“The Beatitudes of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount are an unparalleled testimony to the glory of freedom from attachment. The blessedness they promise comes not just from heroic battles with one’s addictions, but from being unwillingly deprived of their gratification. The poor, the grief-stricken and the persecuted, for example, have had no choice, they suffer and they need human help, yet, in a way, they may be closer to freedom because they have less to be attached to. Thus, Jesus’ words not only issue a call to relinquish attachments; they also point out that we cannot do it alone. Liberation finally must come through grace, not solely through one’s own efforts. Jesus taught people to pray for grace: “Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil, for thine is the power…”
Sin, then, is not just ignorance or more straying, but a kind of bondage or slavery from which one must be delivered into freedom. Freedom is possible through a mysterious, incarnational synthesis of human intention and divine grace. The Issue is not simply whether one follows personal attachment or follows God. It is instead a question of aligning one’s intention with the God within and with us, through love and in grace. To make the alignment possible, Jesus proclaimed a message of radical forgivingness, not only forgiveness of humanity by God, but also forgiveness of one another by people. In this radical forgiveness, it is even possible to be freed of attachment to one’s own guilt for or justification of the wounds one has inflicted upon others. True love of self, a reverence for the essential goodness of God’s creation, is made possible. Herein lies the potential for endless freedom in the service of love. Nothing, not even one’s own sinfulness, has to remain as an obstacle to the two great commandments.
For Christ, the way to abundant grace and forgiveness is through himself, away from all possible objects of attachment. “I am the way”; “Follow me”’ “I am the bread of life”; “I will give you the living water”; “Whoever comes to me will never hunger”; “Come unto me all you who labor…” Jesus was the New Adam, the profound love gift of God entering the world to affect a reconciliation of humanity with God, to restore a right relationship to those who were unfree, who had aligned themselves away from God, who had been crippled in their love. He came for the sinners who had missed the mark of responding to God’s love. To put it bluntly, God became incarnate to save the addicted, and that includes all of us.”
My reflection:
In his book, Following Jesus, Segundo Galilea offers wonderful insight into May’s teaching.“The Gospel reveals to us the basis of all spirituality and gives back to us the demanding simplicity of Christian identity. It teaches us that to be a disciple of Jesus is to follow him, and that this is what Christian life is. Jesus basically demanded that we follow him, and all our Christianity is built on response to this call…
To be a Christian is to follow Christ out of love. It is Jesus who asks if we love him; it is we who answer that we do. It is he who invites us to follow him: “Simon Peter, do you love me...Yes, Lord…Then follow me.” (Jn 21:15-17) Although we are ignorant, full of failings Jesus will lead us to sanctity provided we begin by loving him and that we have courage to follow him.”
(Segundo Galilea, Following Jesus (Orbis Press, Maryknoll, NY, 1985) pp1-2.)
Gerald May, in his classic, Addiction and Grace, offers us great and valuable insights on the obstacles within us on our Pilgrimage to God. He shows that all of us suffer from addictions that rob our freedom and block our quest for God. The following “bit of wisdom” is a selection for his text with some reflections.
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