Friday of the 18th
Week in Ordinary Time
August 7, 2015 8:30am
This morning I am remembering
something by a rather famous French writer named Simone Weil.
She lived from 1909 to 1943.
She was a philosopher, Christian
mystic, and social activist.
Simone Weil once said that
authentic spiritual transformation can only begin when we stop seeing ourselves
as the center of the universe.
If we stop relying so much on
ourselves as the center of everything, then we can be open to God and what God offers
us.
We will live with awareness of
our dependence upon God and of our need for God.
And if we stop seeing ourselves
as the center of everything, then we will be alert to others and their
well-being.
We will live with awareness of
ourselves as part of a community and of our own well-being as connected to the
well-being of everyone.
All of this is what will bring
true spiritual transformation.
I think Simone Weil’s insight captures
the essence of how we are to respond to Jesus’ words today:
“Deny yourself…take up your cross...whoever lose their life for my sake
will find it.”
The choice to stop seeing
ourselves, probably only unconsciously, as the center of everything –
this will lead us to self-denial,
to bearing with hardship for the
sake of what is the right and good thing to do,
and in this, losing ourselves for
something, for Someone greater than ourselves.
