The Spiritual Forum
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Sacramental Living & the Liturgy
by Kristin Bird 2/21/2008
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In a Chirstmas 2005 interview with Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium, Cardnial Danneels pointed out the importance of doing liturgy (and really all sacraments) well. But he challenged us to redefine what "well" means. It's not about showy and flashy entertainment, but about simple humillity. For me, his discussion on humility was the most apropos - especially given the frustrations many have felt with things like the heirarchy of the Church and the GIRM (General instruction for the Roman Missal). I think that Danneels' comments point out that our frustrations may be a sign of human pride - and that both of those things (hierarchy and 'rules' for liturgy) do not exist to put the Church in a position of prideful power.
About liturgy and the way it should be done, he says:
The sacramental signs present themselves with the
features of humility. They are simple, ordinary,
poor: water, bread, wine, oil. It’s not a matter of
making an impression, of staging with special effects.
The liturgy with its repeated and discreet gestures
suggests, is the suggestion of invisible reality of
which the effects are seen. And the subject of the
liturgical and sacramental action is Christ himself. The
liturgical and sacramental action is not an advertising
technique to influence, hypnotize, overawe. Analogously,
the public presence of the Church by nature cannot be
likened to a display of power, or to a technique for
putting pressure on society.
When we read documents like the GIRM, it is easy for anyone to assume things about the intentions of the author - in this case, the Church. However, when we assume that their intentions are negative (to control, to maintain power, to limit the faithful), then our pride and desire for individuality gets in the way of true communion with God, each other, and the Church. When we assume that the intentions are positive (to offer a shared faith experience, to be true to where the Spirit is leading) we begin to understand the very communal nature of God and the way in which He is dwelling, not only in ourselves and each other, but in the Church as well.
The same is true when we discuss the hierarchy. I thought Danneels put it well when he said:
It needs to be explained that the bond between the pope and the
bishops is not of a political order. It is a communion
of faith and charity, that cannot be misunderstood as if
it were political interference in the internal affairs
of the country.
This thought can be expanded to apply to the bond between priests and the bishops and the faithful and the priests. It's not about power, control, or politics. If we were to approach our priests in a bond of faith and charity instead of suspicious skepticism, I think we might be able to realize Jesus' vision of Church as the kingdom of God present here on earth.
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Party of Christ or Church of Jesus Christ?
from Homily of Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) posted here 2/9/2008
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This is an excerpt from the Homily of Cardinal Ratzinger, which is also the epilog in his book Called to Communion.
Accordingly, let us first attempt to understand what is actually taking place in Corinth and which constantly threatens to repeat itself anew in history because of the everrecurring temptations to which man is exposed. We could perhaps briefly sum up the distinction that is meant here in the following statement: When I advocate a party, it thereby becomes my party, whereas the Church of Jesus Christ is never my Church but always his Church. Indeed, the essence of conversion lies precisely in the fact that I cease to pursue a party of my own that safeguards my interests and conforms to my taste but that I put myself in his hands and become his, a member of his Body, the Church…
They choose what suits them, and they select it in the form that pleases them. But when one’s own will and desire is the decisive criterion, schism is a foregone conclusion, because there are multiple and opposing varieties of taste. A club, a circle of friends, a party can grow from such an ideological choice, but not a Church that overcomes antitheses between men and unites them in the peace of God. The principle by which a club develops is personal taste; but the principle on which the Church is based is obedience to the call of the Lord as we see it in the Gospel: “He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Jesus” (Mt 4:21f.)...
Faith is not the selection of a program that is to my liking or the joining of a club of friends in which I feel understood but is a conversion that transforms me and my taste along with it, or at least makes my taste and my wishes take second place. Faith penetrates to an entirely different depth than can be attained by a choice that pledges me to a party. Its power to change is so far-reaching that Scripture designates it as a new birth (cf. 1 Pet 1:3, 23)….
Perhaps we are now a little better able to comprehend what a turnabout faith entails—to grasp the re-versal, the con-version that is contains: I acknowledge that God himself speaks and acts; I recognize the existence not only of what is ours but also of what is his. But if this is true, if we are not the only ones who choose and act, then everything changes. Then I must obey, then I must follow him, even when he leads me where I do not wish to go (Jn 21:18). Then it becomes reasonable, indeed, necessary, to let go of my own taste, to renounce my own wishes and to follow after him who alone can show the way to true life, because he himself is the life (Jn 14:6)….
