A Mature Spiritual Life

What direction should a spiritual life take?  An article in Bible & Life magazine, by a priest-professor of spirituality, begins by  telling us that he used the short Apostle's Creed at Mass but changed recently to the longer Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.

It's important, he says, for a Christian not to have a personal imagining of God according to ones likes or dislikes; doing so, a correct  faith life will not follow.  History has shown us that those who have followed their personal preferences have gone far afield. Consequently, one needs to have the correct understanding of Jesus if one is going to have a healthy spirituality.  For a Catholic, the two sources of our faith life are the Scriptures and Tradition, the truths of the gospel that were kept alive orally and finally written down in the Scriptures. From the beginning there was always  a tension between our spirituality and the Scriptures.

The disciples used the Old Testament as their text in sermons. The Church Fathers spent a great deal of time commenting on the Scriptures. This was the way they understood the revealed message and the identity of Jesus. It was not an intellectual and speculative study of the Scriptures. It was the foundation of their spirituality, as it was of the Desert Fathers, who spent much time  reading the Scriptures to map out their spiritual journey.

The religious of the middle ages worked with Lectio Divina (Divine Reading) to develop their spirituality: reading the Scriptures, meditating, praying and contemplating on what was read, which gave a structure to the 'Divine Reading'. But unfortunately, at the same time, universities were appearing, and with the beginning of systematic theology there was a separation of spirituality from Scripture.  There were a few religious groups who had difficulty accepting this new trend, but the majority went along with this speculative and intellectual approach to the spiritual life, which gave a  false understanding to the spiritual life, according to the writer.

At the beginning of modern times, there has been a return to volition and feelings as a foundation for the spiritual life as presented in the Scriptures. The attempt was to get closer to the words of Scripture, in meditating on the  humanity of Jesus and his public life. During the middle of the modern era, however, there was a return to the intellectual  pursuit of knowledge, which again influenced the Church. This was the period of enlightenment, positivism (scientific knowledge) and historicism (a theory that events are determined or influenced by conditions and inherent processes beyond the control of humans). Many feared that if they did not participate in this intellectual pursuit they would be left behind and, consequently, meditating on the Scriptures was not considered important.  Biblical criticism became the highest form of study of the Scriptures in the eyes of many.

In conclusion, the writer stressed that our spiritual life has to begin with the Scriptures. Only through the Scriptures will we get  to know Jesus. When the study of Scripture becomes an exercise in intellectual curiosity, then we are bound to block the real message of Scripture from affecting the full flowering of our spiritual life. We have to meet Jesus in the Scriptures. When reading the words of Scripture and are genuinely moved by the love of Jesus, we will be filled with his grace and feel a oneness with him. Christian prayer without this basic understanding of Scripture, not only lacks Christian meaning but can lead us in a wrong direction.

Love is a Decision

The book The Invisible Gorilla  reminds us that what we often think we know, we do not.  An article in Bible and Life returns to the experiments conducted some years ago by two professors that showed that when we are concentrating on something, we miss seeing other things happening around us, which tends to self-deception and an illusory view of reality.

Loving is not any different. We have seen the portrayal of love in numberless movies, dramas, poetry and novels. We have experienced love in a variety of ways which has left us with a feeling that we understand what love is.

The priest-writer quotes from a poem in which a lover revels in the thought of buying a present for the loved one. The very thought of buying a present fills him with great joy;  he has someone he loves. When we think of love the first thought that often comes to mind is this emotional expression of love. But when we hear  what Jesus had to say about love his words leave us  perplexed.

"The command I give you is this, that you love one another" (John 15:17). This is the command that was given at the Last Supper to his disciples.  This is a strange kind of love. A command is what a superior tells a subordinate to do:  A mother commanding her child to stop watching TV., an officer telling a soldier to dig a trench. Jesus told his disciples to follow him and to take up their cross, but commanding another to love is different, says the writer. It's an entirely different command than the those given above.

Love, most of us think, has to do with the heart and our feelings. Is Jesus asking the disciples to like each other, to have a warm feeling toward the other? Is this possible? asks the writer. Can anyone command another to have a loving feeling toward another?  Of course not, and Jesus knew this well; he was not asking us to do what we often understand love to be.

The article goes back to the Book of Leviticus and the command to love (19:11-18). You shall not steal, lie, swear falsely, defraud, withhold the wages of your day laborer, act dishonestly or spread slander and stand idly by when your neighbor's life is at stake, but love your neighbor as yourself. Loving in this very concrete and practical way has nothing to do with feeling, says the writer.

