185- Spiritual Formation

Introduction

In this article we would like to answer the following questions:

- What is Formation in Spiritual Life (FSL)?

- How is it different from: Formation in Consecrated Life, Spiritual Theology Teaching, Spiritual Direction, Confession, Courses, Catechesis, Talks on a Spiritual Subject, Theology, Meditation, Personal Spiritual Life, Personal Prayer Life, Community Life...?

- What does FSL require?

The Prophetic Branch of the Church

and the Birth of “Spiritual Formation”

In the Prophetic Tradition of the Church, i.e. Monastic Life, Religious Orders, “Formation in Spiritual Life” is a very specific task to the point that in the early phases of formation in Monastic and Religious lives we have the appointment of a person called “Master (“Mistress”) of Novices”, and “Master” for the remaining Junior years that precede the final consecration (final vows).

It is true that the “Master of Novices” and of Junior years (“Master of Students”, “Mistress of Juniorate”) cover more than just “spiritual formation”: they have also to form the candidate into the specific style of life (Monastic, Religious) and of the specificity of the Order or Congregation’s spirituality, traditions and uses. So “Spiritual Formation” will not be the only task of the Master, but it remains the main one because without spiritual life, without a living and growing relationship with Christ, the entire life fails to have any meaning, it has no purpose no power to it. Let us remember the fundamental meaning of Monastic Life, which is traditionally and historically the first form of “consecration” (if we exclude the early ones like Consecrated Virgins...). If we look back to St. Anthony the Great, Father of all monks, and father of the prophetic branch of the Church, if we meditate on his life (see his life written by St. Athanasius) we notice immediately that first he received a call (“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mt. 19:21)), and is not just starting a life on his own impetus and choice and secondly, the journey that is triggered by this call, is all unified around one thing: searching for God, for Jesus, doing all that could be done, to find Him and Him only. Nothing else does matter, at all! This is why the desert was his reality and why the “symbol” of the Desert remains a central one for the Prophetic Branch. It is from his call that all other vocations blossomed, and all other forms of life found meaning and purpose.

Therefore, the archetype of any person who is starting out to belong to this branch of the Church, the Prophetic Branch, features two qualities:

• the call is call from Jesus (not necessarily leaving everything material behind (mind you it was progressive in the life of St. Anthony, proceeding from material things to more subtle things, through emotions, imaginings, thoughts, until he reached union) and
• his life is unified by this quest, this huge desire to search for Christ and never to stop until finding Him in the Union with Him.

Hence the fact that the “Spiritual Formation” is the main task in the formation offered by the Master of Novices and the Master of the following juniorate years up to the final consecration/vows.

Nothing can be put above “spiritual formation”. It is true that human formation, psychology, community, daily tasks are very important, but without Spiritual Formation as the main “manager”/focal point/point of reference it ceases to work.

The person who knocks at the door of a monastery in the Desert is chiefly a person who is Called! And if the person is really called by Jesus, then Jesus and His Grace working in the Person are the main players (of course with the free will of the person in play) in this Call. This is why, sometimes, the Monks in Egypt do test the call rather harshly: they do not open the door of the monastery and leave the candidate outside, in the desert... sometimes for more than one day! Motives are examined! The person can be fleeing his responsibilities in the world, his difficulties, and struggles! He can be a one who is depressed. And on and on.

The monastery is not a place for “losers” or people who have failed in the worldly life. In Egypt for many years for instance, it still is very rare to accept a candidate without a University degree! Why? Because it is so common to have one, and not having one could well be a sign of something unsound! This is just an example for a specific country, not a rule for all places. In other places people can have a successful job for years and this is just as good.

Therefore, it is imperative that the intention, the motivation, the very drive of the individual is checked. Who is calling whom? Is the Grace of Jesus working in this person? Is he or she really called by Jesus, driven by Him, attracted by Him?

Then, however, if the person enters it does not necessarily imply mean that he or she has reached the goal! They are just about to start the journey to reach Union with Jesus. The person now will have a “Master” appointed to his service, who will follow him all the time and form him. Hence the existence of “Spiritual Formation”. Again, as said above, admittedly, there are plenty of other aspects to this formation, we agree on that, but the main one is a “Spiritual Formation”, because this manages everything.

What is “Spiritual Formation”?

Does the applicant embark on Formation immediately? Are there other steps before Formation? Yes of course! Today we have a variety of other steps before it:

- The person goes to see (“come and see” (John 1:39), pays a visit to the monastery or religious house!

- The person can afterwards go and spend more time with the Monks! Although here the “style of life” is very much to the fore as well as the necessity to know to which state of life Jesus is calling the person: “spiritual growth”, “human maturity” and a balanced life are involved implicitly and constantly.

- Afterward living inside the monastery or the house for a certain period of time though not as a monk as yet, can be envisaged.

And it is only after going through these stages, even though they are not mandatory, and the discernment linked to them, that the person might be accepted as a Novice and start the real steps of formation.

To a great extent much importance should be placed on to the previous stages because they prepare the person! Faithfulness to Christ in the previous stages is a vital necessity to allow growth and maturity, both spiritual and human.

If a person is not ready, it will not be helpful to start the Formation proper i.e. the Noviciate. Spiritual growth is important! It is inadvisable to give food that belongs to a further stage of spiritual development to a person who is in need of another milder type of food. In order to be ready there are many stages that are required beforehand! If they have not been completed the future “athlete” will fail to be ready to start the “training”!