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Sin Revealed
by Rob Mitchell 12/28/2007
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We are all familiar with the story found in John’s Gospel of the scribes and Pharisees bringing the woman caught in adultery to Jesus. In the story, Jesus is asked if the woman should be stoned as Moses had commanded. They asked this not out of concern for the woman or the Law, but rather to test Jesus, to find some charge they could bring against Him. Such is the nature of sin, ever seeking the opportunity to grow, just as “a little yeast leavens all the dough”. (I Corinthians 5:6)
Jesus’ response to the questioning is interesting. He does not answer at all, but merely bends and begins to write on the ground with His finger. Only after they continue asking Him does he actually speak. “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. Again He bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So He was left alone with the woman before Him”. (John 8:7b-8:10)
No one knows what Jesus was writing on the ground, or what His reason was for doing so. One conjecture is that He was writing a list of sins; perhaps even the sins of which he knew the scribes and Pharisees before Him were guilty, in an early example of examination of conscience. (It is interesting to note that the Ten Commandments, used often today in a formal examination of conscience, were also originally written on stone tablets by the finger of God. (Exodus 31:18))
Such is the power of Sacred Scripture to gently reveal to us our own shortcomings. It is simply not possible to read with any regularity Jesus’ words in the Gospels, or Paul’s instruction to Timothy or the Church, nor even the continued failings and repentance of the people of Israel in the Old Testament without a resulting examination of conscience by the power of the Holy Spirit. No one, in hearing Jesus’ words today, is any more capable of casting the first stone than the scribes or Pharisees of John’s time.
For all of us defeating sin is an ongoing battle and the process of repentance is just that, a process. Sacred Scripture is “the sword of the Spirit,” an important piece of the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-17) equipping Christ’s followers for spiritual battle against the evil of sin. It is kept sharpest with regular and prayerful use.
Sacred Scripture is the living Word of God; it speaks to us right now, right here, right where we are today. It is used by the Holy Spirit to write the law “not on tablets of stone, but on tablets that are hearts of flesh” (II Corinthians 3:3) and in fulfilling God’s promise to give His people a new heart and a new Spirit for renewal and purification making observance of that law possible. (Ezekiel 36:26) Reading scripture is a powerful supplement to prayer and the celebration of liturgy and the sacraments in dealing with the problem of sin, and any honest attempt to defeat this wily enemy will quickly reveal that in the life long process of sanctification, we can use all the help we can get.
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Embracing Divine Chaos
by Jeff Wincel 11/29/2007
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“The divine nature in and of itself, whatever its essential character, lies beyond our human apprehension. It is unapproachable and inaccessible to human conjectures. There has never been found among men anyone to grasp the ungraspable with the human intelligence, nor has there ever been found a method of comprehending the incomprehensible.”
St. Gregory of Nyssa
Homily Six: On the Beatitudes
Divine Chaos
The life of mystical discipleship is unlike any way of life known to humanity. This life is not a life built on self determination, nor one even of pious self sacrifice. Mystical discipleship is a life in which worldly achievement, personal satisfaction and fulfillment of the ego are abandoned to allow for the divine orchestration of the spirit and the soul. In the everyday world, human efforts to manage heavenly influence and divine guidance results in continuous and unpredictable earthly chaos. The inward focus of self inhibits man’s ability to become a vessel of love, truth, and compassion for others. This is true even when the motive is of self sacrifice. For in self sacrifice, the self and therefore ego fulfillment are the ultimate purpose for the action. Self sacrifice may bring a disciple a consciousness of his want of compassionate service to God and to others; but consciousness is not spirituality, is not discipleship, and is not mysticism.
In entering the mystical life of discipleship chaos remains, but it is the divine chaos of God arranging the world to the perfection necessary for the fulfillment of the soul. In earthly chaos the spirit of the disciple is unable to participate in the creation of transformation; in divine chaos, the spirit of the disciple participates in God’s transformation of the world. Divine chaos is only chaotic in that it is wholly other than this world, and in being “wholly other” is often beyond the disciple’s ability to recognize its purpose. Despite man’s reaction to the idea of chaos, as well as his desire to control all things, divine chaos is a sacred blessing. St. Julian of Norwich reminds us that despite chaos, “all will be well, and all will be well, and every kind of thing will be well". So for the mystical disciple, in all the untidy or messy spiritual experiences he may encounter, fulfillment of the soul in God is what human creation has been ordered to.
