199- Letter for a Young Person Called to Work in the Field of Spiritual Life

How we Become "Masters in Spiritual Life"

“Working in the field of Spiritual Life” means one or more of the following activities:

- Teaching Spiritual Life (Spiritual Theology)

- Offering Formation in Spiritual Life (Masters of Novices, Masters in Institutes,…)

- Offering Personal Tuition in Spiritual Life

- Offering Spiritual Direction.

Dear B,

I would just like to clarify something important regarding how we are enabled to fulfil the mission of teaching, forming and guiding in Spiritual Life, according to the Catholic Tradition. You certainly intuit it or have even heard me talking about it. First, I want to remind you of the conditions to become a master in spiritual life, then I will give you a specific warning.

I- A reminder of what you already know: what makes us Masters in Spiritual Life is a prudent blending of three capacities (see this in St. Teresa of Avila):

1- Science (Degree in Spiritual Theology).

2- Personal Experience of God (intense spiritual life, receiving manifold graces related to our spiritual growth, practising Lectio Divina and Prayer of the Heart).

3- Discernment that comes from discipleship: many years of personal tuition/supervision and Spiritual Direction from a very knowledgeable master.

When the three are combined under the supervision of the Tutor, this helps re-cognise i.e. it makes the connection between two things: a- what was learnt (science, the Degree, the books, the readings, the study) and b- what has been felt or perceived or understood in our experience (or that which is not experienced) of God.

Re-cognising is a very delicate and subtle operation where two “worlds” meet and seem to us to match: on one hand the world of our experience and on the other hand the world of what we read or study. These two worlds are distinct. Re-cognising occurs when we feel that they have met and resonated on a point or more. Re-cognising offers a new understanding of both our experience and the text and roots in us a new knowledge and “judgement” in spiritual matters. The Holy Spirit, Master of Spiritual Life, leads the operation. It is a long process knit together by a multitude of graces which goes towards the formation of the new master.

We realise this operation both consciously and unconsciously. The unconscious operation occurs almost always and consists in the projection of our own experience on what we are reading. We therefore end up by unconsciously filtering and conditioning our reading.

Our own prism interferes unknowingly: it often either reduce or deviates from the real objective sense of what the author is saying.

An important observation: when we talk about “authors” in spiritual life we need to make a very important distinction that many scholars don’t make. It is very common to make the mistake of confusing Saints and Doctors of the Church (or Masters). Of course, Doctors of the Church are also saints and even have an eminent holiness, but they are much more than just saints.

A saint is only a saint and is not necessarily called to teach, lead or explain spiritual matters. This is why St. Thomas Aquinas in a concise way says: “let the saint pray for us and let the doctor teach us”. Even if Saints are writing about their spiritual life or about the graces they have received, they are not teachers or doctors. A “Doctor of the Church” or a “Spiritual Master” on the contrary has received from God extra graces to help him do two things:

a- understand what the graces are all about and situate them correctly on the journey of transformation/sanctification

b- express and explain the graces correctly.

As we can understand therefore, great confusion can result from this delicate, risky but vital operation of Re-cognition. Consulting a Master is very much required here in order to ensure the necessary attention to an accurate process of “re-cognition”. A lot of patience, resilience and humility are needed here. And of course, a great spirit of obedience to God through the Master is a must. 

Of course, it goes without saying that the choice of the Master here is decisive. As Saint John of the Cross puts it: the disciple will become like the master, so we need to pay great attention to the hands into which we are entrusting ourselves.

Three pitfalls are worth mentioning:

1- The obscurity inherent in spiritual life and its consequences: an important component of spiritual life is the difficulty to perceive it, understand it and explain it correctly. Faith, by its very nature, as a theological virtue implies a certain obscurity. Spiritual experience, then, despite the fact that it is an “experience” of what the Holy Spirit is doing in us, remains obscure. This can very easily induce us into error and makes finding the correct understanding and explanation of the experience more arduous. Humility, patience and perseverance are of the essence here.