Everything counts in the life of a human being. Formation at home, at school, at church, in the university, at work, each step being full of challenges that form the person. Even a person like St. Therese of the Child Jesus went through all these stages before entering the Monastic life at the age of fifteen. One can read about and analyse all the formation she received at home, the training she went through and it was not easy! A helpful suggestion would be to read the first part of the “Story of a Soul”.

To continue then…. After all these initial stages have been completed, proper Spiritual Formation can start! Mind you, it does not mean that no spiritual life has been lived beforehand! Not at all! A great deal was lived and realised on the Spiritual level. But it was not necessarily the main driving force and the Call of Jesus was not yet clearly heard, or if you prefer, the long stage of preparation had not yet been accomplished.

It is in a way rather rare to admit, but it is the bitter reality continually experienced that if important aspects of the previous formation are not accomplished it complicates things later.

Spiritual Formation starts.

Against all other explanations, it must be understood that Spiritual Formation should commence only once all the preparatory stages have been completed. Against all other definitions it must be said that Spiritual Formation is meant to form the person and support him on the journey to real and full Union with Jesus.

What does “Spiritual Formation” provide?

Spiritual Formation, through the Spiritual Formator and his or her collaborators, offers essentially three aspects that need to be in constant interaction:

1- Science: teaching spiritual life. The main science here is Spiritual Theology. Offering the teaching on the first stages of Spiritual Life: what the first stages are, the means for growth of Spiritual Life, types of prayer (the most important from among them), the effect of the work of the Holy Spirit in us, the elements of discernment, the conditions for growth....

2- Experience: not only talking about “prayer” and “love” of neighbour but acting on them:

• taking time for prayer on a regular basis (Mass, Divine Office, an hour of Lectio Divina, one or more hours of Prayer of the Heart, spiritual reading), and allowing contact with others in order to have opportunities to love, to forgive, to be patient, to help others and to share what is common with them.
• A good balanced daily schedule of an ordered life is important.

3- Means of Discernment: on a regular basis: meeting with the Spiritual Master. Going to Confession. Having Spiritual Direction.

One cannot have one or even two of the above areas of Spiritual Formation and neglect the others. The combination of the three harmoniously, under the constant vigilance and supervision of the Spiritual Formator, is fundamental. Thinking that “Spiritual Formation” can be achieved with one of these elements or worse “sub-element” is simply to live in illusion.

Lay people need to be spiritually formed

In the Gospel, the Lord called everybody to follow Him! He invited us all to become holy. Council Vatican II insisted on this call and reminded the whole Church that we need to focus on this Call. It is the exact same call we were considering above, the call that St. Anthony heard one day when he entered his Parish Church.

Now, in the times in which we live, we are able to see the difference between the state of life and the call for Holiness while initially, whoever heard the call, literally left everything and followed Jesus into the desert of this quest. Today, because of many centuries of development we are able to distinguish between the various forms of life (Monk, Religious, Community, Movement in the Church, or just living alone (hermits, virgins)... and lay life (married or single)...) and the spiritual life. Within formation itself, we actually do distinguish today between what is proper to “Spiritual Formation” and “Monastic Formation” or “Religious Formation”, or Formation in a New Movement in the Church, or Lay Formation in a Movement of the Church or a third order.

It is true that we have not yet reached the maturity to distinguish between “Spiritual Formation” in a specific religious family in the Church and “Spiritual Formation” for everybody. We still focus strongly on the differences between the different “schools of spiritual life” and do not yet see the core of teaching in “Spiritual Formation” that belongs to all of us. Despite this lacuna, we do distinguish between “Spiritual Formation” on one hand and “Religious” or “Monastic Formation” on the other hand.

Hence, if we say that “all are Called to Holiness or Union with Jesus”, and if a lay person hears the call one day, and either already has a state of life (is married for example), or has chosen to remain single in the world, he or she is also in need of Spiritual Formation.

Would it be different from the one described above? The “Spiritual Formation” as opposed to the Monastic or Religious formation mentioned above is in fact valid for all of us… lay people included.

Spiritual Formation

Now comes the big question: if the Church claims that all, one day, when they will be ready, will hear the Call of Jesus to follow Him, and if this includes lay persons, how then can they receive their “Spiritual Formation”?

If they do not want to belong to any movement in the Church (providing of course they offer proper “spiritual formation” which is not always the case), or if they do not want to join a third order (Franciscan, Benedictine, Dominican, Carmelite, Jesuit,... third orders or fraternities), where can they find a proper “Spiritual Formation”?

Some might think that a “Spiritual Director” is a “Spiritual Formator”! Well, of course he is not. He might be capable of wearing that hat also, but normally this is not the case. The “Spiritual Formator”, as is described above, has infinitely more science, experience, formation and discernment.

I am well aware that today both “Spiritual Directors” and seekers wish to give and receive respectively Spiritual Formation. They wish that the two functions were the same, but they are not! The Spiritual Formator offers exceedingly more to the seeker than the Spiritual Director! Please re-read above.

Today we need a place to form “Formators in Spiritual Life” and not only “Spiritual Directors”.

Spiritual Formation Offers
Science	Experience	Means of Discernment
A Teaching in Spiritual Life. The First Stages of SL: Courses, Sessions Reading Studying	A Daily Schedule including: Prayer times Work times Love our brothers	Meeting on a regular basis with: Spiritual Master Going toConfession Spiritual Direction

Books that can help understand the first stages:

• Augustine’s "Confessions".
• "The Life of St. Anthony" by St. Athanasius.
• "Autobiography" of St. Teresa of Avila.
• "Story of the Soul" of St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
• "Imitation of Christ".

