We are all called to be "mystics" according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
Yes. It says so right in paragraph 2014. Here it is.
2014 Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called "mystical" because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the sacraments - "the holy mysteries" - and, in him, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God calls us all to this intimate union with him, even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all.
Did you notice the phrase I made bold?
Our intimate union with Jesus is really what Christian mysticism is all about and the examples of it from the lives of saints like St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Faustina and from the pages of the Bible are invitations meant to draw us into a deeper experience of that union.
As the Apostle John says in 1 John 1,
1. What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life—
2. for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us—
3. what we have seen and heard
we proclaim now to you,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.
NABRE
Did you know the saints were often ticked off at their spiritual directors and superiors when they insisted that the saints write about their intimate unions with God? Writing is hard work and finding time for it is even harder. So why do it? Well, how else are we going to know what God has in store for us in our intimate union with Himself?
The biblical writers and the saints didn't write to brag about their spiritual experiences so they could elevate themselves as a spiritual elite. They wrote because they are inviting us to join them, to let us know there is "more" to be entered into, to be experienced in intimate union with God.
I will be writing more on this topic because God keeps pestering me. But enough for one insomnia session.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
A Thanksgiving Meditation
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and our Colorado children, spouses/boyfriend (we consider them our kids, too) and our grandson will be coming over for dinner which I am looking forward to. I always enjoy our family times and I am thankful to God for them.
This morning at work for the college that it is my privilege to serve, one of our work study students brought me a sheet of colored construction paper and asked me to trace my hand on it and then write what I was thankful for on it and attach it to a construction paper turkey on the marker board in our hallway. Now I have to confess that I wasn't feeling particularly thankful to God at the time so it took me a while of pondering to come up with some ideas. And then I started feeling thankful to God for them as I thought about them. And so I have been mulling over thankfulness today.
Now the original Thanksgiving was declared to offer thanks to God for His provisions for them during some tough times.
But a lot of us have a hard time being naturally thankful to God, including me at times. It seems like lots of times we find it easier to blame Him. The Apostle Paul brings that up in his letter to the Romans chapter one as he is laying out God's list of grievances with mankind. In verse 21, he says "they did not honor him as God or give thanks to Him" NRSVCE. And I think it is this natural ingratitude towards God that is at the root of a lot of today's ills and much of our unhappiness.
But there is help for a naturally ungrateful cuss like me in the Scriptures, the prayers of the Church, the Psalms, the hymns and the spiritual songs (see Ephesians 5:15-20 and Colossians 3:12-17) and the Mass, which is one big prayer of thanksgiving.
I love the Mass. One of my favorite parts is in the Preface Dialogue where the priest says, "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God." And our response is "It is right and just." And then the priest launches into the Preface, "It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord." And then the priest goes on to list a bunch of reasons why it is right and just to give God thanks, according to the liturgical season of the year. Notice that his prayer says that not only does God deserve our thanks but in the giving of thanks to Him, we find our salvation.
And I experienced that tonight as I was cleaning up the kitchen and these words from the Mass came back to me and I said them over and over to the Lord, my God. My heart became full of joy and peace and gratitude. I was renewed in heart and mind.
May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving.
This morning at work for the college that it is my privilege to serve, one of our work study students brought me a sheet of colored construction paper and asked me to trace my hand on it and then write what I was thankful for on it and attach it to a construction paper turkey on the marker board in our hallway. Now I have to confess that I wasn't feeling particularly thankful to God at the time so it took me a while of pondering to come up with some ideas. And then I started feeling thankful to God for them as I thought about them. And so I have been mulling over thankfulness today.
Now the original Thanksgiving was declared to offer thanks to God for His provisions for them during some tough times.
But a lot of us have a hard time being naturally thankful to God, including me at times. It seems like lots of times we find it easier to blame Him. The Apostle Paul brings that up in his letter to the Romans chapter one as he is laying out God's list of grievances with mankind. In verse 21, he says "they did not honor him as God or give thanks to Him" NRSVCE. And I think it is this natural ingratitude towards God that is at the root of a lot of today's ills and much of our unhappiness.
But there is help for a naturally ungrateful cuss like me in the Scriptures, the prayers of the Church, the Psalms, the hymns and the spiritual songs (see Ephesians 5:15-20 and Colossians 3:12-17) and the Mass, which is one big prayer of thanksgiving.
I love the Mass. One of my favorite parts is in the Preface Dialogue where the priest says, "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God." And our response is "It is right and just." And then the priest launches into the Preface, "It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord." And then the priest goes on to list a bunch of reasons why it is right and just to give God thanks, according to the liturgical season of the year. Notice that his prayer says that not only does God deserve our thanks but in the giving of thanks to Him, we find our salvation.
