I hosted a retreat at the parish church of St Lawrence from 5 to 8 December. During this retreat, I discussed the power of love as opposed to the love of power and our paths of liberation of our prisons while walking home to an act consistent with our beliefs. A visit to the prison in Three Rivers was also held to promote an exchange of Christmas cards.
PART TWO of five episodes
TOPIC: THE POWER OF LOVE IN OPPOSITION TO THE POWER OF LOVE
To read the Gospel of Matthew 2, 1-18
King Herod rules over a country occupied by the Romans. Despite this oppression, there is an economic prosperity that allows Herod to engage in major construction projects, including the Temple of Jerusalem. It is violent and domineering: a king-dictator who abuses his absolute power and corrupting. It acts in secret. He also amassed a personal fortune with the goodwill of the Romans and the people have a fierce hatred for him. That is why Herod imagines conspiracies. He lives in a terrible fear. He is wary of everyone and protects the trick. He has the right to life and death over his subjects with impunity. He does not hesitate to preserve its power even at the cost of MURDER OF INNOCENT BABIES.
JESUS is a helpless baby. He has nothing. His parents are poor. Jesus is born in a stable scheduled for keeping animals. His apostolic life, as the example of the healing of a leper, clearly shows that Jesus "has power" to heal but does not seek to "exercise power", especially politics. Indeed, " he stood and prayed removed. Jesus carries the liberating power of love on body sick and suffering souls. He does not have the power abuser Pharisees. He says that his kingdom is not of this world.
AND WE, who are we like? At Herod or Jesus?
What power do we want hold? What power do we exercise? What are we trying to protect or maintain at any cost, even sacrificing the other? What kind of authority do we exercise? At home or at work.
HEROD IS PRISONER OF HIS AUTHORITY.
ITS POWER IS HIS PRISON
Herod is afraid of losing power. Looking at our human nature, all of us, imprison us in our fears, our regrets, our control structures. Too often, feeling threatened, we will take the lowest to justify our incompetence.
CHURCH BEARS A HEAVY BURDEN OF ABUSE OF POWER
For the channel of a control culture, the Institutional Church (hiérarchique!) acted against the freedom of conscience by spreading the FEAR motel sin and of hell, fear of the Protestants, fear to do otherwise or differently. When people have decided to no longer be dominated by fear, they then left the institutional church. Were they right? Who knows, maybe God is calling them from the outside to exit a be too rigid. God, is it not as outside? Sometimes you have to give big broom to clean a house. Unfortunately, acting with excessive force, the dust rises by invading the whole house. She eventually invade the entire space, irritates the eyes and cause coughing. This dust is the "rage and anger against the Church which unfortunately seems to drag on, especially in the media.
OUT OF OUR PRISONS
The Christmas message is a call to freedom. If Jesus is our Savior, then we must free ourselves from the desire to exercise dominating power. " I came to serve and not to be served ," said Jesus. We are too often dominated by our desires for domination and control over our lives and our destiny as if, finally, we ourselves were small gods. However:
CHRIST IN FIGHTING EVIL AND SUFFERING, BROKEN CHAINS MISTRUST INSTINCT TO LIBERATE THE CONFIDENCE IN THE FREE RADICAL LIFE.
Unfortunately for us, Christmas has become a prison. So we need to reclaim the true meaning of this festival which has become hyper-commercial with its exchange of gifts! JESUS was kidnapped CRADLE OF ITS POOR BY THE POWER OF MONEY. Christmas has become the party of Bebel. That! It is the abuse of economic power of Herod today. Nowadays, we do not celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, we abuse this child rather to exercise our "fill" of consumers.
I suggest a Christmas without Bebel. Is this possible? Why do not exchange gifts on New Year's Day a true celebration of family and friends or start a new year? In addition, it would allow us to take advantage of discounts after Christmas! This would be our way to defeat propaganda advertising.
INVITATION: RESPONDING TO THE MONETARY AUTHORITY OF LOVE we hold SO WE FOCUS ON THE POWER OF LOVE AND SO WE AFFORD TO BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD IN THE IMAGE OF JESUS OF BETHLEHEM.
Continued tomorrow: the path to liberation of our inner prisons
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