Spiritual
Demography (from
prefix demo- from Ancient Greek δῆμος dēmos meaning
"the people", and -graphy from γράφω graphō,
implies "writing, description or measurement") is the
statistical study and analysis of populations according to the
criterium of Spiritual Life. Spiritual Demographics are quantifiable
spiritual characteristics of a given population. “Spiritual
Demography of a Parish” is the statistical analysis and study of
the Spiritual Life of the Faithful in a given Parish.
How
do we “measure” and discern the Stages of Spiritual Life?
First
and foremost we need to be aware of the existence of a Journey of
Growth that starts with Jesus’ Call to follow Him and that leads to
Holiness. The Doctors of the Church like St Bernard, St Bonaventura,
St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross,… studied and presented
the different levels of growth in spiritual life and the criteria to
establish them. We cannot afford to neglect that effort. It is by
having a clear understanding of the stages of growth that we can
understand what “Spiritual Demographics” mean.
The
Church is Mother and Mistress, and what interests her is to help us
reach the fullness of our vocation, in following Jesus to union with
him and to the fullness of Love.
The following video explains how we could implement "Spiritual Demography" using the masterpiece of St Teresa of Avila: "The Interior Castle".
The
Six-Minute Video
The
goal of the following video is to trigger a different way of thinking
and planning Pastoral work:
1-
It opens the horizon to the existence of an entire journey that leads
to Holiness (avoiding the reduction of the individual Christian's
spiritual life to two general elements: general random prayers,
Sunday Mass, some charitable works).
2-
It indicates that each stage in spiritual growth has its own needs,
spiritual food and discernment.
3-
It takes into consideration, within Pastoral work, the spiritual
needs of each person.
4-
It offers a greater impulse for motivating people to use the proper
means in order to trigger growth.
Objections
Some might
object that the different stages of growth of spiritual life are too
artificial (excessive compartmenting) or that they should not be used
in the discernment of what type of Pastoral to offer (type of
teaching etc.).
To these
objections one has to clarify some essential points about Spiritual
Life:
1- The
Church cannot on one hand claim to call everybody to Holiness and not
be able to offer any explanation of how to go about reaching this
goal: a- description of Holiness, b- an explanation of the stages to
reach it c- presenting the practical means to reach it, d- offering
the needed discernment to guide the persons in this journey of
growth.
2- Claiming
that these different stages of growth do not exist as St Teresa or
other Doctors of the Church put them to us is a profound mistake as
follows:
- What is then mortal sin and the need for Christian conversion?
- What is the need for an ordered and moral life?
- What are the duties of a Christian?
- What is Jesus’ personal Call to follow Him? (the Call for holiness becomes clearer at a certain point in one's life! What then is the “Second Conversion”?)
- What is a committed Prayer Life?
- What is Purification, Sanctification?
These few
questions show that talking about stages of growth is not lacking in
deep sense. It is just that we are not used to think this way. Hence
the vital need for that renewed vision of Pastoral Life.
Pope
John Paul II in his Pastoral Letter, “Novo
Millenium Enuente”
underlined (as mentioned in the video) the need to put holiness as
the fundamental plan for Parishes. Very audacious, but coherent and
in tune with the Universal Call to Holiness that Vatican II reminded
us of.
Articles
In order to
understand the different core aspects that are part of the Journey of
Spiritual Growth, please find here a series of different articles,
each one explaining a needed aspect that complements the explanation
given in the Video. They help us make further steps in the study of
pastoral analysis and planning.
The
use of Spiritual Theology as a science that helps implement this
Demography:
Different
topics:
- Mapping Spiritual Life (with St Teresa of Avila)
- The Spiritual Journey (last of 11 very important Diagrams to understand the different stages of Spiritual Life in the Gospel).
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