Friars Corner: Becoming burning bushes
Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR
Exodus 3:1-8a, 3-15; Psalm 103:1-4, 6-8, 11; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9
There are three themes to develop this Sunday: the burning bush, not burned; God’s voice in the “I AM” who sends Moses on his mission to free Israel, Psalm 103, the Lord is merciful and gracious, and the “kind and barren fig” tree parable in Luke’s gospel.
The “I AM” statement in our first reading is God speaking to Moses from the holy ground of a bush, which though on fire is not burned up. In St. John’s gospel we have a fuller understanding of God’s further work at drawing us deeper into his life. We have Jesus as the “Light of the World,” the “Living Water,” the “Bread of Life,” the “Gate or Door” of the Sheepfold, the “Good Shepherd,” the “Vine” for the branches, the “Way, Truth and Life,” and the “Resurrection and New Life.” It is helpful for our understanding of Jesus’ mission to prayerfully meditate about these various images. We can grow a lot through them.
The fig tree I’ll just share a few thoughts about the “barren fig tree.” God calls us, as he did Moses at the burning bush, to get closer to him. As we do, and spend more time in daily prayer, we burn brighter with more divine power, the living water, to bear more fruit. If we don’t get closer to the holy ground around God and his plan, we will be cut down.
We see this a lot in the world around us each day. For some who have “eyes to see,” there is a war going on between God and his opposition forces, between good and evil. We see a lot of anti-God forces at work in our country and the world. Various forms of prayer are our divine weapons to stand against the evils around us.
Purgative stage of prayer
In an outline of the stages and types of prayer, there are three major types: the Purgative, the Illuminative (Enlightened) and the Unitive stages. As we grow up through these stages, there are things that we do to grow deeper into God’s life and holiness. Then there are things that God does to further purify us.
Most people stay in the vocal stage of prayer, things we say with our mouth, Mass prayer order and the rosary. Many don’t know there is anything else. During Lent, we try to get rid of sin in our life. We do things to help us grow in holiness. We can work at being kinder to others. We could watch less TV. These are things that we do to grow closer to God. We get good feelings in this stage.
There is a second part of this growth stage. God takes away the good feelings in prayer, at Mass or other prayers. When that happens, many leave the church because the good feelings are gone in prayer. God does this to encourage us to keep going and go deeper.
Illuminative stage of prayer
If we are faithful and want to go deeper, we move to a higher level, the Illuminative stage, which is for most of our life. We meditate on Scriptures and read spiritual books. These help us go deeper with God. He continues to purify our give senses. We call this level the “dark night of the spirit or soul.”
Unitive stage of prayer
When we pass through the Enlightening stage we move into the Unitive stage of becoming closer to God. If we understand these stages we can keep moving closer to Jesus and hide in the comfort of his heart. Mother Theresa of Calcutta spoke about the lack of consolation in the later years of her life. She didn’t stop praying for or caring for the poor. She saw herself as doing these mercy works as ministering to Jesus.
There is a greater hunger to be one with God forever in heaven. This prepares us to be willing to leave our earthly body and go home to be with all the angels and saints in heavenly glory.
Most people don’t know these transitional stages and give up on further development. We must persevere through these “dark nights.”
A simple book to help you understand these stages is Primer of Prayer by Fr. Bartholomew J. O’Brien, Queenship Publishing, Goleta, CA, Ph #805-692-0043.
Have a beautiful week and month growing in deeper prayer,
+ Fr. Bob Hilz
fbhilz@gmail.com
(© 2019 Fr. Bob Hilz, TOR)