And I experienced that tonight as I was cleaning up the kitchen and these words from the Mass came back to me and I said them over and over to the Lord, my God. My heart became full of joy and peace and gratitude. I was renewed in heart and mind.
May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
The Knowledge and Experience of God - Both are needed.
This past Sunday my wife, Joan, and I were standing in Plum Creek Church singing Kristian Stanfill's song, One Thing Remains. It is an awesome song! I especially love the chorus which speaks of God's love for us, "Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me...". Tears of joy and thankfulness were running down my face as we sang the song. Now this emotional response was triggered because the song resonated with both my knowledge and experience. Sometimes songs resonate with my longings for God and aspirations to be the man He wants me to be for His glory and for my fellow brothers and sisters who trod this globe with me.
As I was thinking about this song, the passage from John 5:39-40 was brought to mind where Jesus says in answer to His critics among His own people, "You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life." The Scriptures give us the knowledge/witness of Jesus but in order to really have life we need to come to Him. Jesus draws a distinction between the Scriptures and Himself. But it is not an either/or distinction but rather a both/and distinction. In other words, we need both. The knowledge (Scriptures and Creation (see Romans 1)) and experience (shared life together with (see John 17)) of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
So how do we get both knowledge and experience of God? That will be the subject of my next post or two.
As I was thinking about this song, the passage from John 5:39-40 was brought to mind where Jesus says in answer to His critics among His own people, "You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life." The Scriptures give us the knowledge/witness of Jesus but in order to really have life we need to come to Him. Jesus draws a distinction between the Scriptures and Himself. But it is not an either/or distinction but rather a both/and distinction. In other words, we need both. The knowledge (Scriptures and Creation (see Romans 1)) and experience (shared life together with (see John 17)) of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
So how do we get both knowledge and experience of God? That will be the subject of my next post or two.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Going on a prayer walk with Brother Owl
My wife and I moved to a new city to help our son and daughter-in-law take care of our new grandson. We are glad to be here for them but we did leave behind some special brothers and sisters in Jesus in our former city. We have found a couple of good churches here but haven't really made connections yet. I have become a Catholic Christian and my wife is a non-denominational Christian, hence the two churches but I go with my wife to her church in addition to mine. So far I am a lector (reader of Scripture) at my parish and I get to read about once a month. And we haven't gotten involved in any long term small groups yet.
So I have been feeling rather lonely without any Catholic brothers and sisters to share the journey with. I decided to start doing prayer walks at my Catholic parish, St. Francis of Assisi, after my wife went to bed. It is a beautiful church up on a ridge overlooking the valley below and you can see for miles, north and south. And, of course, it has a statue of St. Francis of Assisi in front of it who is famous for many reasons way beyond Catholic circles. One of the things he is known for is his solidarity with all of God's creation and creatures so if you see a statue of a monk with animals around him and birds on him you can safely guess that statue is one of St. Francis.
So my first night up there at dusk, I was walking around the church parking lot praying the rosary and offering up prayers for people I know and for our world in general. While I was at it, I talked to God about my loneliness. No sooner than I finished praying about that I hear an owl call and an owl comes swooping in and lands on a gazebo near me. For the rest of my prayer walk, as I moved around the parking lot and the church grounds praying, the owl kept flying and landing near me. Smiling, I thought how Franciscan God's answer to my prayer about loneliness was and I said, "Nice touch, God" and the ache in my heart receded. So I named the owl, Brother Owl, although it very well could have been "Sister Owl". A biologist I am not.
I truly am not alone even when I feel so.
So I have been feeling rather lonely without any Catholic brothers and sisters to share the journey with. I decided to start doing prayer walks at my Catholic parish, St. Francis of Assisi, after my wife went to bed. It is a beautiful church up on a ridge overlooking the valley below and you can see for miles, north and south. And, of course, it has a statue of St. Francis of Assisi in front of it who is famous for many reasons way beyond Catholic circles. One of the things he is known for is his solidarity with all of God's creation and creatures so if you see a statue of a monk with animals around him and birds on him you can safely guess that statue is one of St. Francis.
So my first night up there at dusk, I was walking around the church parking lot praying the rosary and offering up prayers for people I know and for our world in general. While I was at it, I talked to God about my loneliness. No sooner than I finished praying about that I hear an owl call and an owl comes swooping in and lands on a gazebo near me. For the rest of my prayer walk, as I moved around the parking lot and the church grounds praying, the owl kept flying and landing near me. Smiling, I thought how Franciscan God's answer to my prayer about loneliness was and I said, "Nice touch, God" and the ache in my heart receded. So I named the owl, Brother Owl, although it very well could have been "Sister Owl". A biologist I am not.