Spiritual Life is obscure like faith, because God action in us happens essentially in our spirit, which is above our consciousness, “your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3) and any echoes that might fall into our awareness (mind, emotions, senses) must be subject to subtle discernment and correct interpretation. What we feel or don’t feel (soul-emotions-body, i.e. area of awareness) is not necessarily what occurs in our spirit (beyond awareness), while the latter is in fact the cornerstone and measure of progress.

Experiencing the action of the Holy Spirit can generate a very wide range of thoughts, images, feelings and sensations that can be even perceived as contradictory. The spiritual experience is therefore multifaceted and versatile. Not being purely material at least in its source, its description ends up by being rather relative.

Understanding and describing a spiritual experience is difficult also because it is conditioned by the culture, experience and knowledge of the individual: we often re-cognise in our own way! As a consequence, what we read about the experience of others can be interpreted in different ways, some correct and others not.

As a consequence, studying spiritual life, reading various authors and working in the field of Spiritual Formation, is a very sensitive undertaking. Paradoxically accuracy is needed but is altogether difficult to achieve. The pitfall is to transform that long initial lack of precision and tangibility into something certain and final.

The beginner tends to rush into conclusions, by pushing the initial normal lack of clarity and tangibility inherent in Spiritual Life toward assumptions and convictions that are artificial. Intellectual patience is a very important form of charity towards the full mystery of what the Holy Spirit is accomplishing in us. Accepting not to have clarity for long time is necessary. Otherwise we choose part of the truth, and transform it into the whole truth which is the root of any heretical attitude. In Greek, heresy means to choose (part of the truth)!

Another factor of imprecision: People who are meant to work in the field of Spiritual Life need to know that the Holy Spirit is meant to provide them with two graces in order to support this sacred mission: a- understanding the graces received and b- being able to talk about them and explain them (see St. Teresa of Avila, Life 17,5). Not every person or even every saint is meant to receive these two graces because they are only related to the service/ministry. As a consequence, we will often find people (saints for instance) giving an account of their own spiritual state (present, past) who haven’t necessarily received the second and third grace mentioned by St. Teresa of Avila. They will not be necessarily accurate in their understanding and explanation. Therefore, relying on their perception and judgement is not always safe. As a consequence, an extra effort is necessary on our part to understand and explain properly what we read. This factor of uncertainty is normal but has to be taken into consideration always.

2- Confusing levels: spiritual life’s growth could be comparted to an ascending spiral. Seen from above, growth will look like moving in an indefinite circular way. If we take a point on the circle and focus on it, we might think that we have come back to the same point. But a side view of the spiral will show us that it is two different points or levels of spiritual growth.

As an example, Martha and Mary are mentioned by St. Teresa of Avila at least twice, once in the Prayer of Union (4^th-5^thMansions) and another in the 7^th Mansions. An inexperienced eye won’t see the difference.

If watching our own experience and comparing it with what we are reading is done in an inaccurate way (like seeing the spiral from afar, or from above), we will make wrong assumptions, the process of “re-cognition” will deviate. In fact, if we take a closer look, we find to our utter surprise that there is a difference in the spiritual levels or stages. And this often offers a radical difference in the evaluation and judgment of the spiritual state of the person.

Confusing different levels, makes us read a grace or read a person’s experience thinking the person is at a certain stage, while the person is at a completely different stage! Similarities are tempting and we often rush into conclusions.

3- Feeling we can relate while we read a spiritual book: it is not because we read about a grace or a set of graces and feel good about it and can relate to them (like, pleased, feel good) that it means we have reached that level. Illusions are very common.

II- My warning for you:

It is truly the most difficult Mission in the Church: to be involved in the ministry of Spiritual Life. No discussion about that. It is easy to study and pass exams intellectually, one can be brilliant intellectually but quite ignorant and misleading if he or she endeavours to work in the field of Spiritual Life. Intellectual acumen is one part of the ministry. Important, necessary and should be of high quality (solid Philosophy, solid general Theology (especially dogmatic, moral and pastoral theology), and solid Spiritual Theology). No fancy knowledge here! Solid and traditional.

My point for you is the following: of course, having a Degree in Spiritual Theology is something very good, but, paradoxically, the Degree doesn't qualify you. So only focusing on getting the degree is wrong. Worse, being prevented from becoming a master in spiritual life because of the lack of the degree would affect your Call seriously.

