Thursday, August 06, 2009
The keyword is "Emptied"
And I had to wait a whole day just to do this...Shortly after my post yesterday, as I was lying in bed doing my daily reflections, my jaw literally dropped when I read this passage. Uncanny would be the best way to describe it. Yesterday's reading fitted perfectly with how I was feeling at that time, and all I can say is "Wow".
I took the effort to type the entire reflection of Fr Gary Caster for you, so make sure you read it!
"Christ emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross." - Phil2:7-8
One of the great joys in watching children play is the ease with which they take familiar things and use them in unimagined ways. Children see hidden potential in playing cards, plastic containers, paper bags, and other ordinary objects.
The objects are "emptied" of their common purposes and given new and greater significance. These new possibilities are limited only by the creativity and imagination of the child. What children do at play provides an insight into who they are, what they are thinking, and how they feel.
The self-emptying of Christ provides similar insights with respect to God the Father. By "taking the form of a slave", Jesus allows the unbounded creativity of the Father to be revealed. This new way of Christ makes possible the self-emptying of our humanity, so that we can be filled solely with the Father's imaginative purposes. We are given new significance and greater purpose because Jesus willingly abandoned himself to the Father. Jesus wholeheartedly took upon himself the limits of the humanity he assumed.
The power of St Paul's words lies in the truth to which they testify. The Father has taken what is most familiar to us and in Jesus used it in the most unimaginable way.
Lord, help me empty myself as you did, so that I might be filled with the Father's love and order my life according to His purpose.
Amen.
Posted by Jo at 10:01 PM
