Memorial of the Guardian Angels
“They will be my people and I will be their God, with faithfulness and justice” (Zechariah 8:8).
Our 1st readings this week come from prophets and priests of Judah’s exile in Babylon (Zechariah, Nehemiah, Ezra & Baruch) and their return to Jerusalem 50 years later.
But how meaningful can the Exile of 587 - 538 BCE be in Dayton, 2023? We may not experience physical exile, although millions do, including many refugees in our parish. All of us will/have known seasons of spiritual exile, though.
Perhaps you have been stuck in circumstances, and, no matter how hard you tried, you could not escape. Or maybe your exile came in watching life’s blessings slip away like sand. Or have you been locked in an interior place of emptiness with no relief? This can be the worst exile of all, feeling listless, life without meaning or purpose.
Whatever the intensity of your storm, seasons of exile are grueling, unwelcome, and confusing.
Many saints have intimately known such exile, dark nights of the soul. Paul of the Cross endured for nearly 45 years. Thérèse of Lisieux was trapped in the darkness, doubting the existence of eternity as she neared her death, saying to her sisters, “if you only knew what darkness I am plunged into.” The spiritual exile of Teresa of Calcutta may be the most extensive case on record. She endured from 1948 almost until her death in 1997.
Dark and foreboding times. Yet the promise of Zechariah today is that we are forever God’s own.
Sometimes hard to believe? Easier said than done? It sure can seem that way. All relationships hit disappointments, including our relationship with the Eternal One. Mystics like Paul of Tarsus, Aquinas, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, the 3 Tereseas, & Thomas Merton, suffered spiritual exile and learned at times like these that God is actually closer than ever. Spiritual exile is for the “emptying of ego,” stripped of that within us that is false, whatever is keeping us separated from God and one another.
Pope Francis experienced both a spiritual and a physical exile. In 1990 Jesuit superiors removed him as one of the youngest rectors of a Jesuit community and sent him to the boonies so that his harsh ego might learn humility. He has said that this was the most significant spiritual experience of his life and it has defined his papacy. The world has benefited from his struggle.
In the end God is all we have because God is all we have. And that is the point.
-Timothy J. Cronin
Join us this Wed Oct 4 @7pm for the 1st session of WILD AND UNTAMED: ENCOUNTERING THE JESUS OF MARK. I will be presenting this series that runs for five weeks. Plug in when you can.