“Our soul is created to be God's dwelling place, and the dwelling of our soul is God, who is uncreated. It is a great understanding to see and know inwardly that God, who is our Creator, dwells in our soul, and it is a far greater understanding to see and know inwardly that our soul, which is created, dwells in God in substance, of which substance, through God, we are what we are.”
St. Julian of Norwich
Showings (285)
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Sustaining faith through Prayer
by Jeff Wincel 11/8/07
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Though holy doctors have uncovered many mysteries and wonders, and devout souls have understood them in this earthly condition of ours, yet the greater part still remains to be unfolded by them, and even to be understood by them.
We must then dig deeply in Christ. He is like a rich mine with many pockets containing treasures: however deep we dig we will never find their end or their limit. Indeed, in every pocket new seams of fresh riches are discovered on all sides.”
-St. John of the Cross
Canticle from Prison
Prayer is the life blood that sustains the living faith of the disciple. Prayer is the enduring connection to the divine and the means of all expression with God. It is through prayer that the disciple will become aware of the quiet whisperings and grace of the Holy Spirit. In these whispers, the disciple will come to know God’s will for him. Just as faith grows, blooms, and matures on the path toward God, prayer too grows in its depth, beauty, complexity, and ultimately its simplicity. It is on the lips of the disciple where his faith in God is first expressed. Before he ever understands the nature or identity of God, the disciple possesses faith in God and all His goodness. He rejoices in this goodness by exclaiming words of praise – unadorned prayers. In his innocence of faith and in his simplicity of thanksgiving, the disciple rejoices in word by exclaiming his prayers of praise, thanksgiving, sorry, joy, and petition.
Enter the temple gates with praise, its courts with thanksgiving.
Give thanks to God, bless his name”
Psalm 100:4
Prayer begins simply on the journey of the disciple. Prayer is elemental, simple, and practical. They possess a beauty of context, a depth of meaning, and the purpose of praise. While they may embody self desire for the disciple, they also possess the purity of purpose that signifies discipleship. The spoken nature of these prayers makes manifest the disciple’s relationship, needs and desires with the divine. Although the omnipotence of God does not require it for His understanding, it is for the understanding of the disciple that spoken prayer is necessary and beneficial.
In the disciple, basic prayer blooms into a continual dialogue with God, the prayer becomes conversation with the Divine. His prayer will be issues of the heart and of the soul; there will be no secrets between the disciple and God. The readiness of the disciple to pray about matters of the heart and matters of the soul is the essence of conversational prayer.
“Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal King, God and Man, I pray,
for I trust in You. Have mercy on me, full of sorrow and sin,
for the depth of Your compassion never ends. Praise to You,
saving sacrifice, offered on the wood of the cross for me and for
all mankind.”
St. Ambrose 340-397 A.D.
from Prayer of St. Ambrose
The faith of the disciple precedes his understanding of the Divine. As an adolescent as God incarnate, Jesus himself “grew in wisdom” (Luke 2:40 & 52). So too the disciple grows in his understanding of God and the majesty of God. The simplicity of the prayers of the lips is supplemented by a more sophisticated prayer. The disciple participates in the grace of the Holy Spirit to allow his intellect to be formed as his spirit is formed. In this spiritual and intellectual discernment, the disciple’s prayer takes on a dimension of learning. The simplicity of the prayers of the lips is supplemented by a more sophisticated prayer of the mind. Utterances of praise, thanksgiving, and petition give way to the marriage of intellect, memory and will. It is these powers of the soul through which God’s reign is understood, and the disciple’s role made evident..
“Teach me to seek You, for I cannot seek You unless You teach me, or find You unless You show Yourself to me”
St. Anselm 1033-1109 A.D.
From Prayer of St. Anselm
The nature of the disciple’s relationship with God comes more fully into bloom as he encounters God through contemplation in his prayer. The disciple begins to understand that the real presence of God most abundantly comes outside of his own efforts, including his practice of prayer. God comes when He chooses to come, and it is often in the quite moments of “being” in which God is most present.
“Behold, my beloved, I have shown you the power of silence, how thoroughly it heals and how fully pleasing it is to God. Wherefore I have written to you to show yourselves strong in this work you have undertaken, so that you may know this it is by silence that the saints grew, that it was because of silence that the power of God dwelt in them, because of silence that the mysteries of God were known to them.”
St. Ammonas of Egypt 350-412 A.D.
