Have you ever watched the morning sunrise only to realise that it is not rising at all, but the earth is moving under the sun? Have you ever gazed at a star and wondered how many other billions of galaxies lie beyond it? Or have you ever watched a toddler discover an ant and found yourself just as mesmerised by the wonders of the workings of this tiny insect yourself?
We are living in mystery. Living together on an amazing planet that is evolving and changing. We have also entered a new era of consciousness. Through technology, science and especially the extraordinary findings in quantum physics we are discovering how truly interconnected we are.
I believe we can enter ever more deeply into the mystery of life. Once we do this then we are beginning to be bold for change. But how do I enter more deeply into the mystery?
Listening to our bodies as a place of revelation is a way of encountering the mystery. Have you ever named your deepest desire? A deepest desire is one that keeps reoccurring through our life. It resonates deeply in our body, giving life and energy. We experience our deepest desire as a place where our head, heart and body are in sync. It not only gives life to us, but also others around us.
Our deepest desire can be difficult to name because we are invested in it and so it makes us feel vulnerable. But once we name our desire and let it build, we can let go of obstacles and fears that hinder us. We are drawn by the desire with a wholeheartedness that is sometimes inexplicable. If we trace the journey that we have been on we become conscious that all of it is much more than we originally imagined.
I know many women who have tapped into this creative self-giving love that is at the same time so life-giving. Women that are not only doing extraordinary practical works of justice but just by their very presence enable change in those around them.
They are women that are free to be who they are called to be. Women that are fully alive. Women that build communities of equality through the virtues of peace and justice that overflow from this healing love pouring out of them. Women that are fully aware of the interconnectedness of all and spend time contemplating creation and all its wonders. Women that know that they are living in the mystery.
One of my heroes is at the heart of the Church; Mary Magdalene, recently justly reinstated as 'Apostle to the apostles'. She exemplifies the embodiment of being 'bold for change'. Christ commissioned her to tell the disciples that he is risen. She stands at the very foundation of our Church's life.
On International Women's Day, we connect with her courageous witness and declaration ‘I have seen the Lord’. We stand too with the many women in our Church who, like Mary, continue to inspire us with their loving apostleship. We allow their words and example to ignite our own hearts and voices and share this Good News message of love, peace and justice.
Now more than ever in the Church we are called to be bold for change.
Psalmic Principle and Foundation
I am more than you can imagine
My compassion is vast beyond measure.
I have loved you
before you were born,
since the beginning of all that is.
You are one with all things.
Receive my love.
You are special
Of course I want you.
Discover what I have given you.
Celebrate these gifts with awe and wonder.
Delight in them with me.
Endeavour to wake up to the magis*.
Participate in creation (consciously)
with me
in me
through me
in love.
Search me, know me, love me,
as I know and love you.
Listen to your body as revelation.
Trust, let go.
Know that you are held.
Step into the mystery again and again
transformed by my love
transform the world.
We are one love.
I am
from beginning to beginning.
*magis: Latin - the more, better.
Image: Mary Magdelene greeted by an Angel of the Lord outside Jesus' empty tomb (Shutterstock).