It is never never enough to just base everything on Science, on the Degree! More things are needed and can be implemented or strengthened from now onwards.

Again, the Degree doesn't qualify you, it just informs you about spiritual life according to a certain school or way of engineering it today. The Degree gives you an idea of the 2000 years of experience and knowledge of the Church about Spiritual Theology. In a way, it roots you in the Church.

But it never replaces the thousands of hours of personal study (study, not reading) and personal research. It will never replace the advice of a good Tutor in the field. Impossible. It will never replace the hours of Spiritual Direction received. There is the added danger that study can inflate our ego! In Spiritual Theology, true study should deflate the ego and should make one very prudent before making any assumption.

What does the above mean? Am I dissuading you from venturing in this field? No, on the contrary. I am inviting you to do a great deal of work, to study, and of course to get the degree! But I am also saying: don't ever think that the degree is enough! Never! Spiritual Theology is a practical science so without experience and tuition (discernment) it is impossible to teach properly or to form.

Humility, patience and resilience are necessary. Great charity also is of the essence: love for people, loving to help, loving to understand them, and an immense devotion to the Holy Spirit and to Our Lady.

Please don't be prevented by not having yet obtained your Degree. Even if you had a degree, if you were to think that this were enough, that would be a crime! Inherent in Master ship is a sacred triangle: science, experience, discernment, well blended together.

If humility is needed to grow spiritually, humility is a million times more important if somebody feels called to teach (form in) the Spiritual Life. Humility manifests itself in the form of a great spirit of supernatural obedience.

Avoid at all costs a spirit of improvisation, of rushing, of amateur science or discernment. Many people today in the Catholic Church who work in the field of Spiritual Life fall into these categories.

Continue please, but in humility... experience... love. Don't neglect personal Tuition and Spiritual Direction!!

in Mary

Jean Khoury

172- Teaching Spiritual Life to ‘Committed’ but not ‘Spiritual’ Parishioners

To start with, let us address the title itself and define the expressions. If we consider the unusual aspect of the title in general, and if we pass the test of not thinking it is meant to be provocative, we can say that this ‘unpleasant’ ‘categorisation’ of the words: ‘committed parishioner’, ‘spiritual’ is in fact artificial or harmful or reductive. However, on the contrary, it is based on the observation of the action of the Holy Spirit in us, observation and analysis made in a deeper and more articulate way.

God doesn’t make us saints in one day. He needs our collaboration, our personal decision, the use of our free will. From our position, from who we are in relation to who He is, there is need for a long and arduous journey of growth and transformation. This journey is described by great doctors of the Church like St John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila and many others, but maybe not in such detail. So, in order for us to understand how the Holy Spirit works in us, the different types and levels of His action, it is important to study the writings of these doctors of the Church carefully and with great attention.

One of the most important turning points in Christian life, a turning point that in a sense introduces the human being to a new world, The Spiritual World, comes in meeting with Jesus, in the beginning of a Personal Relationship with Him, and in the experience of the first type of action of the Holy Spirit.

When we consider Baptism, then, we see it is a Divine Seed in us, which parents and godparents, educators and priests help to nurture. But there is a decisive moment when the Divine Seed, with its divine power is awakened in us. It could occur slowly, progressively, or suddenly, abruptly, but without a doubt it will have to unfold. This is the turning point.

Note: it is important to remember that we do not understand or grasp everything in the experience of others. Many things can be developing in the ”background” of one’s being. And by “background” I am not alluding to the unconscious or subconscious or any of these psychology realities – though, of course, they deserve our attention and consideration. What I mean by the aforesaid expression is the perception-awareness of any experience and expression it. Not all that is lived by a person has a perfectly well-shaped perception and awareness. Only very few people can even express clearly to themselves what is happening to themselves and even less so can people express it well to others. In giving an account to themselves or to others, of their daily life, some people, might overlook important elements that they are experiencing while underlining others. In this sense a person can very well undergo the experience we are talking about but not have enough perception, awareness, culture, to “see” it as relevant. It is not necessarily a defect at all. It is just the human condition.