Love is not limited to the field of emotions. Love has to do with the structures of society, with justice. The command of Jesus is to help those who are in need of our help: the weak, the poor, those whose rights have been trampled; that we are to work for justice in society.

Love must manifest in doing, he says. And now is the time for us to do the work that will bring the justice and peace of God into society. This is love. This is our duty.

"That All May Be One"

The Peace Weekly gives us a brief history of the Octave of Prayer, whose goal is a united Christianity. The Octave began on Jan. 18 and will end on Jan. 25th, the Feast of The Conversion of St. Paul.  The first great division of Christianity, between the Eastern and Western Churches, occurred in 1054;  463 years later, in 1517, the  Protestant Reformation began the fragmentation of Western Christendom. 17 years later, the Church in England broke away from Rome, founding the Anglican Church. And because of theological differences within Protestantism, it has continued to splinter into many denominations.

Offering the hand of reconciliation after doctrinal disputes and separation have occurred is difficult; the sense of unity is no longer there to help repair the break. The beginning of a search for unity began, according to the Peace Weekly, with the founding in 1857 of The Association for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians; Anglicans, Roman Catholics and Orthodox Catholics participated, though at the time the Catholic Church did not  show much interest.
 
Pope Leo 13th used the words "separated brethren," which brought a change from the use of the harsh word "heretic" used in the past.  This brought a change in the way Catholicism looked upon those who had left the Church. From that time on there was a movement within Catholicism to unite all Christians.

Anglicans have been in the forefront of the movement ever since the  prayer for Christian unity was written in 1908 by Father Paul Watson, an Anglican priest. Protestants joined the movement in 1926,  and at the Second Vatican Council, the Church took an active interest in working for unity with its decree on ecumenism. Today, Catholics, Protestants and the Orthodox are all united in praying for unity during the Unity Octave period.

In Korea, starting from 1965, the Bishops Committee on Ecumenism has been active in promoting unity. During the last part of the 60s to 1970, they worked with Protestants for a joint-translation of the Bible, have held prayer meetings together and forums on unity.  From 1965 Catholics And Anglicans have come together in prayer, and from 1986 the Protestants and Orthodox have joined together for the same purpose.  Since 2001 different religious leader have met personally to work to promote  unity among Christians in Korea.  From 2008, Catholic  deacons have been associating with the different Orthodox and Protestant groups to learn more about the other religions.

Despite the efforts of the Church  there are many Catholics who are not familiar with the Unity Octave or who show little interest in the movement. Last year Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, came to Korea asking all Catholics to keep the goal of unity in their prayers.

This year the subject of the octave of prayer is: "Has Christ been divided?" The material was put together by both Protestant and Catholic leaders and is used in many parts of the world during this period of prayer. There is still opposition within the different communities that do not look on these efforts favorably, but what is  important is that we are doing things together, which was not always the case. The meetings and discussions will continue, and when we do have a united awareness  of the situation among the different Christians that we need to be one, we will see God's grace moving us to the unity that Christ willed before his death.

Considering A Trip to Korea

VATICAN - SOUTH KOREA
Fr Lombardi: pope considering trip to Korea
Holy See Press Office director says Francis might visit the Korean Peninsula to attend Asian Youth Day in August in Daejeon.


Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Pope Francis could make a visit to South Korea in 2014, Holy See Press Office director Fr. Federico Lombardi told journalists this morning.


The pope is considering a visit to the Korean Peninsula as part of Asian Youth Day, which will take place in August in the Diocese of Daejeon.

On his way back from World Youth Day in Brazil, the bishop of Daejeon had told AsiaNews that the Bishops' Conference and the South Korean government were trying to get Francis to visit the  Asian Nation.
 
According to Mgr Lazarus You Heung-sik, a papal visit "would give new momentum to our missionary Church and the Churches of Asia, as well as help peace talks with North Korea."

Mgr You himself renewed the invitation in a letter to the pope in which he presented Youth Day, an event that will bring together young Catholics from all over the continent.

South Korea's Catholic Church and Catholic community strongly hope that the Pope will visit their country.

This year, plans are underway for two events of great importance for the Church in South Korea and Asia. In addition to Asian Youth Day, a decree of beatification is expected for 124 "new" South Korean martyrs, and Francis himself might beatify them in person.

On his way home from his trip to Brazil, the Pope had told reporters that he planned to visit Asia in 2014. "I have been invited to go to Sri Lanka and also to the Philippines. But I must go to Asia. Because Pope Benedict did not have time to go to Asia, and it is important. He went to Australia and then to Europe and America, but Asia . . ."

