Dr. Michael Downey, the author of many books on the spiritual nature of life, asked this question: “How do we speak of God inside a culture that’s pathologically distracted, distrusts religious language and church institutions, and yet carries its own moral energy and virtue?” Downey suggests we see Christ as the kenosis of God, the divine self-abandonment; God emptying himself in the incarnation of his Son. Fr. Ron Rolheiser explains that to self-empty in the way Jesus is described above means being present without demanding that your presence be recognized and its importance acknowledged; it means giving without demanding that your generosity be reciprocated; it means being invitational rather than threatening, healthily solicitous rather than nagging or coercive; it means being vulnerable and helpless, unable to protect yourself against the pain of being taken for granted or rejected.” This is not an easy thing at all, but that is why we have lifted our praise to Jesus for two thousand years because he showed us how to do this in his life on earth. And that’s our invitation to begin learning how to empty ourselves of “us” and to fill ourselves with more of “Him.”