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Spirituality Notes
Collection of Short Reflections

'Spiritual Alzheimer's'

The day was cold and wintery. Frost covered snow lay on the ground. The old lady sat in her chair wrapped in a blanket. Still she shivered with the cold. At her feet an electric fire dead! The lead stretched towards the wall but the plug lay on the floor waiting to be plugged it! Suffering from Alzheimer's she had forgotten how to put the plug in the wall.

There is so much trouble in our world and our lives - wars and catastrophes, hunger and poverty, disease and death, tragedy and pain. The troubles and worries surround us and invade our everyday lives. What should we do? Have we forgotten what to do? Are we suffering from 'spiritual Alzheimer's'?

St. Paul of the Cross said that the troubles of the world were due to the forgetting of the 'Passion of Jesus'. Is this our 'spiritual Alzheimer's'? We have lost the art of plugging into the power flowing from the Passion of Jesus. St. Paul of the Cross said we need to 'remember'. So much could be healed by the 'remembrance' of the Passion of Jesus. This 'remembrance' is becoming aware, of wakening up, to the presence of Christ Crucified and Risen in our lives and in our world.

Christ Crucified and Risen is already present and alive in our lives and in the world. What is necessary is to become aware of the ever present Christ.

The Christ we meet is first of all the 'man of sorrows'. In his suffering and death on the Cross he knows what pain is. Turning to him in our pain we always finds a sympathetic ear. He is full of compassion for us and yet his suffering is so much greater than ours. Placing our pain in his pain eases our suffering.

The Christ we meet is also the 'man of joy'. He is the Risen one. As the Risen one he is full of power. That power flows to us from his wounded side as reconciliation and healing. Opening ourselves to him allows that forgiveness of sin and healing of anxiety and pain to flow to us. We are built up. Relationships are healed with him and with others. Anxiety and pain are washed away. We are filled with joy. We become a force for good in our world.

Our 'spiritual Alzheimer's' is cured by becoming aware of the presence of Christ Crucified and Risen in our lives. Open the Gospels on the Passion of Jesus. Say 'hello' to Jesus, read slowly and allow him to touch you and awaken you to his love.