Readings that can help understand “Spiritual Formation”:

• "Way of Perfection" of St. Teresa of Avila.
• Therese of the Child Jesus’ early letters in the Monastery to her sister Celine.

167: Spiritual "Topography"

A- Kerygma - Catechesis - Mystagogy

Please find below a video about the different levels of Christian Formation. You may read further below as well about the complete list of different stages of Formation.

See as well the video playlist here.

B- The Complete Journey

We may take the following picture and the physical journey from point 1 to point 10 as a good description of the complete Spiritual Journey. (please see a previous complete description of the Spiritual Journey according to the Gospel (17 posts on this Blog), click here.)

1 to 2: Kerygma

1 to 2: Kerygma: Five steps that lead us to (2) where we consider that we are following Jesus: a- Initial Trust, b- Spiritual Curiosity, c- Spiritual Openness, d- Spiritual Seeking, e- Intentional Discipleship.

2: Intentional Discipleship i.e. Conversion. Receiving Christ in ones life. Starting to follow Him.

2 to 3: Catechesis

2 to 3: Basic Adult Catechesis: learning the four parts of the Catechism: a- the Creed (what we believe in), b- Liturgy and the Sacraments, c- how we live, live with Christ, d- how do we pray.

3: Second Conversion

3 to 5: Mystagogy

3 to 4: Initial Spiritual Growth (St Teresa of Avila 4th Mansions). The supernatural starts, i.e. the direct and personal action of the Holy Spirit.

4 to 5: Stabilisation, rooting in God's will. "Union of will" (see St Teresa of Avila 5th Mansions). First liberation for the Body's Rule. Comparable to the crossing of the Red Sea.

5 to 8: Mysticism

5 to 6: Radical change is God's way of dealing with us. Deep purification. Desert. Changing the way we follow Jesus, from human to divine. The night that makes the Saints. The climbing is almost vertical.

6: Spiritual Engagement. Entering the Promised Land.

7: Spiritual Marriage with Jesus. Full Union with Jesus: "it is not me who lives, bt Jesus who lives in me". There is no obstacle between Jesus and the Human being. Entering the 7th Mansion of St Teresa of Avila. (Equivalent to building of the Jerusalem Temple: indwelling of God in the Temple.)

7 to 8: Enjoyment of Marriage. See St John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle, the Stanzas after Spiritual Marriage (excluding the last 5).

9 to 10: Apostolic Life - Witnessing

8 to 9: Increase in the transformation and participation into God's Being and operations, and intensity of the action of the Holy Spirit in us: the soul starts the "sparkling". (see St John of the Cross the 5 last Stanzas of the Spiritual Canticle and the "Living Flame of Love") "a pure act of love is more precious in the eyes of God and the soul, and more profitable to the Church, than all other good works together" (St John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle B, Stanza 29,2) See as well the Act of Oblation to the Merciful Love of God of St Therese, and its effects.

9 to 10: Apostolic Life. Witnessing to Christ. Participating into various trials. Participating into Jesus' Passion. "I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for His body, that is, the church." (Col 1:24) "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith: " (2 Tim 4:6-7) See St Therese's Trial. See Mother Teresa last 50 years.
9 to 10 could have in it various stages, a variety of "states", trials and experiences. All are like the extension of Jesus' Life.

10: Christian Death: true Martyrdom (at least the inner one). See St John of the Cross, Living Flame of Love, Stanza 1 last verse ("Tear through the veil of this sweet encounter!") commentary. See St Therese's Death as an example.

(Please see as well a previous complete description of the Spiritual Journey according to the Gospel (17 posts on this Blog), click here.)

165: Spiritual Demography of a Parish

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:

1. What is then mortal sin and the need for Christian conversion?
2. What is the need for an ordered and moral life?
3. What are the duties of a Christian?
4. 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”?)
5. What is a committed Prayer Life?
6. 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:

- Defining Spiritual Theology (1)

- Defining Spiritual Theology (2)

- Defining Spiritual Theology (3)

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).

- What is Holiness (1)?

- What is Holiness (2)?

- What is Holiness (3)?

- Can Holiness be Planned?

- The Call for Holiness for Married People.

- Getting Ready to Receive Jesus' Call.

- A Call is a Call.

- Hearing Jesus' Call.

- St Teresa's (second) Conversion.

146: The Core of Martyrdom

Every day we celebrate many saints. Only the most known are mentioned in the main calendars, but in fact if you look at the detailed catalogues of saints on a daily basis, you’ll be surprised to see their great numbers.

On the 13th of April, two of them - Pope Martin the 1st and young Blessed Rolando Rivi - went through martyrdom. Let us reflect and ponder on Martyrdom.

Pope Martin I Martyr

Martyrdom is the highest imitation of Christ, the highest level of holiness, because a holy life is crowned by the highest way of following the Lord and imitating his life: giving himself to us, dying for us on the Cross.

It is important for each and every Christian to ask himself this question: What is the most important aspect of Martyrdom? - not in their eyes, but in the eyes of God.

In our eyes, we might be impressed by the horrors of the ordeals the martyrs go through. We might be impressed by the barbaric behaviour that we humans are capable of doing to each another. We could be struck by the fact that God, who certainly was very present in the life of these saints, never intervened to stop these horrors - think of Jesus himself, God didn’t stop his enemies and the people who wanted to torture him and kill him to do so. Whilst it looks as if God is ‘absent’, watching the horror and not doing anything, in fact He is working more than ever, as we will see. You might be struck by the fact that one of the martyrs is even a Pope, the visible head of the Church on earth, although of course the Lord is the Head of the Church.

So in the end, watching the horrors of martyrdom, you might feel helpless. You might overlook the core of martyrdom.

These two martyrs - Pope Martin and Blessed Rivi - went through huge ordeals and humiliations… they lived in different eras, they had different “enemies” Rivi, who was a seminarian, had the Italian Communists against him. The other, who was a Pope had the Byzantine (other Christians like him) against him, because they drifted into a heresy of not recognising Jesus’ two wills, the divine and the human and not accepting what the Pope said.

Blessed Rolando Rivi Martyr

Of course each one of them in his heart presented himself as a victim to the Lord, in the hands of his enemies, like Jesus and in Jesus… offering life for the Lord’s cause.

But now contemplate the darkest moments in the tortures of each one of them, - some lasted hours some lasted days - and think: what is the core of Martyrdom? Is it just dying for Christ because of the hatred for Faith?

"Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death" (Catechism no. 2473)

Many people die for very noble causes. So what is the core reason that makes somebody a Christian martyr? Martyrdom is the highest Grace and the highest achievement for any follower of Jesus. I think that the highest act God can do (in such horrendous ordeals) is for us to be elevated and given the Holy Spirit and so we become capable with His Help to forgive our torturers and pray for them. This is the core of Martyrdom. Remember Jesus on the Cross saying: “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing”;

"Father forgive them, they don't know what they are doing"

remember Jesus having to forgive Judas, remember Mary, mother of Jesus, who had to forgive Judas, remember the first Martyr after Jesus and Mary: Stephen, who forgave the persons stoning him (see the Acts of the Apostles chapters 6-7).

St Stephen Protomartyr

If, while submitted to such horrors, a human being reaches - by the power of the Holy Spirit - the point to forgive and pray for his persecutors, then we have arrived at a fairly deep understanding of what is happening in the heart of a martyr.

The risk is to consider their fortitude, resilience, patience, sufferings… thinking that martyrdom is a matter of self control, pure human faithfulness or personal resilience and fortitude. While in fact these aspects are only the crust of martyrdom.

Can we in any form relate to that?

Well, the first point to clarify is to say: one doesn’t reach martyrdom in one shot. In order to reach that high state of docility to the Holy Spirit, there is a life of spiritual growth behind it. Martyrdom in itself is the crowning of that journey of growth. Behind it there is a journey of forgiveness that started probably years before and then grew.

In the “Our Father” we receive the seed of Christianity and the core of Martyrdom: “as we forgive those who trespass against us, hate us,...”. How many times during one day do we have the opportunity to forgive?

But without the Grace of God we can’t forgive, pray for or bless… So from day one, the real journey toward the real martyrdom starts this way: opening our heart to the direct and personal action of the Holy Spirit in our heart, wanting to come in it, heal it, strengthen it, so it becomes capable of forgiving. Only God forgives. We just offer our “yes” to Him, so he comes in us with his power of healing and forgiveness and helps us forgive, heals our heart, changes it, opens it, makes it a heart of flesh, helps us embrace our “enemy”, helps us pray for him, communicate His Grace to him. We need to bestow God’s Grace on all our enemies. You might object: ‘they are not worth it, they are bad people!’ Ok, but weren’t we all bad people in the beginning? Aren’t we all persons who were saved by Jesus without any merit from our part? So why do we harden our heart towards our ‘enemy’?

God can help us forgive, what He needs is not our capacity to forgive but our desire - our “yes” for forgiveness.

My prayer could be:

“Lord I can’t forgive, because my heart is hurt.

I know you want me to forgive. I want to do your will.

But I find that I can’t do it, the damage is too big and it hurts.

You can’t ask for something that You can’t realise in us.

So please, Graciously, come and heal my heart.

Pour in it your Grace, free me from all that bitterness, hurt, pain, darkness.

Change my heart, open my heart, expand my heart…

and now, graciously, give me the Forgiveness

you want me to give to this person

because I don’t have it.

Help me love this person as you love them,

with your own love.

Amen”

You could add: “I ask you this through the powerful intercession of Mary your mother and my mother, Mother of Mercy”.

There is a big difference between thinking that God wants us to be capable of forgiving, and God wanting us to forgive by Him coming in our heart, healing it, and giving us the capacity to forgive. He has the capacity, we have the desire, and we express it in a prayer (like the prayer shown above).

If we make this prayer, Miracles can happen, we are touched by the power of the Holy Spirit, we experience the fact that God can really intervene in our heart and change us, and as Origen, the theologian says: we start to become Christians (see his comment on the “Our Father).

This spiritual experience is necessary… it is even a condition for any prayer to succeed and be heard: “forgive us … as we forgive”. This “as we” is here to remind us every day of our divine vocation: to allow God himself, Jesus himself, the Great Divine Forgiver, to come in us, dwell in us with His Holy Spirit and forgive, embrace, love, shower His Grace on all our “enemies”. This is our vocation.

This is the attitude of the heart and all this happens first in the heart. Of course this doesn’t mean that the bad things that happened didn’t happen! This doesn’t mean that you agree with any wrong doing against you. It only means that you don’t hold any hatred or resentment against this person, it means that you want to be a real Son of God, capable of allowing Jesus himself to come in you and realise the divine work.

Note: A real sign of strength is to become by the grace of God capable of allowing Jesus to do in you what He is doing on the Cross: forgiving your ‘enemies’. It is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of power and spiritual strength. The weak are violent… they hate. The strong are humble, meek, they allow the power of the Holy Spirit to work in them and through them, showering Him over the world. Who wins in the end?

It doesn’t mean that your “enemy” will necessary accept your forgiveness. Nonetheless you give it generously, otherwise you are blocking the Grace of God, stopping God from working in you.

It doesn’t mean that you have every time to accept any injustice and never rise against it. Jesus said: ‘turn the other cheek’, but He also replied to the centurion who slapped him on the face: ‘why do you do that?’. But you can notice that his general attitude was forgiveness, embrace, patience, love, showering the Grace of God on his torturers. Our Heart has to be clean, never holding any grudge against any person, on the contrary, taking the opportunity to have our divine ‘revenge’ against our enemies: by praying for them. This is how Christianity spread: the forgiveness of the Martyrs is seed of new Christians.

Only the Power of Jesus’ forgiveness, only the Power of His Blood can change the world and is in fact changing the world (the hearts). Because the world is a world of hearts, who are called to be changed from ‘hearts of stone’ to ‘hearts of flesh’.

136: St Teresa of Avila 15/16: Evangelisation

One important question is left for us to address and it can be very easily overlooked: what St Teresa has to say to us about Evangelisation.

She is a woman great of heart, full of compassion for the Church of her time, clearly seen in Chapters 1 and 3 of the Way of Perfection, where we witness her enormous suffering because of the Protestant Reformation, not to mention all the disastrous news she was receiving from France. It is true that all the graces she received greatly spurred her on to increase her desire to reform her life and create a monastery. It is true, too, that the powerful grace of witnessing the place she deserved in Hell, had she not been saved by the Lord's mercy, consistently urged her on to start a new life. We know that she founded seventeen monasteries, which is a momentous achievement, given the means she had and the short time it took to accomplish. But all this does not necessarily give any clear indication of 'evangelisation'.

How can St Teresa's teaching shed a light on the very hot topic of Evangelisation? It is very rare to compare Evangelisation with the fact of sitting on the top of a very high tower, in the guardhouse, having a wider and deeper view with being capable of measuring the heights and depths of God; in fact all these elements are necessary in order to spread the Gospel. In one word, in order to evangelise, we need to find, in contemplation, the supernatural wisdom of God. Christ wants us to be 'witnesses'! Witnesses of the Risen Lord. Yet, to bear witness necessitates seeing the person, meeting him, actually touching him and finally contemplating him. This high 'tower', this living and contemplative dimension of our relationship with Christ is necessary in order to bear witness to Him. This is very seldom underlined.

Unfortunately this tower must definitely be built! It requires a steady effort aiming for growth and not being spread too thinly. Inevitably there is a constant referral back to the question of the spiritual life and of its priority for us. The reason is simple: one can impart to others only what one has first assimilated. This demands extreme care in nurturing a deep relationship with Christ first, in order to grow spiritually. On a tower, the place of the guardian or night watchman is not at mid-height of the tower, but at its summit! Therefore it is vital to reach the summit in order to have clarity of vision and not to act with haste by lowering one's gaze to mid-height only. In a sense, this is how evangelising progresses: Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? (Luke 14:28) However, do we pay attention to and acknowledge this important fact of 'completing the tower'? After all, it's only logical that a task be completed. In St Teresa's case, then, after her conversion and from the moment she started to receive a steady stream of 'grace upon grace', would she not have felt the urge to do something for the Lord? But with lack of experience and discernment as yet still growing, the process would necessarily take some time to be completed! Herein, therefore, lies the reason for the Lord's delay in allowing her to do any important work for Him – at least until she was ready for the grace of 'Spiritual Engagement'.

Loving one's neighbour is of paramount importance, and this from day one, as Teresa's growth in grace was to reveal! Charity is fundamental and does transform us in Christ! But charity is not necessarily 'Evangelisation'. It is more limited in time and content. A great Master in Spiritual Life of last century, the Carmelite Father Marie Eugene Grialou, saw this point with great clarity. In the forties and fifties he wrote a great 'summa' of Spiritual Theology in the form of a substantial commentary of St Teresa's book the Interior Castle, its title being I want to see God. Toward the end of the magnum opus, he endeavours to write a small treatise on the relationship between 'spiritual growth' and 'apostolate' according to St Teresa. His intuition is of rare brilliance! Why? Because being able to recognize the link between them is highly pertinent! In fact, one of the members of his secular institution, Notre Dame de Vie, transformed it into a wider study and published it as a book. That this work is of fundamental significance cannot be denied.

Let us expand a little on this brilliantly intuitive work. It is very rare to find an analysis on the direct relationship between, on the one hand, the spiritual growth, transformation and sanctification in the agent of evangelisation and, on the other hand, the quality and great fruitfulness of his apostolate, ministry and evangelisation. St Paul clearly endorses this in that he says 'without charity' all that he does is mere gesturing (1 Corinthians 13:1 : If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal). It is God alone who makes us bear fruit, His love pouring into us adding greater merit to all that we do. If we are not connected to God, either the divine stream of the grace of God will not flow, or it will flow only feebly, crippled by our clumsiness.

Paradoxically we rarely address these issues either theoretically or pastorally. The question is 'Why'? Because our starting point is that the apostolate and the ministry are separate areas to be worked on, we are blind to the labourer's being ill-equipped for this! As the apostolate is mandatory, hardly anybody analyses the conditions for increasing fruitfulness in the vineyard, resulting consequently in the quality of the labourer not being addressed. Instead, only their intellectual formation and theological qualifications are considered, to the detriment of the spiritual life. Their spiritual life is considered as being a private matter, of an interior dialogue that has no immediate connection with the possible fruits that might result.

It is true that these are profound issues, but of necessity they must be addressed, because it is on them that the fruits of our life depend, it is they which reflect God's true intention when he chose us. 'You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last' (John 15:16). It is not surprising, therefore, to hear criticism of the contemplative cloistered style of life of St Teresa's nuns such as: 'what good are they doing?', 'wouldn't it be better for them to come out of their enclosure in order to be useful to their neighbour instead of remaining enclosed doing nothing?' This is a blatantly superficial judgment that fails to appreciate or understand how the Gospel spreads, or what occurs in the hidden recesses of peoples' hearts. When St Teresa writes to her sisters, she often asks them to be 'such as', namely, transformed by the Lord, so that their prayers become more powerful (see Way of Perfection Chapters 1 and 3)! 'to be such as' goes a long way in Teresa'a view! It is not a passing comment in her writings, but in fact encapsulates the entire process of the spiritual growth that it implies and that should be implemented, that is: the closer one gets to God the more one is transformed into Him, and gains – by the grace of God – an increasing, an extraordinary, 'hold' on God, which enables them to be instrumental in the salvation of more people. In sum, to 'evangelise' is first and foremost to obtain Christ's grace for others. It is true that Christ obtained everything for us on the Cross. But this salvation needs to be communicated to others, and the Lord's plan for us is that we participate in this work, as St Paul specifies: we are the collaborators of the Lord (1 Co 3:9; 2 Co 6:1), of his grace.There is a need, after all, for all the graces obtained by Christ on the cross (our salvation) to be passed on to our brothers. Surely this is the basic requirement for any evangelisation! One can preach ad infinitum, but if this is not done while being spurred on by the divine life in us, it will be like 'sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal' as St Paul says.

Are those, then, who plunge into action, into apostolate, connected to God, to divine charity? Preaching is not one 'job' amongst others! It is sacred work! My Father works always says the Lord (John 5:17), and the Son sees the Father doing, and he does the same' (John 5:19) - these are important indications of real 'work' and real divine 'action' in the Gospel of St John. They are put there in order to enlighten us, for if Christ, who is the Evangeliser and the Witness par excellence, proceeded in this way, how can we evade it? This greatly intuitive concept of Fr. Marie-Eugene on the relationship between 'spiritual growth' and 'apostolate' is summed up at the end of his book I want to see God, mentioned above, and deserving great praise should be pondered on at length. Here, going through her book the Interior Castle, Mansion after Mansion, he reviews the relationship between the growth of the love of God in us and our apostolate. He analyses the state of the human being at each stage, and questions whether it is advisable for him to plunge into the apostolate and to which extent, or whether prudence is needed. He questions the state of balance between the human and the divine parts in the person, and whether the person is ready for greater things. 'Is the person rooted deeply enough in God to undertake great endeavours?' he asks, and 'how does the divine work in the person?' And so forth. Not only does he address these questions, but 'pondering' on these questions is also essential and reminds us of that other cause for pondering: For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ (Luke 14:28)

Two Questions

Instantly two urgent questions emerge : do we have to wait until we reach the summit in order to initiate interaction with our neighbour? If this is the case, then, why do the cloistered Carmelites not go out and evangelise – at least the ones who have reached the summit of the Spiritual Life?

The reply of St Teresa herself in answer to the first question is to lay great stress on the importance of love of neighbour in order to grow (see Chapter 13 in this book). Decidedly, not only is this a beneficial practice, but it is also a vital one for our spiritual life, because it facilitates spiritual growth, enlarges our capacity to love and increasingly attracts inner graces. Without it, there will definitely be no growth! We are called to practise it from day one! We simply cannot seek Christ the Head of the Church and neglect his Body, the Church, our brothers and sisters. Here it is necessary to add that it is during the Prayer of the Heart, namely during those long daily moments of silent prayer, that the Holy Spirit enlightens our hearts and minds concerning our neighbour. One would be surprised to discover within the 'science of the human being' that the Holy Spirit unquestionably communicates with us during the Prayer of the Heart. This having been said, the meaning of 'evangelisation' does not include throwing oneself into a project, a mission, even a specific ecclesial one, or an apostolate. From day one, Christ simply asks us to forgive our neighbour, to help him, to see Christ in the person of the poor, the suffering, the one who is in need. By contrast to start work on a project, a mission, is quite another matter..

The second question concerning the cloistered nuns is both 'cheeky' and pertinent. Who says that St Teresa's sisters are not taking care of their neighbour? From the beginning of their cloistered life till their last breath they work for the salvation of souls, and more especially for priests (read Chapters 1 and 3 of Way of Perfection). Is it possible for the Love of Christ to be poured into the heart of a human being for the latter not to be filled with supernatural compassion for his neighbour? The condition, in fact, for a young girl's entry into a Discalced Carmelite Monastery is that she dedicate her prayer and her sacrifices to priests. Her entire life (her efforts, sufferings, sacrifices, prayers...) is oriented towards and centred on this intention. It may be better therefore to reword the question another way: 'if one of the nuns has reached 'spiritual engagement' or even 'spiritual marriage' with Christ, what then becomes her method of evangelising?' In this light, seen externally the impression given is that, enclosed between four walls, she does not do a great deal! The question as ever, then, remains: what is she doing?

Let us take as an example one of the best representatives of St Teresa's daughters, St Therese of the Child Jesus. She perfectly embodies the teaching and spirit of St Teresa of Avila. If we examine her life more closely, especially from the year 1893 to her death in 1897, what she 'does' will become eminently clear. It is true externally her life looks very simple with no great changes from 1893 onwards including that she will be responsible for the Novices, will pray especially for two priests entrusted to her prayers, and will become gravely ill of tuberculosis and die young. Her life goes unnoticed by anyone outside of the Monastery, but also by those inside it. Let us remember that after her death, the Church started her process of Beatification, with the Diocesan Process, and that when one of the nuns learned of this she said: 'Sister Therese, a saint? What did she do? Nothing!' Very true – she did not do anything remarkable, noticeable or of visible impact! But would this be St Teresa's point of view and analysis of the situation? If we read her works, or merely remember what she recommends is done in the seventh mansions, we certainly will reach a different conclusion. St Teresa, in fact, used to say (see Chapters 1 and 3 of Way of Perfection) that she wanted her nuns 'to be in such a way' that their prayers would have greater empire and influence over Christ. What does it mean to be 'in such a way'? It alludes to their transformation in the love of God. St Therese would understand what has already been mentioned above: the supernatural power of love that circulated from then on in her veins, resulted in her being able to take part directly in the action of the grace of God within the Church! An external view of the Church reveals it is composed of different distinct members. However, an internal view reveals it to be one Body, wherein the same Divine Blood (the Holy Spirit) circulates. If this life's blood in a member is blocked, the blockage is dire! The Vatican II Council, with its new awareness of the Church as Jesus's Body, clarifies this as it gives us a greater perception of what is known as the Communion of Saints. Today, therefore, we have a better understanding of sin and that one person's sin will affect not only that person and God, but it will also affect the Church. This is the reason for asking for forgiveness not only of God, but also of the Church. So then, if we allow this flow of the love of God in our heart to be deployed, or even if we increase the power of that flow, we get different results. The process is reminiscent of the action of a pump, although Therese herself uses a different comparison - the 'lever'. Concerning the action of God she says:

All the saints have understood this, and more especially those who filled the world with the light of the Gospel teachings. Was it not in prayer that St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. John of the Cross, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis, St. Dominic, and so many other famous Friends of God have drawn out this divine science which delights the greatest geniuses? A scholar has said: 'Give me a lever and a fulcrum and I will lift the world.' What Archimedes was not able to obtain, for his request was not directed by God and was only made from a material viewpoint, the saints have obtained in all its fullness. The Almighty has given them as fulcrum: HIMSELF ALONE; as lever: PRAYER which burns with a fire of love. And it is in this way that they have lifted the world; it is in this way that the saints still militant lift it, and that, until the end of time, the saints to come will lift it.'(Manuscript C, end)

In order to understand more fully the 'prayer which burns with a fire of love' Therese will take another image where the Church is compared to a great body composed of different members; which member will she be? 'In the heart of the Church I will be Love' (Manuscript B) is the inevitable answer. She will not be the heart, she has been in fact transformed into 'blood'! She is so transformed in the Holy Spirit, that she becomes, by participation, the Holy Spirit (Love) himself. St John of the Cross will say something as powerful in his own incomparable way: first, 'the soul gives God (the Holy Spirit) to God (the Father)' and, 'the soul gives God to whoever she wants' (see his work Living Flame of Love). What a supreme hold the human being has on God!!

This seems to belong to another world! Only Spiritual Theology is capable of explaining to us what happens in the depths of the human heart in the transformative journey. It was a great part of St Teresa's mission to lift the veil over the world of the interior life which, while invisible to the naked eye, is very real. She offers to her readers an 'inner garden' so they can walk within it. As described in the early chapters, she could be compared entirely to Christopher Columbus the explorer of a new world, and to Diego de Ribera the cartographer. Or even closer to us, to Freud and Jung. There are indubitably entire continents to be discovered within ourselves which develop with our spiritual life! It is not because they are invisible that they do not exist. Reference to microprocessors or to nano-technologies proves this without question! They are invisible to the naked eye, but they are quite real. Like today's electronic microscopes or scanners, Spiritual Theology, a science shining with such power through St Teresa of Avila, is the right tool: it allows us to 'see' what the naked eye of Theology cannot see.

A return to details of Therese's life is pertinent here, especially to the fact that her body is prey to a terminal illness – tuberculosis. More significant, however, is the massive internal struggle occurring in her soul, especially starting from Easter of 1896 – God's introducing her into the underground world of sinners. Reflect for a moment on the beautiful passage we read every Christmas, at midnight Mass: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2) This text mentions 'the land of deep darkness' or in another translation: 'the land of the shadow of death'. But what is this 'death'? It is nothing less than separation from God! This is a terrible thought! And St Teresa says it in the Seventh Mansions where she advocates the need for great compassion for people in this state, the state of mortal sin.... people who dwell in the obscurity of the First Mansions, far from God. She is insistent about the need to remember them in our prayers and that this is a momentous act of mercy on our part. Remember, too, that many years after experiencing it, she still had a vivid impression and image in her mind of the vision from God of her place in Hell, had He not had mercy upon her!

