The journey towards divinity.

The darkness of winter gives way to the bright colors of spring!

Lent is winding down, and we are about to begin a week that is full of heavy memories and stories. The week ahead will not be productive for us unless we find a way to remember it in light of grace and glory. And that light comes from remembering that Jesus's only crime was claiming a union, a oneness with God. This was unheard of by the people of his time. And yet, this is the main message of Jesus: you will be like gods (John 10:34).

Jesus tells us we can be so filled with the spirit of the Divine as to be transformed. And is that not the purpose and intent of Holy Week? To remember that no matter what we suffer, Jesus has in some way suffered the same with us? He was not content to "know" suffering intellectually. He accepted the kinds of suffering he knew we would experience: rejection, misunderstandings, loneliness, betrayal, mental anguish, physical pain. He wanted us to be able to look at him and say, "I can talk to Jesus about this. He will understand."

And just as Jesus accepted suffering such as we endure, he reminds us we can take on Divinity. "The Father and I are one." he exclaims in John 10:30. Why else would this upcoming week be called Holy, except to demonstrate how pain and sorrow do not have the last word, but we who know not to let it destroy us can become transformed.

The Agony toward Divinity

As a novice in the monastery, The Practice of Christian Perfection by Alonso Rodriguez was required readings for all of us. One particular story stands out in my mind, his interpretation of the story of Garden of Eden, of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit. He said Adam and Eve ate of the fruit not in defiance of God or his commands, but because their hearts longed to be like God.They mistakenly thought that if they ate the fruit, they would obtain what they longed for.

We all have an inner longing to be like God, whether we are aware of it or not. The Gospel of John 10:34 Jesus says Is it not written in your law "I said, you are gods?" Since the dawn of creation, we humans know we are made for something bigger than life, and that life as we know it is only half the story.

Our soul moans and yearns for divinity every single day. Half of our struggle in life is discerning this agony of heart within us, why we long so, and what for. We have to learn for ourselves that image of God. We are made to become as gods, St. Therese says. That is our destiny. We become gods when we reflect the Divine Image.

The Divine Image is before us. It is our task to see, to reflect, to mirror. It isn't something as simple as eating fruit. It is a life-long practice of faith and love. It is accepting the agony of longing knowing it cannot be fulfilled except by more longing. In time, this longing transforms us, and we find that we have fallen in love with the Divine.

To fall in love with God. It does happen. We can seek the Divine to the extent that it means the world to us, that we receive our greatest joy in his service, in singing his praise, in imitating him. It doesn't take our longing away. Instead, it turns us to focus on the desire of our heart, giving us a destination and a Someone.