"We Have Received... A Spirit of Adoption"

Photo by tom casey

“We Have Received…A Spirit of Adoption” 

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year B

Several years ago I traveled to Jamaica with a group of deacons and their wives on an immersion trip sponsored by the Maryknoll Fathers.  We went to experience what it was like to, “Put out into (the) deep water...” just as Jesus once asked of Peter (LK 5:4). Early one morning we ventured out leaving behind the relative comfort of the Big Apple Hotel where we were staying. We traveled by van to the Blessed Assurance community somewhere in the mountains to the east of Montego Bay. It was about an hour’s journey but it was a difficult one, for, as you may imagine, mountain roads in a third world country make the journey much longer and more arduous. Upon arriving at Blessed Assurance, a Mustard Seed Community, we were welcomed by the staff responsible for full time care of the 35 children and young adults who were fortunate enough to have found their way to this oasis in the middle of a tropical forest.

The staff was a pious community of Protestants and Catholics working together, shoulder-to-shoulder to care for these children who were abandoned by their parents and most likely would have died. They have serious medical conditions and are completely incapable of any self-care. Yet, here in society’s abandoned ones we found great joy in a community of faith working to do God’s work of bringing the good news to the poor, the outcast, those on the margins of society. Here we found utterances of great joy, like the groaning of the Holy Spirit that gives voice to presence of God within us, within each of us, regardless of physical appearance or mental ability.

This trip has left me with a profound experience, one that I hope I will never forget. I hope that I never cease to be amazed at where and in whom God’s presence is found. These innocent children, the holy innocent of today, are praying for us, I know. They are praying that our hearts will be opened to receive the fullness of God’s love. They are praying that we put aside our pretenses of power, privilege and prestige and live as Children of God, adopted children, like them, who, although they appear to be outcasts in the eyes of the world, they are already living in the kingdom Jesus proclaimed and opened the doors for us to enter.  

These are challenging times but they are hopeful times too. The poor, the anawim, those whose only hope is in the Lord remind us that we have all received a “Spirit of Adoption” and are bound together in the unfathomable love of God to share in the divine essence of Father, Son, and Spirit.

I am thankful for the opportunity to have shared some precious moments with these children and for their teaching me that the “Spirit of Adoption” they have received is more than mere words, but a relationship to be lived, shared, and experienced each with each other and with God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom