Sunday, August 25, 2019

Life in the Spirit (9)

Now consider the second of the three key attributes of God.  The first key attribute is that God works with us as individuals.



The second is that God is a gradualist.  
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church we read the following:
CCC 53: God communicates himself to man gradually.
CCC 66: Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.
CCC 69: God has revealed himself to man by gradually communicatinghis own mystery in deeds and in words.
According to the standard theory, our universe sprang into existence as singularity around 13.7 billion years ago, the earth is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old, humans have been on earth for 200,000 years, andGod worked with the Israelites for at least 1,500 yearsto educate them about himself. In short, God is a gradualist.
As a gradualist, then, God will gradually, slowly, and deliberately guide us as we engage in the three key activities associated with life in the spirit: prayer, listening and discernment.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Life in the Spirit (8)

First a recap. Life in the Spirit consist of three Activities, involves three of God’s Attributes, and three Guiding Principles. We have previously talked about the first of these:
  • The first Guiding Principle: Crack open the door (pray) and God will do the rest.
  • The first Activity: Prayer.
  • The first Attribute: God relates to us as the unique individuals we are.

We turn now to the second Activity: Listening. The Catechism tells us: 
We learn... by hearing the Word of the Lord and sharing in his Paschal mystery, but his Spirit is offered us at all times, in the events of each day… it is in the present that we encounter him, not yesterday nor tomorrow, but today: “O that today you would hearken to his voice!” (CCC 2659)
From Psalm 85:8 
Let me hear what God the Lordwill speak, for he will speak peace… to those who turn to him in their hearts


In the School of the Holy Spirit by Jacques Philippe
The motions of the Spirit are delicate touches that… penetrate our spiritual consciousness only if we have within ourselves a sort of calm zone of silence and peace. If our inner world is noisy and agitated, the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit will find it very difficult to be heard. 

In the final analysis listening is a matter of the heart, a desire. If you desire to listen to God, to hear the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, let Him know that in your prayer. Open the door a crack, and God will do the rest.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Life In The Spirit (7)

A conservative estimate is that 860 people have been declared to be saints, while the Oxford Dictionary of Saints currently has 1,700 entries. Regardless of the number, it is the case that the saints, when you examine their lives and their writings were each unique in their relationship with God, yet each is now known to be in heaven with Him. The point being: our personal prayer is unique to us and our relationship with the Trinity.
Although I don’t know who said it, I like this quote: The best way to pray is the way you pray best.
Then there is this story told about a priest, a minister and a guru discussing the best positions for praying while a telephone repairman was working nearby.
"Kneeling is definitely the best way to pray," the priest said.
"No," said the minister. "I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to Heaven."
"You're both wrong," the guru said. "The most effective prayer position is lying prostrate face down on the floor."

The repairman could contain himself no longer. "Hey, fellas," he interrupted. "The best prayin' I ever did was when I was hangin' upside down from a telephone pole.”

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Life in the Spirit (6)

Given that God interacts with us as individuals as well as Community, there is one very important implication of this attribute of God. 


As community, God calls all of us to the Mass as prayer, as worship. AND as individuals, He calls us uniquely to personal prayer; just as he calls each of us to our own specific vocation.

 As St. Paul tells us: 
“there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.(1 Corinthians 12: 5,6) 
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? (1 Corinthians 12: 29,30) 
Even as clergy the Catholic Church recognizes Dominicans, Jesuits, Carmelites, Franciscans, and so on.  In section 2699the Catechism says,
The Lord leads all persons by paths and in ways pleasing to him, and each believer responds according to his heart’s resolve and the personal expressions of his prayer. (emphasis added)
Consequently, the way I pray privately is most likely not the way you pray.  
So just as your life is similar in some ways yet decidedly different from everyone else, so your prayer life may be similar is some ways to that of others, and yet it too will be decidedly different.
In Christ, Ken.