Final Week: April 9th – 13th

Reading: Conclusion

Greetings on this Palm Sunday.  As we enter into Holy Week, we also enter into our concluding week of this discussion.  It has, without doubt, been a remarkable and inspiring discussion, and we thank each of you for making it so.

In his conclusion Henri tells says “as I wrote I saw ever more clearly that Adam had lived the story of Jesus that I have been telling every day to anyone who wanted to hear it” (p128).

Reflecting on the book as a whole, we welcome you to share…
a) Insights that Adam’s story has given  you into Jesus’ story.
b) Insights that Adam’s story has given you into your own story, and how your life can be lived through the Holy Spirit, and for the glory of God.

We also welcome you to share whatever God is speaking to your heart this Holy Week, and throughout Easter.

Many deep thanks, once again, to each of you.

Ray and Brynn

11 Replies to “Final Week: April 9th – 13th”

  1. Well, this brings us to then end of another very rich and encouraging book discussion. Deep gratitude to each of you!

    Wishing you all a joyful Easter Sunday.

    He is Risen!

    Brynn

  2. I was struck by Henri’s discussion of the Passion and comparing it to Adam’s life because the Passion was when Jesus was vulnerable. Adam was at the mercy of others and dependent upon them. Henri mentioned that there are times in our lives when this is our situation. I am reminded of my father who has dementia and and how he is going through a passion, in a sense, because he is dependent upon others now when he used to be so independent. Yet, he is still a child of God and all of us are whether we are able to be independent or not.
    I have been doing a lot of caregiving for my two year old grandson recently and while reading Adam, I was reminded of how little children can teach us so much of God’s love as well.

  3. So filled with gratitude that this book was the chosen book for the Lenten journey. My thoughts are with Susan’s where she wrote that Henri wrote that Adam was “precious, beloved, whole and born of God.” My sister-in-law’s funeral was this past Monday. She died at 50 years of age having fought with cancer for the past 18 months. During that time she invited all of her friends and family to participate in some on-line Lenten videos by Matthew Kelly of Dynamic Catholicism. So I’ve been doing that since then. The funeral was intense and emotional and gave comfort. When we got back we had a Maundy Thursday worship at our own church, then last night Good Friday worship. It all seemed so superficial, so sort of unrealistic, so disappointing. I came home and prayed a lot because it was also upsetting that the worship hadn’t seemed spiritual like I always expect it to be. Asked God to intervene in my heart and change my perception, my negative thoughts. This morning’s Holy Saturday message from Matthew Kelly was about how all the disciples were “disoriented and confused” and how miserable they were too. That plowed me right into the story and, because it was Peggy who introduced me to Dynamic Catholicism and Matthew Kelly, it really does seem like her Spirit sees me and understands my needs and is still speaking to me. Also, even though Peggy wasn’t as disabled as Adam was, the fact that she died so early at 50 years, somehow now this little communication this morning helps me to believe that she always was and now is and is in eternity too “precious, whole and beloved by God”. Jesus’ story is her story, is Adam’s story, is Henri’s story, is all of our stories. I’m thankful that Henri, decided to write the different ways that people experience the resurrection after a person dies–through visions, dreams and through his own experience that “nothing was worthwhile anymore” and how Adam’s Spirit turned that around for him “I am a witness of Adam’s truth. I know that I couldn’t have told Adam’s story if I hadn’t first known Jesus’ story. Jesus’ story gave me eyes to see and ears to hear the story of Adam’s life and death. It was in the light of that story that I felt compelled to write about Adam’s story as simply and directly as I could.” This is a very simple but profound book, thank you Brynn and Ray for leading us in discussion of it. May your Easter be especially blessed for all of you.

  4. On Palm Sunday the first reading was from one of the “suffering servant” songs in the Book of Isaiah: The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them….(Isaiah 50: 4) (I serve as a scripture reader at Mass so this text has always been meaningful to me.) Isaiah was likely writing about himself–he was a prophet so he probably was an outstanding speaker that would rouse them. Certainly Jesus was a rousing speaker. And it was clear to me that we are called to do the same — to speak boldly, rouse the world, and proclaim the “good news” of Jesus and our salvation.

    What does this have to do with Adam? He never spoke a word. Then consider the final verse in the reading: The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. Isaiah 50:7 As he beautifully relates, with the help of God Adam became the face of Jesus for Henri and so many others. Adam brought others closer to God–just as Jesus did. Adam was, in so many ways, a devoted suffering servant–as was Jesus. Adam, like Jesus, was God’s beloved and by his life he proclaimed the goodness of God, despite the hardships he encountered. Simply by being present and sharing the love of God with others, Adam “spoke” with a well-trained tongue through his actions, if not his words. My prayer is that we may all do the same.

