Self Gift and the Importance of Being Small
One of my favorite themes in G.K. Chesterton's writing, in Jeffersonian-style political considerations, and in my general apprehension of life is the value of simplicity, of being able to look at the world like a yeoman farmer or a child filled with awe. However, in an age which may like to take such profound necessities to be mere platitudes, we are lucky to have a grace-filled man, priest, and monk like Fr. Tom Acklin O.S.B. to write a concise, important text like this one on the necessity of being passionate, of suffering - particularly in the sense of being vulnerable.
I will admit that I am partial to Fr. Acklin precisely because I know him personally (as my spiritual director) and have experienced his grace-filled presence in the concrete experiences of my life. I have had many personal talks with him in spiritual direction and came to realize that he was centrally focused on the necessity of vulnerability far before I read this text. How true it is, though, particularly when I look through my own hardened tendencies, that what this day needs is less bustled action, less frantic control, and more self-abandonment. In Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", the characters fear the expanse of the night sky, a reality which touches to the core of our humanity for we too often fear that silence which seems to oppress us when we step out of our shell of self-comfort and autocratic control. It is precisely against this autocracy of the individual which directs itself without a communal dimension that Fr. Tom argues. He reminds us that God is omni-kenotic, that Christ is the well with the true water of life in it which is springs up to eternal life, flowing from the sacred, all-loving wounds of Christ.
The text is not a treatise in the classical sense, but it does attempt to look at the dimensions of kenosis, from the all-loving nature of the Trinity to the Christology of all-loving, all-openness which stands as the foundation of the Church, the institution which exists as the Body of Christ precisely because he has died so that he may make all things new. From the first time I met Fr. Tom, he encouraged me to humbly pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament, advice that I knew was good at the time but am only slowly coming to see how central it is. This text hones in on the necessity for us to develop the vulnerability to be able to unite ourselves with a God who is vulnerable enough to come before us under the accidental characteristics of bread and wine, a Savior who pulls our wounds into His own.
I highly recommend this highly accessible text to all and hope that you find it as edifying as I have.
A Spiritual Gift
Fr Acklin has a writte a little book with a lot of love-self giving love. A spiritual gift especially for seminarians, priests and for all those who wish to be holy as he is holy.
Becoming Little Like Jesus
Acklin's main theme is that understanding and sharing in the passion of Jesus is achieved only by becoming vulnerable like little children: Jesus calls us to turn and become like little children; we must learn to become little and simple; we are called to be the least, though God loves us all as if each is the greatest.
In encouraging us to share Jesus' passionate love and service, Acklin, a psychotherapist and retreat leader, draws on his own experiences and raises questions for us to ponder. We are especially reminded of challenges our culture presents, as "the nagging sense that we are on the brink of moral collapse." He unflinchingly pinpoints life and death issues as the legalization of abortion and the removal of Terry Schiavo's feeding tube as politicians made speeches and the media reported them. He addresses recreational sex and the obscenity of pornography protected under the first amendment. And he takes on certain aspects of current Catholic practice: "We fear boredom, and so we make our celebrations so busy with singing and speaking and doing that there is no room to realize concretely the meaning of Mass."
All of this is packaged into a unified work showing us how far we have strayed from Jesus' simple exhortation to become little and humble and vulnerable, and suggesting ways we can accomplish that transformation.
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