I truly am not alone even when I feel so.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
What I learned about friendship while meditating on the anguish of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus knew the cruel ordeal he was about to face. Rejection, murderous rage, flogging, beatings, gleeful ridicule, mocking, searing pain, brutal labor and lingering, agonizing death and on top of it all becoming sin for us and nailing our sins to the cross. So Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray about it and takes his three closest disciples with him (Peter, James and John). It is apparent from the accounts in Matthew, Mark and Luke that Jesus desired them to join him in his prayer vigil, to keep watch with him and pray. Jesus was very troubled, in anguish, sorrow, anxiety, literally in "agonia". Luke records that Jesus sweat great drops like blood. The writer of Hebrews in chapter 5, verse 7, was probably alluding to this time when he says, "...Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death..." (RSVCE)
And what were Peter, James and John doing? Sleeping. Luke does add that it was for or because of sorrow. They were worn out. I'm sure they wanted to participate in the vigil but they couldn't, they didn't have it in them. And to make matters worse fear gets the best of them and they all flee when Jesus is arrested and Peter ends up denying he even knows Jesus three times.
And so as I was meditating on this, the thought came to me. And how did Jesus respond after these colossal failures on their parts? He didn't give up on them, he forgave them, he poured out the Holy Spirit on them and he entrusted his church to them. They were still his friends.
Now he already knew they were going to fail him in the time of his greatest need because he told them they would over their denials. In other words, he had realistic expectations. And yet, his realistic expectations didn't mean that he didn't share with them and give them the opportunity to come through for him. He invited them to keep watch with him. Nor did it mean that their failure didn't hurt Jesus. Because he chides them saying, "Could you not watch with me for one hour?" and "Why are you sleeping?".
Often we have unrealistic expectations of our spouses, our children, our families, our friends, our co-workers, our leaders and people in general. And we over-estimate our own faithfulness and strength. And so we tend to either write people off when they fail us or we never give them the opportunity to disappoint us by keeping them at a distance and not even inviting them to keep watch with us. We often expect people to be God for us. Jesus didn't and doesn't do that. He has realistic expectations, he still gives us new opportunities to join him and keep watch and he is still our friend, brother, Lord and Savior. And he knows how we feel. And his Father is still there for him and for us.
May Jesus help us to be like him.
And what were Peter, James and John doing? Sleeping. Luke does add that it was for or because of sorrow. They were worn out. I'm sure they wanted to participate in the vigil but they couldn't, they didn't have it in them. And to make matters worse fear gets the best of them and they all flee when Jesus is arrested and Peter ends up denying he even knows Jesus three times.
And so as I was meditating on this, the thought came to me. And how did Jesus respond after these colossal failures on their parts? He didn't give up on them, he forgave them, he poured out the Holy Spirit on them and he entrusted his church to them. They were still his friends.
Now he already knew they were going to fail him in the time of his greatest need because he told them they would over their denials. In other words, he had realistic expectations. And yet, his realistic expectations didn't mean that he didn't share with them and give them the opportunity to come through for him. He invited them to keep watch with him. Nor did it mean that their failure didn't hurt Jesus. Because he chides them saying, "Could you not watch with me for one hour?" and "Why are you sleeping?".
Often we have unrealistic expectations of our spouses, our children, our families, our friends, our co-workers, our leaders and people in general. And we over-estimate our own faithfulness and strength. And so we tend to either write people off when they fail us or we never give them the opportunity to disappoint us by keeping them at a distance and not even inviting them to keep watch with us. We often expect people to be God for us. Jesus didn't and doesn't do that. He has realistic expectations, he still gives us new opportunities to join him and keep watch and he is still our friend, brother, Lord and Savior. And he knows how we feel. And his Father is still there for him and for us.
May Jesus help us to be like him.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Where to start in praying - For Christ also suffered for sins once ... that he might lead you to God. 1 Peter 3:18
We can read about prayer until we are blue in the face but what really makes the difference is when we start talking to God the Holy Trinity on a regular daily basis. For me, I have to be honest, it started when I was received into full communion with the Catholic Church and entered the life of the Church including her prayers. To me, it was entering into a life and rhythm of prayer for the Mass, the liturgy, the Sacraments, the doctrines and all the other prayers and aids to prayer that are geared towards making my whole life a prayer in union with Jesus Christ and His Church. So the life of prayer in my experience is both private and corporate.
It was after I became a Catholic that I started praying the rosary where each day I meditate on the meanings of 5 events in the lives of Jesus and Mary and then apply those meanings to my life and my prayers. There are 20 events in total and they are grouped into 4 themes or characteristics. The events are called mysteries because their meaning is deep and there is always more to be discovered as God reveals them. Typically I am involved with God in prayer for an hour or more per day through this prayer as well as other prayers and the Mass.
I understand my Protestant brothers and sisters have difficulties with Mary because I used to have them myself. And the rosary is not the only prayer that one can use to help lead them into a habit of daily prayer talking and doing life together with God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
There are plenty of prayers in the Psalms and the Old and New Testament as well as hymns and spiritual songs and the prayers of our brothers and sisters to help us get started and provide a segue into our own prayers. There is a resource called the Liturgy of the Hours that combines all of these elements into various daily prayers to be prayed at different times throughout the day. There is also the prayerful reading of the Scriptures which the Catholics called the Lectio Divina which a lot of Protestants are now using.
My concern is to help people who are experiencing difficulties in moving from knowing a lot about God to actually knowing Him through a life of prayer. Why? Because I've been there.
So develop a plan of prayer using these resources that God has provided and begin your journey into His heart today. Please be aware that it will not be easy. As you are learning and memorizing prayers it will often seem tedious at first but that will begin to change if you turn your heart towards God as you pray them. Also be aware that the enemy of our souls and his hosts do not want us praying and so they will oppose us to try and stop us..
I will be praying for you. And I will try to post resources as I find and develop them.
May the Chief Shepherd of our souls lead you ever deeper into the love of God. Amen.
Please feel free to leave comments on my blog or to e-mail me at howardsdsu75@gmail.com if I can assist you in anyway as you develop a prayer life with God.
It was after I became a Catholic that I started praying the rosary where each day I meditate on the meanings of 5 events in the lives of Jesus and Mary and then apply those meanings to my life and my prayers. There are 20 events in total and they are grouped into 4 themes or characteristics. The events are called mysteries because their meaning is deep and there is always more to be discovered as God reveals them. Typically I am involved with God in prayer for an hour or more per day through this prayer as well as other prayers and the Mass.
I understand my Protestant brothers and sisters have difficulties with Mary because I used to have them myself. And the rosary is not the only prayer that one can use to help lead them into a habit of daily prayer talking and doing life together with God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
There are plenty of prayers in the Psalms and the Old and New Testament as well as hymns and spiritual songs and the prayers of our brothers and sisters to help us get started and provide a segue into our own prayers. There is a resource called the Liturgy of the Hours that combines all of these elements into various daily prayers to be prayed at different times throughout the day. There is also the prayerful reading of the Scriptures which the Catholics called the Lectio Divina which a lot of Protestants are now using.
My concern is to help people who are experiencing difficulties in moving from knowing a lot about God to actually knowing Him through a life of prayer. Why? Because I've been there.
So develop a plan of prayer using these resources that God has provided and begin your journey into His heart today. Please be aware that it will not be easy. As you are learning and memorizing prayers it will often seem tedious at first but that will begin to change if you turn your heart towards God as you pray them. Also be aware that the enemy of our souls and his hosts do not want us praying and so they will oppose us to try and stop us..
I will be praying for you. And I will try to post resources as I find and develop them.
May the Chief Shepherd of our souls lead you ever deeper into the love of God. Amen.
Please feel free to leave comments on my blog or to e-mail me at howardsdsu75@gmail.com if I can assist you in anyway as you develop a prayer life with God.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Prayer in the Catechism - For Christ also suffered for sins once ... that he might lead you to God. 1 Peter 3:18
Part 4 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Christian Prayer, begins with a startling revelation from John 4, the story of the woman at the well. I have included 2 paragraphs below.
2560 “If you knew the gift of God!” The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him.
2561 “You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” Paradoxically our prayer of petition is a response to the plea of the living God: “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water!” Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God.
The startling revelation for me was that God thirsts for us. I had never thought about God thirsting for us all, and especially not for me. Jesus thirsts for me that I might thirst for Him. God's love poured into my soul through this truth and I was lost in grateful wonder for a couple of hours. What an invitation to prayer! God passionately longs for us to come to Him.
No wonder that James states with such certainty in James 4:8, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." And I have found this statement to be true, especially when I tarry before the Lord through prayers, like the rosary, that keep me in prayer. God shows up. He reveals things to me as I meditate on the mysteries and helps me to remember people to bring before Him. He also steadies me and gives me strength for the day.
The Catechism section on Prayer has a lot of good information and teaching on prayer.
No wonder that James states with such certainty in James 4:8, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." And I have found this statement to be true, especially when I tarry before the Lord through prayers, like the rosary, that keep me in prayer. God shows up. He reveals things to me as I meditate on the mysteries and helps me to remember people to bring before Him. He also steadies me and gives me strength for the day.
The Catechism section on Prayer has a lot of good information and teaching on prayer.
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