A blatant example is the fact that St Teresa makes no relevant and consistent mention of an experience similar to what St John of the Cross describes in the Dark Night of the Spirit. Does this mean that she didn’t go through it? No. It could simply mean that suffering is so present in her life, on a daily basis, that it starts to have less relevance. She states that there is not a day that passed in her life without physical suffering such as tummy aches, headaches and the like. Therefore, to her underlining suffering might become less important or needed. It was her daily bread. As a reward for greater and more meticulous attention to detail, if we look carefully into the many chapters of the sixth mansions we will notice that there is a point where she does mention suffering.

The Formator in Spiritual Life or the Teacher of spiritual theology’s ideal student is the person who has had this experience, this awakening. Why? He or she will be better understood in his teaching. His teaching will be sought after with great interest and even passion. As St Teresa of Avila states repeatedly: the person who has had the experience will understand her better. And in certain circumstances she adds: otherwise what I am saying will seem gibberish. This is the fate of the teacher of Spiritual Life.

Before we move on to the following point let us remind ourselves of a coined expression that is highly useful here: Second Conversion. Hearing Jesus’ Call, discovering His Presence, initiating a relationship with Him, can happen (and does) to people who are already Christian. Therefore, we don’t call this new step “conversion” but we prefer to call it “second conversion”. “Second” because the person is already Christian. But the Seed of Baptism exists in a non-active state. It doesn’t mean that the person is neglecting her Christian life. No, on the contrary, one will find that it is a person a person who is fully committed in her parish, active, helping others, a regular Mass goer, morally very sound, not committing mortal sins and who goes regularly to confession! Having all these qualities can puzzle many greatly. How come a person like this can still not yet have had the “second conversion”? How strange! Indeed, it looks very strange. St Teresa of Avila underlines it and Blessed Fr. Marie Eugene, see I Want to see God, also underlines this apparent contradiction: on one hand we are faced with a “good catholic”, a good “church goer”, a morally sound person, a committed person, and on the other hand, we don’t find in this  person the relationship with Jesus, the powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit described by St Teresa of Avila after her conversion! Both St Teresa and Blessed Marie Eugene say that this person is very rational. Reason is in control. I would rather say: order. Because the person might not be intellectual. St Teresa has this beautiful expression in the third mansions when talking about such people: love didn’t bring them ‘out of reason’. By this she means: the love of Jesus, the action of the Holy Spirit, didn’t unlock the strongbox of (good) habits of that person, opening “reason” to a wider range of perspectives, led by Love! Love breaks the mould. Love make us do foolish things for the beloved. Love offers a new horizon. Love is a relationship. Experiencing Jesus’ Love gives a divine “drunkenness”.

Spiritual Life

How can we then describe the Spiritual Life of this person? What defines “spiritual” in fact comes at a further stage. But can we say that there is no spiritual life in this person? Would that be correct? Could we call it: dormant? This is a delicate subject. There could be little bursts of fervent spiritual life, graces can be received, but the person is not progressing yet, and the weight of his/her good habits could return back. The moral weight of the life they lead can sometime cover any new perspective on spirituality. Incorrect or misleading information about any “spiritual life” or “mystical life” can/could dissuade as well.

Despite these few attempts prompted by God, the person could go revert to type and continue to go around in circles. The person will seem to be spiritually alive, truly alive, but will hit a wall, the wall of the Second Conversion. The person could be trying repeatedly, but without success.

All the moral values of their life, of their Christian life, all the sound commitments in their life can become – paradoxically – a good screen!  A little bit of pride mixed in with the commitments and the values can indeed hinder the needed humility that will pave the way for the new stage. The result is that we can then say that the person is “going in circles”, hitting a wall and bouncing back, or being simply convinced that her the life she is committed to is what it is to be a “good catholic”.

Can we Trigger the Second Conversion?

