s not fair that my parents divorced, it’s not fair that people really can stink.  When justice and equity guide us we shall be doomed to a life of pain, frustration, and disappointment, even if we are among the good, if such a thing is possible.

Jesus taught a deeper law, not that justice or equity is evil, but rather they fall short of the deeper truth.  The Law of Heaven, which is a place that works beyond our human sensibilities.  A place in which love and mercy confronts everything good or evil.  One mile, go two; one cheek, give the other; pray for friends, good, pray for enemies, even better.

You want justice?  God comes with grace. A place where the captives can be set free from shame,  guilt, despair, self-hatred, self-loathing, self-pity.

Mercy comes through the King, we receive His mercy in mercy, we receive forgiveness for ourselves by showing ourselves mercy, and we forgive others by mercy.  If we don’t learn the law of mercy as Christians we shall be stifled in our development.

Many of us look to Christ and his mercy and are able to receive it, what we find difficult is to show ourselves mercy, and others.  We feel justice should be our path after conversion, we hold ourselves and others to this principle.  And for good reason we wish to act and be right and others do the same, yet this is not the standard by which we should live.

Mercy is the means in which we follow Christ, receive Christ, are sanctified in Christ, and are made complete in Christ. We shall never graduate from mercy, in receiving it or giving it.

Christ rules in mercy, and we are children of mercy, called to give mercy away like the air we breathe.   We were drawn to repentance by the mercies of God, and we will draw others to Christ by the mercies of God. His mercies are new every morning.

All we could ever give away to anyone, even to those that have caused us the greatest amount of pain is mercy.  Mercy conquers our pain, a desire for justice only enflames our sorrows.  Mercy takes grief away from us and enables us to walk under the Law of Heaven.

To walk in the mercy of Heaven is life and peace–to show the mercy that Christ has shown us, to ourselves and to our neighbor.

Walk in mercy toward all and malice toward none and all that is left is the freedom of love.  To love is to be free, and it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Mercy triumphs over judgment; in mercy we find our freedom as children of God.

Mercy makes the yoke easy and the burden light.  To desire justice in us and for others becomes so very heavy, and oh, how Satan loves to make things heavy.

You wish to grow in justice that’s fine, walk in mercy and you’ll walk over justice all the way to a cross born in the heart of a merciful God.  Justice is a virtue for the perfect, but the only perfect one amongst us didn’t come in justice, but in mercy.

God is simply attempting the impossible within us, that we would be made perfect in one thing and one thing alone.  All endeavors within us are to this end–every prayer prayed, every book read, every Mass celebrated, every confession made, every burden born, every sorrow held out before Him–Love.

Oh friends, but we are not alone  in this task for love, only love shall lead the way, make a way, because He is the way.  Without Him we can do nothing.  What can we do friends?  Nothing, for the love He seeks to create in us is beyond our small frame.  Shall I will myself to lift the weight of the world?  With great effort, shall I leap over the moon?  If I try hard enough, shall I be an aquatic species?

I will breath a foreign air, but it is not found in the waters of the earth.  It is the wind of heaven, the wind of the Holy, the wind of cloven tongues of fire, the wind of the Holy Spirit.  I cannot generate this wind, I can only bow my head and cry, and let the God Who Is weep with love through my heart that has found love.  A love that is greater than the seas, the moon, the stars of heaven. A love that is demonstrated in time and space through the rending of His flesh.

A love that even now rends the heavens and breathes the breath of life over your soul ridden with burden, with the delight of the only begotten Son of the Father full of grace and truth.

The ancients called it the Shekinah Glory, the disciples called it cloven tongues of fire, our Lord called it the gift.  In fact, He said to His beloved that we should be glad that He was leaving, for unless He returned to the Majesty of heaven He would not come. Pentecostals called it the baptism of the Spirit, John of the Cross called it the living flame of love, I call it the Eternal Pentecost.

And when heaven touches down on a soul, it is transformed,  in fact the presence of the Lord comes through many means but it has one end, to fill you up.  The glory of the Kingdom is that the uncreated light of God dwells in you, the Spirit of the Lord fills you, the glory of the Lord encompasses you, even unto a first resurrection.

 Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, enkindle in them the fire of your love, send forth your spirit and they shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth!  Only a broken heart will make room for such a guest.  Only a soul that has found sin as darkness and modernity as vanity shall be able to contain such a gift.  Only those that are so tired of being tired, so ready for the good, the true, the beautiful, shall receive what  God is ready to give–the presence of the Lord, or love. His tender love for you.

It is you, it has always been you, never was it not you, nor will there ever be another. From times eternity past it is you, His love has His sights on you from everlasting to everlasting. And nothing shall stand in His way. You are God’s prized possession.  His gift of selfless self giving love cannot and will not be contained because God is love. And you are the subject of that love unspeakable.   And it is good, very good. Come Holy Spirit