Saints have reflected on the fact that Jesus called Himself the “door”
and that his Heart was opened by a lance. He is the door through which we
attain union with God, and the door of His Heart has been opened for us in His
loving self-sacrifice on the Cross.
How do we
enter that Door? We think we are too large. But Christ is God and truly infinitely
greater than we. If we are members of His Body, then we are like His cells.
This leads to the question: which cells enter the sacred chambers of His Heart:
the blood cells.
The mission
of a blood cell is to bring oxygen to the rest of the cells of the body. Our
mission as Christians is not merely to enter the Sacred Heart of Jesus and stay
there, basking in His love. He doesn’t call us to a mere me-and-Jesus
existence. We are also meant to go on and share that Gospel, that wonderful divine invitation with others. To do this, we must be transformed by the Holy Spirit, the Breath of Life. Just like physical blood cells need to go by the lungs to
be oxygenated, we need to get in touch with the Holy Spirit to bring the Breath of Life to the rest of the Body.
A red blood
cell that bypassed the lungs would be pretty useless. It might be very busy
circulating all over the Body over and over, but its mission of delivering oxygen
(or Life) to the rest of the body would be completely unfulfilled.
On the other
hand, a red blood cell that spent all its time in the heart or lungs, selfishly
grasping direct contact with the Source of Life constantly, would also
miss its mission, its reason for being. In fact, it could help form a clot and
thus block the mission.
Thus we
need both. We need to come back again and again to the heart and lungs—to Jesus
and the Spirit—to be renewed in grace, and we need to go back out again
and again and bring that grace to others. It is not our own grace, but God’s;
we cannot create grace any more than red blood cells can create oxygen. But He
has given us the sublime privilege of helping to deliver His life-giving grace to
others.
There is
need to return to the heart and lungs again and again, to renew God’s grace in
us in the sacraments (especially the Eucharist) and in prayer, but there is no need to
take up residence there. We are still in His Body and part of His Body when we go
out and fulfill our mission. He is always with us. Hence it is not a matter of
either-or: contemplation or mission; it is both.
Spend time with Him again and again in prayer and be strengthened by getting close to Him (spend time in His physical Presence in the Blessed Sacrament). Then go out every day and share that Breath of Life with others.
