A Prophetic Memory

Romans 12:12
Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.
Jubilee: Workers, Entrepreneurs, Bands and Popular Entertainment, Eastern Churches, Confraternities, Families

In the month of May there is a wide array of groups celebrating a particular jubilee, as noted above. They all seem to relate to this verse of Romans 12:12, each from a different angle:

The joy that bands and popular entertainment bring to us, children as well as adults, as they parade through our cities, giving us the opportunity to relax. Children are drawn to artists, clowns, and music, as they surrender with awe in their natural simplicity.
The joy and endurance of workers and entrepreneurs, as they launch into each day’s work with the hope and steadiness that will generate the income they need to provide for themselves and their families.
The perseverance in prayer and endurance in affliction that our Christian brothers and sisters in the Eastern Churches have to employ every day to continue to hope, in the midst of persecution and wars.
The hope, affliction and prayer that every family experiences, on the rollercoaster of life, which lets us experience heights of joy and depths of sorrow, the marvel of a newborn life and the grief for the death of a loved one

This month’s jubilee is truly a 360° exposure to this exhortation from the letter to the Romans, where St. Paul also invites us to “cling to the good”, like dust clings/sticks to our feet (same Greek verb as in Lk 10:1) . We are called to hold on to the good, to cling to the hope of the future, “forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead” (Phil 3:13).

I remember a comment that our Professor of Moral Theology at the Pontifical University of the Lateran would often make: Our faith life is a prophetic memory. A prophetic memory is the certainty that the same God who took care of us in the past, will also provide for us in the future. The memory of God’s love and care in the past, which is engraved in us, propels us towards the future, confident that he will come through again and again. I once read somewhere that ‘God is never late, yet he is rarely early’: He operates at the right time, the appointed time, the καίρός (kairos), as Jesus reminded us “This is the kairos, the time of fulfillment” (Mk 1:15).

The very certainty of God’s providential care in the past (memory) and for the future (prophecy) is what allows us to endure the trouble and sufferings of the present moment.

Living in the present moment is a key aspect of the interior life, as is foundational for discovering and fulfilling God’s will.

Too often we are tempted to live in the past (through regrets, remorse, resentment) or in the future (through fears, anxiety, grandiose but unrealistic expectations).

God invites us to meet him in the kairos, the right time, the present time.

One of my favorite books of all time is “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis, a fictional correspondence between devils trying to tempt a human soul away from God. It could be described as “Christianity backwards” or “Christianity in reverse”. In the 15th letter, Screwtape (the senior devil in charge of training younger devils), says that “the present is the point at which time touches eternity”.

I like to imagine a perfect sphere (eternity) rolling forward on a perfect plane (time): if both the sphere and the plane were perfect, they would touch only in one point at any given moment. All the points that the sphere has already touched we call the past; and all the points that the sphere has not touched yet we call the future. Thus we are left with the present being the point at which time touches eternity.

Throughout Scripture, God continues to invite us to have a forward posture, one that makes us open to receive what he has in store for us. The past is to be valued for what it has brought us (blessings and challenges, through which we have grown into the man or woman that we are), but it is not a place to be lived in, because God’s grace is in the present moment. “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not: see, I am doing something new!” (Is 43:18). The verb used to translate Isaiah’s exhortation into Greek is the same that St. Paul uses to warn us about the dangers of holding on to resentment “Love does not keep a mental record of injuries” (1 Cor 13:5). When we brood over our pains, when we remain stuck in the past, we experience resentment, which literally means “to feel again, over and over”.

I’ve personally never met someone who experienced joy and peace at remaining stuck in the pain of the past, let alone bringing it up over and over again, by re-feeling the injuries through resentment.

What I have indeed encountered is rather the transforming power of forgiveness and of letting go, which brings people a renewed sense of freedom and purpose in life.

Easter is here to remind us that Christ has conquered death once and for all: the past is in the past. The disciples of Emmaus struggled to recognize the Risen Christ in the present moment (walking beside them) because they were stuck in their pain and in their narrative of the past few days.

“He explained to them all that the Scriptures said about himself” (Lk 24:27).

The invitation this month is to set out on a journey with the Risen Lord, where we give Him permission to explain how He can use even the pain and suffering in our past to bring us closer to Himself. He desires to do this by joining us in our walk, as He did with the disciples of Emmaus, listening to us, and offering what might be a new key to interpret the events of the past.

A great book that could aid us in this journey of healing and grace is “Forgiving as Unity with Christ: A Journey for Healing Resentment and Relationships” by Dr. Robert Enright. Having had the blessing of knowing Dr. Enright for 20 years now, I cannot say enough about his incredible wisdom, humility and holiness of life, as he takes his readers by the hand, safely carrying them through the scary yet freeing journey of forgiveness.

This Easter, may we rise with Christ from the ashes of pain, unforgiveness and resentment to the glory of a life full of hope.

Concrete Resolution:
During this month, when I feel tempted “to keep a mental record” of the wrong that was done to me, I will ask the Lord: