The Divine Indwelling

17th Sunday Ord Luke 11:1-13 5:30 & 10:30 7/29/07 The daughter of Karl Marx said to a friend, “I was never brought up in any formal religion and I’m not religious. Then the other day I came across a prayer I thought was very beautiful.” “What prayer is that?” her friend asked. The daughter of Karl Marx began repeating in German, “Our Father who art in heaven …” But there is a drawback. When we pray, Our Father who art in heaven, there could be engendered a feeling of distance. The symbol of heaven can often mean the place where we are going to and have not yet arrived. A place far off beyond the outermost galaxies. When you stand outside at night and look up at the star-studded sky, this feeling of the Father’s removal might seem even more exaggerated. But let’s look at it this way. Where God the Father is, there is heaven. But where is God the Father? The seldom mentioned doctrine of the Divine Indwelling tells you that God the Father is within you, closer to you than you are to yourself. The infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal God, Father, Son and Spirit dwells within you. So when you pray, Our Father who art in heaven and you believe heaven is within you now at this very moment, your prayer can be directed not to the God up there or out there but to the God who is more intimately related to you than your own bloodstream, than your own soul. In fact all your prayers can be directed to God the Father within you. This morning, for example, when you hear me begin the Eucharistic prayer with the word, Father, you can immediately become aware of the Father’s presence within you. You can direct the entire Eucharistic prayer to your Indwelling Father. I’ve told this story before but it bears repeating. It’s a charming story told about a little girl who was visiting her grandparents on their farm. She was having the most intriguing time going from chickens to cows to pigs. She studied her grandfather while he milked the cows. Her microscopic eyes were fastened on her grandmother while she baked pies that “smelled like heaven” as her grandmother would say with such a beautiful smile. She loved visiting her grandparents. It was such a thrilling adventure. One day she walked with her grandfather down to the well. As he lowered the bucket, she asked, exploding the soft, calm summer day with a theological bomb, as children so often can, “Grandpa, where does God live?” Her grandfather paused and thought for a while. Then he picked his little granddaughter up with arms as sturdy as the branches of an old oak tree. He held her over the well and asked, “What do you see down there?” “I see me!” she squealed with the trumpeting excitement of discovery. “Well, Honey,” her grandfather whispered, “that’s where God lives.” As I said this doctrine of the Divine Indwelling is seldom mentioned. Why? I don’t know. It’s one of the most ancient and fundamental tenets of our faith. It’s absolutely overwhelming when you ponder it. The infinite, all-powerful God who knows you totally and thoroughly is at home within you.! If you have difficulty praying, it may be due to the fact, as Michael Quoist points out in his book, Christ Is Alive, that you have placed God above your life up in heaven. As a result you don’t experience intimacy with the God who so desperately wants intimacy with you. Try to imagine what your praying would be like if when you prayed, you were wrapped in the enthralling awareness that God the Father who is Intimacy itself is within you. Whitney Houston’s song, “I Believe in You and Me,” addresses the challenges of becoming deeply invested in a close relationship. There is a line in the song, “we will be in love eternally.” The word, eternally, speaks of an enduring love. Enduring love gradually builds a mutually shared knowing and being known. The trust and faith required for this type of closeness is never arrived at quickly or easily. Rather, it develops slowly within an ongoing environment of respect and caring. God the Father’s knowing you and his respect and caring for you needs no proof. What you need to work on through your personal prayer is a growing knowledge of God the indwelling Father and an increased respect for him. The next time you pray, for instance, in our petitions this morning, go within yourself to where the Father is living and making his home. I guarantee that you will feel a joy that will make intimacy with the indwelling Father as real as the sound of your voice. HUMOR >>> A contractor was hired to make repairs in the >>> heating/cooling vents in >>> the local Catholic church. As this man was crawling >>> around inside the >>> ceiling, he peeked through a vent and saw a little >>> old lady kneeling and >>> counting her Rosary beads. Being a Protestant, he >>> decided to >>> have a little fun with this >>> old bat and blow her mind. He called down through >>> the vent in a booming >>> deep voice, “THIS IS JESUS CHRIST. YOUR PRAYERS WILL >>> BE ANSWERED.” The >>> little old lady didn’t even look up, but continued >>> to pray and count her >>> beads. The contractor decided maybe she didn’t hear >>> him, and said again, >>> “THIS IS JESUS CHRIST! YOUR PRAYERS WILL BE >>> ANSWERED!” Finally the >>> little old woman looked up and screamed, “SHUT UP! >>> I’M TALKING TO YOUR >>> MOTHER!” THOUGHT Always pray to the God within you.