Friends of Carmel Gathering, Sept. 11th 2021
On the auspicious date, September 11th twenty four of us gathered in the Upper Room at Holy Hill, while thirty-five or so joined us on Zoom. Many others have asked to be part of the gathering via our web site, and those who attended are eager to relisten.
Why We Gather–
In today’s Gospel Jesus himself says: “A good man produces goodness from the good in his heart…Man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.” Lk. 6:43-49
We want to tend to the reality of good treasure to pool our resources—by attending together– paying attention, our most precious gift, to the same thing–responding, resolving, adoring so that when we leave together we will have increased our store of goodness, in such a way that we can live every minute of every day as a “good” man or woman.
Some say the cause of our prevalent anxiety is our dread of separation from the foundation of our existence. There is a deliberate groundlessness built into the human condition—a vulnerability so that we are free to make decisions, choose a strategy, act out our ideals, be formed in our particular expression of who Christ is. Ultimately we resolve our anxiety if we tend to 1 Jn.4.16
“If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.” If we live in God, in the Christ then our dispositions become his. His become ours and in our most desperate moments we can say, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And in uniting our anxiety with his our own tends to melt away.