Letter XII
God does not expect you to be anything other than genuine. Simple and basic prayer can be the most genuine form of prayer, like that of a loving child. But you may be called to more than simple prayer. Discerning God’s mysteries will require you to combine both heart and mind through meditation of Scripture or other sacred writings. Revelation is a critical and necessary part of the discipleship journey. Finally, in your deepest encounters with the divine, your prayer will become pure prayer of the heart. In this contemplative prayer, nothing needs to be said as it becomes the Holy Spirit who prays within you, emanating a loving prayer from your heart. Your encounters with God will no longer be talking, or even listening, but simply being.
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Discovering your Christian Spirituality
by Jeff Wincel 10/26/2007
“Give your light to my lantern, I beg you, my Jesus, so that by its light I may see the holy of holies which receives you as the eternal priest entering among the columns of your great temple. May I ever see you only, look on you, long for you; may I gaze with love on you alone, and have my lantern shining and burning always in your presence.”
St. Columban, abbot
Mystical dimensions of the spiritual life of the disciple come slowly into being by the quiet stirrings of the Holy Spirit from within. In the cooperative divinity of the trinity of God, the Spirit speaks to the deepest part of the disciple’s soul. In each disciple there is a uniqueness of his spiritual life, yet a commonality with the spirituality of those disciples and saints who have come before him, and those who are his contemporaries. In the journey to mystical discipleship, we are aided by understanding some of the major spiritual traditions within Christianity.
Christian spirituality comes to us from ancient times and practices. Always in renewal, the Church has embraced varied and diverse spiritual traditions primarily because of how they speak to humanity in every time, always being contemporary and relevant, yet timeless. These traditions speak to us regarding our life with the Divine. Christian spirituality is not a revelation of the varying theologies, philosophies, and practices expressed in the multitude of Christian denominations; Christian spirituality is the practices and motivations that bridge the temporal to the divine. Christian spirituality is a concurrent outpouring of God’s mercy to man and man’s supplication to God for the purpose of doing God’s will in both heaven and on earth. In the long history of God’s Church, spiritual traditions are founded as ways in which to serve Him and to serve is creation.
“If we consent in prayer to be flooded by the river of life, our entire being will be transformed; we will become trees of life and be increasingly able to produce the fruit of the Spirit; we will love with the very love that is our God.”
Jean Carbon
The Wellspring of Worship
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Worship and Sacred Scripture (Companion to Significance of Scripture posting from 9/15/07)
by Rob Mitchell 10/16/07
Worship is defined by the Church as “adoration and honor given to God, which is the first act of the virtue of religion.” (CCC Glossary)
When Jesus encounters the Samaritan women at Jacob’s well she says to Him, “Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain; but you people say the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus replies to her in part, “You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22) referring to God’s continuing revelation of Himself to the Jewish people from Abraham through the prophets. Then Jesus continues, “But the hour is coming, and is now, when true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth” (John 4:23). Jesus later reveals at the Last Supper discourses, “I am the way, the Truth and the life” (John 14:6). Understanding salvation history as revealed by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Old Testament coupled with the revelation of the Truth as revealed by the Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament help us understand what it is we worship. This is not be confused with saying scripture helps us understand God, for as St. Augustine points out, “Si comprehendis, non est Deus”— “if you understand him, he is not God.”
Bishop William E. Lori recently said in praise of Pope Benedict’s first encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) that “Pope Benedict helps us see how, when we encounter God's love, most especially in the Eucharist, what we believe is connected with how we worship; and what we believe and how we worship are inter-connected with morality, with how we live”.
Scripture and Tradition define for us what it is we believe. A greater understanding of Scripture gives us a greater understanding of those beliefs and leads us directly to a greater understanding of God’s love for us, and the love of God is the place from which all worship flows.
Worship within liturgy is deepened when the words behind our worship are something familiar. Hymns and psalms come alive as we recognize their scriptural origins and context and prayerfully and thankfully offer them back to our loving God. Through experience with Scripture, readings in liturgy can more powerfully instruct and convict us and are more readily recognized as gifts from a giver worthy of praise, “Thanks be to God.” As the Book of the Gospels is processed to the ambo we can sing the Alleluia with more profound joy and thanksgiving because our veneration is based on something that has become real to us, something about which we have real knowledge and which has made a real difference in our lives, “Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.”