    Thanks to all who journeyed with us this Lent–those posting comments and those following along in silence. May the blessings of Easter be with you and your loved ones.

    Peace and all good.

    Ray

  5. This morning I read the final comments on this page and felt encouraged (thank you!) to reflect on what reading Adam has meant to me. I reread Henri’s “Conclusion,” and then went back to the beginning and leafed through the whole book, reading parts I’d underlined. Finally I went back to page 36 and 37. There Henri writes about Adam being “precious, beloved, whole and born of God.” That is what we have all been reading about and responding to all these weeks in this discussion group. We have been chewing on this message. Henri saw this message embodied in Adam, and it was Adam who gave him the courage “to claim it and to live from it.”
    Henri writes that “we are very slow to grasp the liberating truth of our origins and our finality.” I know that is true of me as well. I feel God inviting me to claim my own belovedness and to see that it is indeed the only thing I have to offer others. Henri says this is our mission: to live out of our belovedness as children of God.
    I too have an Adam who embodied this message for me. My father loved each of his children uniquely and didn’t require any of us to be anything more than who we were. He knew himself to be a child of God and lived out of that love.
    Jesus is God’s beloved.
    I am God’s beloved.
    We are God’s beloved.
    This is indeed Good News.

  6. As I reflected on Adam and his humble posture alongside Palm Sunday, it struck me that both Jesus and Adam’s lift a contrasting mirror to the crowds. Both lived their lives in vulnerability and powerlessness. The only difference is that Jesus had a choice.

    When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday the crowd expected a different kind of king. One that would make their lives better and deliver them from all that oppressed them. They didn’t expect a humble king riding on a donkey.

    Roman history teaches that there were two processions into Jerusalem that same day. Jesus and Pilate. The two processions could not be more different in the messages they conveyed. Pilate, leading Roman centurions, asserts the power and might of the empire of Rome which crushes all who oppose it. Jesus on the other hand, riding on a young donkey, embodies the peace and tranquility that the shalom of God brings to His people.

    That’s why the same crowds that praised Jesus on Palm Sunday crucified him on Good Friday. They realized he wasn’t what they expected. Jesus wouldn’t deliver them from their sufferings. Adam was a reminder of the God who walks with us and lives through us as we share in his sufferings.

    Those who watched on Palm Sunday will had a choice. They will either serve the god of this world, might and power; or they will choose to serve the king of a very different kind of kingdom, the kingdom of God. The life of Adam placed that mirror before me.

  7. On Sunday our pastor’s message was based on Zacariah 4:6 “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.'”

    I think that sums up my take away from “Adam” quite powerfully. Adam’s life bore great spiritual fruit, but it was not by might nor power, but by the Spirit of the Lord. Oh Lord, may the same be true in my life!

    Blessings,

    Brynn

  8. Adam’s story reminded me that I do not have to continually be doing something to be loved by God unconditionally. For it is not what we do that matters, it is more important to remember we are children of God. I don’t think I could ever reminded enough about this so reading Adam’s story and Henri’s insights into himself and into Jesus’s life were just what I needed to get ready for this Holy Week and Easter Season. Thanks to all of you who shared your stories with us. I hope to be part of the next book study during Advent. Until then, have a blessed Easter and know you are loved for who you are.

  9. Having just experienced the death of a sister, an aunt, and a good friend within the span of seven months, I have thought a lot about ways that individuals navigate the process of mourning and grieving. In the wake of Adam’s death, Henri, of course, turned to writing, prayer, and connection to community. As literary executor, Sue Mosteller connected with Adam’s parents and others to ensure that his story would unfold on the page in the way Henri would have wanted to render it. I have seen others honor the dead by sponsoring park benches overlooking a beloved beach, starting foundations in their name, or becoming a volunteer in a hospice program that had provided tender care to a loved one in his final days. Some eulogies become chapbooks, launch Facebook campaigns, or become precious memories pressed into family albums and Bibles. Some honor the dearly departed by healing wounds within the family or tightening family bonds that had been taken for granted. Funerals and their subsequent family gatherings often become the places where family members articulate the words, “I love you,” for the first time in years. Old relationships taken for granted generate new life. Miracles happen, just as they did for Henri and the people who had been blessed to know Adam.

  10. From Sharon Leroux
    Adam in my life! My friend a Sister brings God and Jesus to my life! Her mission is to enlighten us!
    Even in simple conversation I rarely fail to be inspired. In our friendship her personal sharing allows me to get an experience of her own relationship with
    Jesus!

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