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| 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