Worship outside of liturgy is deepened by Scripture because encountering God on a regular basis through His word helps form how we think about Him, ourselves, and other people, and helps us to change the way we live. It becomes more possible for our lives to become worship as we attempt to live in a way that brings honor to God.
Through the gospels, Christ reveals to us what it is to follow Him. In the Epistles, those who walked with Him give us practical information on how to integrate His teaching into our daily lives, even as we receive the grace to do so by receiving the Eucharist. St. Paul instructs us “I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourself to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2).
True worship then is deepened with knowledge of Scripture by giving us greater understanding of what it is we worship and reinforcing what Tradition and Scripture teaches us on how we are called to live, in a manner pleasing to God.
Peace
Rob Mitchell
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Transfiguration: The Intimacy of God’s Embrace
By Theophilus 10/12/07
“Did not our hearts burn within us as He spoke with us on the road?” (Lk. 24:32)
In anticipation of Pentecost, the apostles on the road to Emmaus experienced the risen Jesus in a way that caused them to burn with consolation in the wake of encountering Him. “Our God is a consuming fire,” says the author of Hebrews (12:29). Jesus Himself described His Mission “to bring fire upon the earth…and, oh, how I wish it were already ablaze!” (Lk. 12:49).
One of my favorite stories from the Desert Fathers is the advice a certain Abba Joseph gave to his disciple, Abba Lot. Lot came to his spiritual father, Joseph, and said, “Father, according to my strength, I pray a little, I fast a little, I do the best I can to cleanse my thoughts and do my meditations. What more can I do?” The old monk stood up, spread out his arms towards heaven, and his fingers became like ten lamps of fire. And he exclaimed, “If you want, why not become totally fire!”
Jesus is the Light of the World ( John, 8:12). Far more so than Moses (Ex. 34:35), Jesus face radiates with the glory of the Father and the Uncreated Light of the Holy Spirit. As we enter His Presence and encounter His Divine Embrace, we find ourselves transfigured and transformed by the firery presence of His infinite love. We can neither perfect nor heal ourselves. We must allow ourselves to be drawn into the Triune Mystery of God’s Embrace where the Light and Warmth of God’s ineffable Love does for us what, in a million years, we would not be able to do for ourselves.
Meditating on Jesus’ Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor (Lk. 9:28-36; Mt. 17:1-8; Mk. 9:2-8), we see an icon of the whole of the Christian Mystery. Speaking with Him about His Redemptive Death are Moses and Elijah: prophets whose personal experiences with the consuming fire of God’s love (Ex. 3:2; 19:18; 1 Kg. 18:38; 2 Kg. 1:10; 2:11) prepared them for eternal intimacy with God. Overwhelmed and cowering at the feet of the transfigured Christ, by contrast, are the apostles, whose baptism by fire (cf. Mk. 10:39) is still to come and whose conversion and transformation by the fire of the Holy Spirit will not be complete until Pentecost arrives.
Our lives are meant to be a perpetual Pentecost, burning with love for God and for all the creatures He has made, including and especially our enemies. It is not enough, like Moses, simply to be fascinated by the Burning Bush of God’s Trinitarian Mystery (Ex. 3:2f.), but we must become, like Mary, living examples of persons ever “consumed but not destroyed” by intimate entrance into the Divine Embrace.
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Moral Theology and Faith
by Kristin Bird 10/8/07
There's a book called "Soul Searching" that took all the data from the National Study of Youth and Religion and explained the trends and the implications of how people (teenagers specifically) view religion and spirituality. One of the conclusions is that the dominant religion today is something called Moral Theraputic Deism. The 5 main points of its "creed' are:
1) A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.
2) God wants poeple to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and most world religions.
3) The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4) God does not need to be particularly invovled in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
5) Good people go to heaven when they die.
This Moral Theraputic Deism isn't a religion in and of itself, but it's creed has colonized many established religions in the United States - it looks like a Catholic and goes to Mass on Sundays (sometimes), or it looks Islamic and fasts on Ramadaan.
I think that is what you are talking about here - as to what we do about...first I think we need to be aware of it and realize that there is a danger in this trend. We can't fight what we don't know. We have a rich Catholic faith and tradition that is being lost among the average individuals. Only a minority of people within the Catholic faith are absorbing the traditional substantive content and character of the faith. It is happening in the minds and hearts of many individuals and is starting to actually change the structures of some Christian organizations and institutions. As the authors of Soul Searching put it:
"The language, and therefore experience, of Trinity, holiness, sin, grace, justification, church, Eucharist, heaven and hell appear, among most Christian teenagers [and I would argue many adults!] in the United States at the very least, to be supplanted by the language of happiness, niceness, and an earned heavenly reward. It is not so much that U.S. Christianity is being scularized. Rather more subtly, Christianity is either degenerating into a pathetic version of itself or, more significantly, Christianity is actively being colonized and displaced by a quite different religious faith."
