Certain special days are more at the center of life. Some are particular to the person (e.g., wedding, death of parent, graduation); others have universal significance. For Christians, the Paschal days are most special; they are simply the center. How we live them is uniquely expressive and determinative of how we live, period.
There is something exciting here even if also fear-inducing. Special days are life-in-a-concentrated-form, and as such they demand something of us. How will I do? Will I rise to the occasion?
The wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas can help us to respond. Three quotations can frame an approach to help us to receive the unique gifts offered to us. First, Aquinas loves to quote Ecclesiastes 3:1, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
So much of life—and God’s Providence for us—is in timing. Sometimes and indeed often this demands patience—as in waiting on the Lord. Sometimes it calls for stepping up and acting. Now is the acceptable time. No guesswork here; that the Paschal days are a special time is obvious and objective. We can begin then with an intentional choice and prayer: I choose to live these days to the full, at the outer limit; Lord, help to do this.
Second, in John 4:45 we read , “The Galileans received him, having seen all the things he had done at Jerusalem on the festival day.” In commenting on this line, Aquinas offers this remarkable thought:
“If we wish to receive Jesus Christ within ourselves, we should go up to Jerusalem on the festive day, that is, we should seek tranquility of mind, and examine everything which Jesus does there.”
What a suggestion! Seek tranquility of mind, and examine everything which Jesus does ‘there.’ There? The text is richly ambiguous. Gaze upon each and every thing (‘singula’) that Christ does: in Jerusalem; or in the tranquility of our mind. He is doing much, and so there is much to observe. There, and here.
This bring us to the third insight from Aquinas: “It is by sitting and being quiet that the soul becomes wise and discerning.” Such simple and profound words only come from someone who knows from experience. He is commenting on the Lord sitting down with his apostles at the Last Supper. Such sitting and being quiet is surely but a way of seeking the ‘tranquility of mind’ referenced above. Here we do not sit alone but together. It is an opportunity to examine ‘everything which Jesus does there.’
There is a time for everything. And now is the time really to come alive: by going up to Jerusalem, either again or for the first time; to sit and be quiet; to listen and to observe, every single thing the Lord is doing. There, and here. ~ ~ ~
SPECIAL FOR HOLY WEEK: An AMAZING brief meditation on THE GOOD THIEF by Alban Goodier, SJ. HERE as a podcast. Below at Youtube. Listen and meditate alone or with family and friends.
LATEST PODCAST, FOR EASTER: Celebrating Easter Like We Mean It. Easter is the feast of all feasts, undergirding all true festivity and leisure. Yet we often struggle to celebrate it well. Sofia and I offer a practical approach to how our Easter celebration—leading up to it and after it—can transform and elevate our homelife.
Husband, father, and professor of Philosophy. LifeCraft springs from one conviction: there is an ancient wisdom about how to live the good life in our homes, with our families; and it is worth our time to hearken to it. Let’s rediscover it together. Learn more.
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