In the Second Vatican Council's
Dei Verbum we learn that God, out of abundant love, speaks to men as friends and
lives among them so that He may invite them into fellowship with Himself. I was
moved by this very personal account of relationship and was prompted to use this
Spring season as a reflection on the notion of "invitation".
The word invitation alludes to a sense of welcome
and generosity. When we ourselves perform the act of inviting, we are opening
our homes, our families and our lives to another. We invite with a desire to
expand what may be a circumstantial definition of "who is in" (i.e., we are born
into a family) to a broader, more inclusive community. When we perform the act
of inviting we not only desire a "yes" response, we also open ourselves up to
the possibility of rejection. After all, it is an invitation and not a
commandment.
In God's invitation to fellowship, we are exposed
again and again to the option to accept. Our "yes" isn't within a conditional
offer, or an ultimatum. Our "yes" is an act of free will; we can say "no" -
either explicitly or through passive rejection (i.e., a non response). This
invitation from God for fellowship is an opportunity to choose; and choose we
must. As Christians we either make the act of asserting our "yes" or we signal a
rejection by opting against. The Catechism reminds us that "God created man in
his image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual creature, man can
live this friendship only in free submission to God" (CCC 396).
Dei Verbum (#13) furthers this notion of God's
invitation by stating that God expresses his "gentle kindness" through a
marvelous "condescension of eternal wisdom". Condescension refers to a voluntary
assumption of equality with a person regarded as inferior. God, as our Creator,
has reached out to us with an invitation. We do not have to reach out, take,
grasp, grab, or to initiate. He invites us, who only have life because of Him,
to join Him through his son. For because in the wisdom of God the world was
unable to come to know God through wisdom, it was God's pleasure through the
folly of the preaching to save those who believe (1 Cor 1:21). The Word of God,
already among us, came to us by appearing as one of us. Augustine reminds us
that the Word of God was not changed in the least (came where He already was),
and yet became flesh in order to dwell among us. In Scripture, the truth and
holiness of God always remain intact, yet the words of God are expressed in
human language to allow us to accept an invitation.
As we read Scripture, Dei Verbum (#25) prompts
us to practice lectio divina so that we may talk with God; "for we speak to
Him when we pray; we hear Him when we read the divine saying". St. Teresa
describes contemplative prayer as "nothing else than a close sharing between
friends". Prayer is a gift - again an opportunity to accept the invitation
to communion from God who awaits us.
I have already begun this Spring season to
meditate on the invitations that God has offered me throughout my life. The
obvious gifts are common ones - receiving the sacraments, becoming a parent
- yet wholly un-common because of the unmerited nature as "true gift", as
well as the inestimable influence they asserted on who I am as a child of
God. Even more profound was my deeper reflection on the "less happy"
invitations that I have received over the years - times of deep hardship and
pain. Yet, in these sorrowful episodes, in the times where I was literally
knocked to my knees, I can, in retrospect clearly discern the action of my
own re-union with God.
In conclusion, the idea of invitation in Dei
Verbum is just one of several very rich concepts worthy of our reflection.
During this Spring season each of us has an opportunity to slow down and
ponder the many ways that God makes Himself known. As we incorporate a
greater emphasis on Scripture study, let us also be aware of God's continual
invitation to union.
Paula Manchester is a graduate student in the
Religious Studies Division of Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in the
Archdiocese of Philadelphia. She can be reached at
paula_manchester@merck.com