In his recent New Year's Greetings to the diplomats accredited with the Holy See, the pope said, "On this, the fiftieth anniversary of diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea, I wish to implore from God the gift of reconciliation on the peninsula, and I trust that, for the good of all the Korean people, the interested parties will tirelessly seek out points of agreement and possible solutions.

Another sign of the pope's interest towards Korea is his decision to name Mgr Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, archbishop of Seoul and apostolic administrator of Pyongyang, to the post of cardinal.

Follow your heart

The columnist in the Peace Weekly "Preview of Events" discusses the reasons the novel by Susanna Tamaro, Follow Your Heart (Va' Dove ti Porta il Cuore, in Italian), quickly became, in 1994, an international best seller. Over 20 million hearts, it is said, have been moved by the story, which was made into a movie and translated into 45 languages, even being recommended by the Vatican and translated several times into Korean.

The book is written in the style of letters, written by Olga, a grandmother, to her teenage granddaughter, Marta, now in the United States, after living briefly, and unhappily, with Olga, who took her in after her mother died. Like an autobiography, the book reviews the life of the grandmother, who examines her life from her early years in an autocratic family, to being married unhappily to Augusto, her relationship with a married doctor, Ernesto, his death, and the unpleasant relationship she had with her daughter Ilaria, Marta's mother. Olga relates all this very honestly to Marta with all the passion and pain that went along with it. She explains that Marta's mother, Ilaria, was not the daughter of Augusto, Olga's husband, but of the doctor Ernesto, who was the grandmother's lover. She also told Marta that on the day she confessed the truth to Ilaria, she bolted from the house, very much distressed and died in an automobile accident that same afternoon. 

The columnist points out that Olga was brought up in a conservative family and that her daughter Ilaria, influenced by her mother, became involved in women rights issues. This also brought conflict into their relationship which later influenced the granddaughter, who was not able to find what was important in life and lived purposelessly.  The book shows the conflict that tends to exist between different generations (grandmother, mother, granddaughter) and looks at the 20th century women rights issues, and its woman-to-woman talk about love and truth.

The grandmother, in her letters to her granddaughter says that the first thing of importance when wanting to change something--as one is growing into adulthood--is the need to begin the change from within oneself. One of the mistakes, she warns, that we often make is to forget this self-awareness when problems arise, and as we struggle to resolve them. The grandmother advises her granddaughter that when you are faced with many paths to choose from and you don't know which to take, don't take just any path but sit down and take time to think and to listen to the voice within you. When you hear the voice speaking to you from inside, that is the voice, she says, you want to follow.

“Who among us has wept for these things, and things like this? Who has wept for the deaths of these brothers and sisters? Who has wept for the people who were on the boat? For the young mothers carrying their babies? For these men who wanted something to support their families? We are a society that has forgotten the experience of weeping, of 'suffering with': the globalization of indifference has taken from us the ability to weep!" These are the words of Pope Francis in his sermon on the island of  Lampedusa, shortly after the boat carrying migrants from Libya sank, killing 360 who had left their country hoping for a better life.

The columnist mentions a retreat she made in which the bishop giving the retreat used the words of St. Augustine: "Love and and follow the way of your heart." This is not a subjective teaching, she says, but one that makes us think of what, ultimately, is our desire and intention. She thinks this is the difference that has entered the Church with Pope Francis. Before Francis, people were seeing the problems of society but not knowing precisely how to express what they were seeing. The Pope is now showing us how to respond.

There is no denying that the disputes today in society are getting more violent: Impetuous, careless words hurled at others we disagree with, opposing positions, armed with great emotion, intent on forcing their views on others. And the competitive climate that surrounds any endeavor contributes to stifle our ability and willingness to reach out to the other, as does the need to care for ailing parents, the search for personal fulfillment, while not a few despair about their situation in life and choose extreme solutions. The need for human sensitivity and compassion is now being expressed by many voices. The hope we have for blessings, isn't it related to our God=Love understanding? If we could follow this 'follow your heart' understanding, as the grandmother finally came to realize, we would be much closer to living a life that is truly human.

Faith and Economics

Fairness and justice are topics we hear a lot of these days, especially in the world of finances, as more of us are talking about the will of God and the apparent will of society to move in an opposite direction with regard to the common good. The Scriptures clearly show that unfairness and injustice should have no place in our lives.

In the weekly column Faith and Economics, in the Catholic Times, the bishop mentions the growing interest in this topic in many parts of the world, and refers to the comment of Pope Francis in his Exhortation on Joy of the Gospel. "How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses 2 points?" And he continues: "This is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized, without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape."

