Rightful Place

November 23, 2018

DAILY READING

1 Corinthians 15:20-28
This weekend’s reading: Ephesians 1:11-23

FIELD NOTES
From Love, Henri: Letters on the Spiritual Life by Henri J. Nouwen
 
This comes from a letter written to a couple who had lost their child—
 
“Jesus said: ‘If the grain of wheat dies, it produces much fruit.’ I think that you are realizing this too, that you feel the death of Beth hurting you deeply but also that her death can bring many fruits to you and other people.  We have to go through the pain and the grief to realize this, but this is the mystery of our life and our faith. When Jesus spoke of his own death he said to his disciples: ‘Did not the Messiah have to undergo all this, so as to enter into his glory?’ I think that he tells us that this is also true for us. We have to suffer to enter glory.  I believe that Beth’s death has made us suffer but also can make us already now sense some of the glory that is promised to them who accept their pain. This is also the meaning of the Eucharist, the Holy Communion.  We eat the bread made from crushed grain to realize that we enter into new life by participating in the suffering and death of Jesus.”
 
QUESTIONS FROM THE FIELD

• What is the rightful place of death?
• What is your rightful place in the kingdom of God?

PRAYER
God, may we seek you always. May your glory be present in our suffering. We see your renewal through our death. May we enter into your glory. Amen.