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The Mystery of Mary: Virgin and Mother
By Theophilus 10/4/07
The Mystery of Christ Jesus is incomprehensible to human understanding. He is the Eternal Word become man. He is the Son of God as well as the Son of Man. Together with His Father and their Holy Spirit, He is one of the Divine Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity. It has pleased Him to incorporate us into Himself through the Mystery of the Eucharist. Words cannot describe, human reason can not comprehend any one, much less all, of these sacred and divine Mysteries. Yet they are as seminal to our Christian faith as they are inconceivable to human reason.
Devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, can only be exercised aright in the light of these Christological Mysteries. In Mary, we see some of the incomprehensible truths about Jesus reflected, as it were, in her paradoxical roles as Virgin and Mother. If the Uncreated Light of the Blessed Trinity is largely darkness to human eyes, we can catch a glimpse of this incomprehensible glory in the face and form of Mary. It is as if God gave us Mary, in part, to help us begin to understand truths about her Son that could be apprehended in no other way.
What can we see in Mary, Virgin and Mother, that can be discerned in no other way? Nothing less, I believe, than the truth about love, both human and divine. Notice the paradox of “communion and otherness” present in the Mysteries of the Trinity, Incarnation, and Eucharist. Each of these Mysteries unites what, in themselves, are different and separate realities. How can One God be Three Persons? How can the Second Person of the Trinity be both God and man? How can what looks like bread and wine also be Jesus Himself? There is a mysterious union of opposites here that is at once divine and nuptial. Indeed, the Trinitarian Paradox that God is a Communion of separate but inseparable Divine Persons is the Source and template of all relationships of love.
As Virgin and Mother, Mary is an icon of human love perfectly reflecting the Trinitarian Communion. Both within the Trinity and in all human relationships, love desires union; yet, it also affirms separateness and the integrity of the individual persons involved. In a paradoxical sense, persons become more the persons they are created to be only by entering into communion with others. As Mother, Mary experiences union with Her Son and discovers herself in the process. At the same time, true love – both human and divine – always distinguishes persons, enhances their differences, and strengthens their uniqueness. As Virgin, Mary is revealed as a unique, incommunicable, unrepeatable mystery unto herself. Like each of us, there is no one exactly like or equal to her. Virginal Union, then, in which the human person is respected as an end in him or herself, while at the same time entering into union with others through a sincere gift of oneself - this is the only Love worthy of the Christian, since its Source is the Trinity, the Divine Communion of eternally distinct but nuptially inseparable Persons.
Praised be Jesus Christ, united with Mary, His Mother, and with, God, His Father, who, by uniting us with Himself in Baptism, unites also with Mary and the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit, forever!
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A Terrible Beauty
by Theophilus 9/25/07
“When I am lifted up,” says the Savior, “I will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32). Jesus is our Way to the Father, through the Power of the Holy Spirit. Faith is the gift of the Holy Spirit enabling us to enter into God’s Embrace: the Embrace of the Holy and Most Blessed Trinity. The whole purpose of our lives – that for which we were created, that for which He redeemed us, that for which we are destined – is unity and communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our Christian Faith is vibrantly Trinitarian or it is nothing at all.
Entrance into the Life of the Most Holy Trinity is given to us by the Word made flesh in the Sacred and Divine Holy Mysteries of the Christian Liturgy. “Sacrament” is a term too weak, in a sense, to convey the life-giving power of the Liturgical Mysteries. These draw us into the very Life of our Trinitarian God. The Eucharist is not only – as everyone knows – ‘the Source and Summit’ of our Christian faith, but it is also the ineffable Mystery in which ‘our Redemption is being carried out’ (CCC # 1069). In other words, the Mystery of Christ’s Redemptive Death and Resurrection, together with His glorious Ascension and Communion with all His saints in the Wedding Feast of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9), is made present and assimilates us into Itself through the power of His Holy Spirit in every enactment of the Divine Liturgy. As we enter into this Heavenly Mystery with faith we are drawn into the very heart of God’s Trinitarian Embrace. There we are bathed in His uncreated Light and transfigured into new creations! The Fathers of the Church called this miracle ‘theosis’ or deification. “God became man,” said St. Athanasius, “so man can become God.” O wonder of wonders! O divine exchange! Praise Him!