The pope has continually expressed his disapproval of the injustices in the world. And the bishop mentions the United States, in the capitalistic vanguard, and its great influence on the world economy. He would like more Christians to examine the current impact of capitalism on the world's economy and its unfortunate consequences for most people of the world. He mentions that President Obama quoted from the Exhortation of Pope Francis, citing the need for a common goal to help rid ourselves of the injustices in society.

The pope stressed the dangers of a capitalism that is allowed to function without imposing restrictions on its free use in the international marketplace. The bishop mentions that even some in the U.S. Republican party have taken the pope's words to heart.

In the pope's Peace Day message, he again returns to the economic problems in the world: "This means not being guided by a desire for profit or a thirst for power. What is needed is the willingness to 'lose ourselves' for the sake of others rather than exploiting them, and to serve them instead of oppressing them for our own advantage. The other–whether a person, people or nation–is to be seen not just as some kind of instrument, with a work capacity and physical strength to be exploited at low cost and then discarded when no longer useful, but as our neighbor, a helper....We need, then, to find ways by which all may benefit from the fruits of the earth, not only to avoid the widening gap between those who have more and those who must be content with the crumbs, but above all because it is a question of justice, equality and respect for every human being."

It is the lack of fraternal charity, the love we should have for one another, the pope said, that is the major problem. When we renew the bonds we have with all others in society, and have an attitude of service to everyone on earth, we will have taken the first step at solving the problems of society.

The bishop ends the article with a quote from the Joy of the Gospel (#183): "The earth is our common home and all of us are brothers and sisters. If indeed 'the just ordering of society and of the state is a central responsibility of politics', the Church cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. All Christians, their pastors included, are called to show concern for the building of a better world. This is essential, for the Church’s social thought is primarily positive. It offers proposals, it works for change, and in this sense it constantly points to the hope born of the loving heart of Jesus Christ. At the same time, it unites its own commitment to that made in the social field by other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, whether at the level of doctrinal reflection or at the practical level."

Unknowingly Surrounded by Love

The battery life of his wristwatch had ended, which was the reason the priest let his thoughts wander, giving him enough time to ponder what he would say in his forthcoming article for the Pastoral Bulletin. Not having a working watch, and content to let the clocks in the house tell time for him, he was surprised to see what he hadn't noticed before, that there were a half-dozen clocks in the house keeping time for him.

"Whoa!" was his reaction, he says. It was only because his timepiece was not working that he finally realized how many clocks were in the house, hidden from his unaware gaze and yet ready to give him the time whenever he did look their way. It made him question himself on how much ingratitude existed in his life. The clocks helped him become aware of the many people he needed to thank, and aware of the assistance he has unconsciously been receiving.  Having been aware only of his own abilities, he was forgetful of all the "angels" that have surrounded and helped him throughout his life.

Now, with the end of his watch's battery life, he began to reflect on his own end. The 'tick tock' of his own heart was still sounding, but he began to realize this would not go on forever. Life here on earth was given for a short period of time, a fact he was now acutely aware of,  he says, and he reflects on the meaning this has for him.

Looking back on the past year, he confesses that it filled him with anger and the loss of hope.  Deep down, he admits, there was gratitude and hope, but he still needed to overcome the egotistical thoughts and the tumultuous billows of emotion. As a priest, a member of the Church, of a diocese and a parish, he was stunned by the deterioration of life, but he was willing to take the punishment that came with this confession.

He is at a loss for words in seeing many of the things that happened in his life during the past year. The difference of only one day separates the last year from this year, a single orbit of the earth around the sun. But for most of us, and for him, he acknowledges, it is a big event, allowing us to make a new start, getting rid of what needs to be thrown out. Our mistakes and failures are to be acknowledged and not repeated. If we have been overcome by emotions, if we have said and done what we shouldn't have in the past year, we need to be sorrowful and have the resolve to do better in the new year. This is the first step toward a new way of being and living.

He is convinced that if we do things together there is nothing that can't be achieved. He wants to be more open to others in order to work more closely together. When the problems are great, and trials and agony seem to multiply, it is then that hope shines brightest, strengthening the will to work together with greater fervor. Faith in God, in others and oneself will allow us, he believes, to see the presence of love. And when that happens, when we see the depth and  greatness of God's love, we will be renewed.

He wants the leadership in the Church to become more aware of potential blocks along the way to Jesus.  He has hopes that our political leaders will not be a disappointment to our citizens.  For himself, he hopes that he will not be overcome by emotions and will act with right  reason. And for all of us, he wishes we will find the strength he also will try to attain for himself, of becoming more detached from material goods, stepping out of the swamp of negativity, protectiveness and passivity that all too often smothers our better inclinations when we fail to acknowledge the presence of love that always surrounds us.