PARADOXICAL

F. once asked me, "What made you stay put in community?"

Without much thought, I said, "It's because I've seen, heard, and felt God in community."

Seen. I have seen how holiness glows on the face of each member, the beautiful face of a freed, forgiven soul. I have seen how the faces of members are transformed after surrendering themselves to the Lord. I have witnessed physical healing. I have seen how sorrow and worries were transformed into joy and peace. I've been witness to exorcism of the possessed, deliverance, and other forms of spiritual warfare and victory.

Heard. I have heard senses, prophecies, Scriptural readings that jump out of the pages, personal testimonies, speaking in tongues, singing in the Spirit ­ all of which send shivers down my spine the first time I encountered them.

Felt. How would I describe what I've felt? Words are pretty useless. It's an experience you would rather feel first-hand than read about. Let me just put it this way, as one of our members has put it: "It feels like a prelude to heaven."

To sum up, I have experienced the "convincing proof of the Spirit" in community. That is enough for me. Where else can you find such proof but in communities such as ours? One wouldn't need apparitions (as in Lourdes and Medjugorje), bilocation (as in Padre Pio), transubstantiating hosts (as in Lanciano, Italy and Naju, Korea), incorruptible corpses (as in St. Vincent de Paul and St. Catherine of Sienna), and the dead rising back to life (as in Lazarus), though.

I wouldn't mind it too much, though, should God choose to be more than gracious (why limit what God can do).


(1998?)
Revised 2.2000

posted by Resty Odon  # 7:38 PM