In Therese's case here, not only does she remember these people, but she is literally introduced by God himself - as a result of a greater Love - into their world! Through the Holy Spirit, she is united to them, becoming out of her transformation in Christ the Love of God himself, being imbued in all her being by that which invades them: darkness. Here it is to be understood that only a soul who has reached the summit of the Tower (union with Christ), has the capacity (which is at this stage not hers, because she is now being moved by God) to bear the weight of that contact with darkness. And this is done out of love, by the action of the Holy Spirit, by virtue of her transformation in Christ. St Paul says it well: I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for His body, that is, the church (Colossians 1:24). We know very well that nothing is lacking in the Lord's Passion. He is the only one who is fully God and fully man, the only one who obtained salvation for all on the Cross. But, what is lacking is not salvation itself, it is the application of this salvation to more people, to those who are distant from Christ. What is lacking is discovering a charitable soul, a true Bride of Christ, who wants to communicate this salvation to her brothers, her new brothers! The magnificent understanding conveyed by St Teresa and St Therese is that Jesus does not only desire souls to become his Brides, reaching 'Union with Christ', but He also desires Brides and Mothers, Spiritual Mothers, capable of bearing new children for Him! St Paul, a man, says: My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,(Galatians 4:19), indicating that there is no single way of evangelising, of engaging in the apostolate, or of acting. On the contrary, it is of central importance, first, to enter the real laboratory of transformation and evangelisation of the Church. God allowed St Teresa to undergo the journey of growth in order to reach this goal.

From the Seventh Mansions, the Mansion of the Lord himself, a new interaction starts, that of entering into the inner depths of the human being in need of the salvation realised by Christ, he who is in need of being carried.... he for whom verbal evangelisation is insufficient. Here the focus must be on Our Lady, Mother of Jesus! Did she give voice to any remarkable words of external evangelisation? Did she have any apostolate? Has she evangelised? No. And she is the mother of us all. Her mission belongs to all Christians, and is at the reach of everybody, especially the humblest of us. She is the mother of evangelising and the mother of evangelisation. Indeed, it is fitting to say that everything starts with her and ends in her. We, too, can emulate Our Lady being enclosed within four walls, and still hold the entire world in our hands and in our heart, and yet make it turn. After all, the sun continues to rise everyday. One has only to see and to pose the question: because of whom?!

Conformity with Our Lady

“On the octave day of All Saints I spent two or three very troublesome days [...] While I was at Matins that same night, the Lord, through an intellectual vision so intense it almost seemed to be an imaginative one, placed Himself in my arms as in the painting of the fifth agony. This vision caused me great fear. For it was so clear, and He was so close to me that I wondered if it was an illusion. He told me: "Don't be surprised by this, for My Father is with your soul in an incomparably greater union."

This vision has so remained up till now. What I said of our Lord lasted more than a month. Now it is gone. (St Teresa of Avila, Spiritual Testimonies, Seville 8^th of November 1575)

By placing Himself in the arms of St Teresa, just as tradition represents Him in the hands of Our Lady in the descent from the cross (in fact the sixth sorrow of Our Lady), a real similarity between Our Lady of Compassion and St Teresa is established. We understand her fears of being deluded or misled. Herein we discover her supreme conformity with our Lady of Compassion, rarely given – it seems – with such supporting evidence in the entire history of the Church. Jesus has granted St. Teresa the grace of conformity to Our Lady's life, leading her to the fullness of the Mystery of Our Lady. The last statement above could mean that this grace lasted an entire month, in which case this could be the longest Marian grace St Teresa received. Initially on 22^nd of July 1572 St Teresa had requested the Lord to allow her to take the place of Mary Magdalen at the foot of the cross. Here Christ is giving her infinitely more.... the place of his mother.

St Teresa would not mention any other Marian grace after this one. Was it because this was unsurpassable? It is noteworthy that this grace was received three years after the grace of Spiritual Marriage, which rooted St Teresa in the Spiritual Maternity of Our Lady, in her compassion for Christ's Body, dead as it was. Also, more trials would occur in her life, beginning a month later when she received the order from her superiors to stop founding more monasteries and to retire in one of them. At the same time the Inquisition paid a visit to Teresa in the Seville monastery after a denunciation by an ex-novice. It was the beginning of a great storm hitting her reformed order. Then too, St John of the Cross was kidnapped and imprisoned. To make matters worse, the discalced had now to submit to the orders of the Calced Carmelites. In a word, her entire new world, in one fell swoop, seemed to collapse – Teresa was certainly living her 'motherhood' in a painful way. Being the woman she was at that junction however, she would show a great deal of patience and strength, moving heaven and earth in order to save her reform and fulfil her God-given mission. This mission would be almost completed at the Chapter at Alcalà (beginning of March 1581) that consecrated the autonomy of her Reformation. During this month, echoing some words heard interiorly in 1572 (see below), Teresa said: I can speak like Simeon, because I saw in the Order of Our Lady the realisation of what I wished (Letter 361, March 1581).

On another day the Lord told me this: "Do you think, daughter, that merit lies in enjoyment? No, rather it lies in working and suffering and loving. Haven't you heard that St. Paul rejoiced in heavenly joys only once and that he suffered often. Look at my whole life filled with suffering, and only in the incident on Mount Tabor do you hear about my joy. When you see My Mother holding Me in her arms, don't think she enjoyed those consolations without heavy torment. From the time Simeon spoke those words to her, My Father gave her clear light to see what I was to suffer. The great saints who lived in deserts, since they were guided by God, performed severe penances; and besides this, they waged great battle with the devil and with themselves. They spent long periods without any spiritual consolation. Believe, daughter, that My Father gives greater trials to anyone whom He loves more; and love responds to these. How can I show you greater love than by desiring for you what I have desired for Myself? Behold these wounds, for your sufferings have never reached this point. Suffering is the way of truth. By this means you will help me weep over the loss of those who follow the way of the world, and you will understand that all your desires, cares, and thoughts must be employed in how to do the opposite." (St Teresa of Avila, Spiritual Testimonies, Probably Avila, 1572)