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Significance of Scripture
by Rob Mitchell 9/15/07
It is not by mere afterthought that each week of the retreat program offered by God’s Embrace contains frequent scriptural references as well as sections on both Passages for Prayer and Scriptural Reading near the conclusion of each session. Rather these are offered as an important and integral part of each exercise.
Regular reading of Sacred Scripture is important enough in the life of the faithful that the Catechism of the Catholic Church boldly proclaims that the Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful” . . . to learn ‘the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ,' by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. “Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ (CCC paragraph 133)”’.
This may come as somewhat of a surprise to some of us, since the Church offers such depth and richness through its sacramental and liturgical life, and such deep connection with God through Catholic spirituality and prayer that it is quite conceivable, even understandable, that we naturally find neither the time nor inclination to explore the Word of God beyond the regular Lectionary readings given us at daily and Sunday Mass. Yet Sacred Scripture has so much to offer us, revealing truth while enlightening and invigorating our understanding of faith, worship, prayer and even liturgical action.
Just as the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, and the Lord’s Prayer is the fundamental Christian prayer and summary of the whole Gospel, so too Jesus Christ, the One Word who was with God from the beginning, is at the center of all of Sacred Scripture. In discovering more about the Word through Sacred Scripture as revealed to us by the Holy Spirit we quite naturally (or more accurately supernaturally) learn more about the One who sent Him since “The Father and I are one (John 10:30).” 2 and “He who has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:19)”. And because the Word is a Living Word, we are able to discover more about ourselves and our relationship with our Creator at every point along our Christian journey if we faithfully return to Sacred Scripture.
Even as we plow through some of the less dramatic or seemingly un-enlightening portions of the Old Testament, as we move from Genesis through the Gospels to the Book of Revelation we can gain a greater appreciation of God’s unending love for us from the beginning, and the patience He has shown to His people throughout salvation history. There are things along the way that can only really be discovered in the Word when taken in the context of all of Sacred Scripture. Indeed each passage of scripture must be taken in the context of the entirety of Sacred Scripture to avoid errant conclusions.
If we persevere, through the help of the Holy Spirit, regular reading of scripture will not only form our understanding of God and enrich our relationship with Him, but will give us a greater depth and understanding of the sacramental life of the Church and indeed the Mass itself, which is so solidly built on Sacred Scripture and Tradition.
Specifically as we continue to read and study scripture we can expect the beginnings of at least the following transformations:
- Worship is deepened
- Sin is revealed and repented
- Forgiveness is embraced and exercised
- Our prayer life is strengthened
- Our journey is illuminated
- Eucharist becomes both a more personal and more communal experience
- Discipleship is fostered
- Catholic spirituality can be more fully explored
- Evangelism is empowered
- Liturgy is invigorated
- The call to holiness is amplified
In the coming weeks, we will explore each of these supernatural side effects of regular exploration of God’s Word as well as some ideas on how to approach what sometimes seems the daunting task of approaching the Bible in its entirety. Until then, prayerfully consider reading just one of the Gospels - start to finish - in just one week. Through that experience you may begin to discover some of the wisdom, beauty, and truth of Sacred Scripture, which God joyfully reveals to us through his Holy Spirit when we see His Word in the greater context of its entirety.
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Embarking on the Spiritual Journey
by Jeff Wincel 9/6/07
The journey into the spiritual life must begin with honestly assessing where we are in our relationship with God. All of us want to believe that we have abandoned ourselves to God and are walking a mature path of discipleship. The truth however may be quite different. To allow God to fully enter our hearts, we must open ourselves up to the possibility that we may not be as far along as we thought.
One way in which to understand where we are in our journey is to examine what role God plays in our lives. Do we call upon God only when we are in need, or is God a constant companion? Are we at the center of our lives with God supporting us, or is God the center of our lives where we serve Him? Being honest about this relationship will tell us where we need to begin our journey.
The on-line retreat provides an opportunity to reflect upon this relationship. Dedication to a spiritual process is essential in helping to build our spiritual strength and endurance where we can continually focus on God. Our faith can be sustained when we have prepared ourselves for the challenges that face us each day. Whether here or in your own private devotions, commit yourself to growing in your spiritual strength and maturity.
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