There is an important question that now arises: why is conversion not triggered? Are there reasons for this? Is there a moment in the life of this committed person where he or she can hear Jesus’ Call more clearly? And put more directly: can we trigger the Second Conversion? To a certain extent and to my limited knowledge, I am not aware that this question has been studied. Why so? Theologically, we are used to be constantly led by a very important truth: God is free, He gives His grace to whoever He wants, when He wants, the way He wants! The sovereign freedom of God cannot be touched! It has to be preserved at all costs. Plus, our knowledge and wisdom cannot determine when and how it is best for a specific person to undergo the Second Conversion. Is he or she ready? In reality, however, we haven’t studied the subject enough, and in greater depth.

Here we are, standing in front of the average committed parishioner, on one hand wanting earnestly to invite him or her to attain greater depth, to a new experience, and on the other hand we don’t know what to do and how to do it.

St Teresa’s of Avila Conversion

St Teresa of Avila’s life can be also viewed as a paradigm, a teaching, a type for the Church. It can be seen as a micro example of the macro reality of the Church; the church of her time and the church of our time. Under certain aspects little has changed, and the need remains the same.

When I say that her life is a paradigm or example or type for the Church I allude, for instance, to what happens to the prophet Ezekiel: overnight God makes him lose his wife (see Ez 24). By acting this way God offers Ezekiel as an example: here Ezekiel embodies God himself and Ezekiel’s wife is God’s People. So, the story of Ezekiel is in fact a reflection of the story of God himself. In our case, God gives us St Teresa of Avila as an embodiment of the story of the Church (not of God).

Little statue that moved St Teresa during her Second Coversion

In fact, her church struggled for more than three centuries to reform itself. One can actually see it! Council after council sees the Church, deciding to reform herself, making important statements, but in the end, implementation-wise, she fails. For three centuries this is ongoing! The desire for reform is truly present. The awareness for the need to reform is most certainly there! But to no avail. Martin Luther will then try. But his trial does not employ God’s methods: he departs from the Church – though politics and ethnic reasons are certainly a great factor as well – and tries something different. However, it is not in this way that one reforms an existing body. Reforming an existing body is a most difficult task. Leaving it to wither and die and working with a new “body” is so much easier! But it is this the way? Anyway, this is not our subject. Our subject is how St Teresa is a personified parable of the Church for the Church. How her experience embodies the experience of the Church.

Therefore, St Teresa of Avila’s experience is transformed into a clear message from God to the Church, where God invites her to gaze at her life, and where we come to notice that it reflects ours, as a church and as individuals.

Teresa, then, becomes a nun at the age of twenty and for nineteen years will be living as a nun: committed, spiritual, obedient, but not yet having had the “second conversion”! So, it is only around the age of forty that she undergoes her second conversion and change. Before that she indeed received graces, sporadically, but they sadly didn’t have any serious consequences - something important was lacking. After that, the graces of God start to be poured out, her life totally changes! She remains a nun, but everything has changed! As she states in her Autobiography, from that moment on, it was God’s life and history in her, not hers.

Her second conversion is fundamental. But the temptation is to understand it in a fatalist way by repeating the fundamental principle we stated above about God’s sovereign freedom: “God is totally free to give His Grace to whoever He wants, when He wants, the way He wants”. In doing so on the one hand we state a fundamental truth, but on the other hand, we do not balance it with other truths, but instead we fall into a heretical deviation, not seeing : 1- what God does, the repeated attempts to make a move towards us or attract us! 2- the human response in general and in particular that can hinder or facilitate the closeness to the Second Conversion!

Are we facing a moody and unpredictable God? If this fundamental truth is absolutised and not balanced properly with other equally important truths, we end up not understanding who God is and what He wants to do! God is love: a burning love who wants to give Himself to us -  this is his constant state: a fire, a thirst, a Divine Desire to give Himself to us!! Who can understand this thirst?! Hence, when we say that God gives His grace “when he wants to”, we seem to imply that for some days or months or epochs He burns with love for us, and at other moments in history, in the history of this specific person, He is rather calm, cool, and not interested in giving Himself! As if He could change his nature! Of course, this is simply utter nonsense! But this is what we do unconsciously when we absolutise this fundamental truth: God is free! He gives Himself when He wants! But God is love. He wants…He wants now, now, now! No delay! Fire is fire! It can’t become water! “I am a devouring Fire”! “I am Jealous”! say the Scriptures. What does this mean? It simply means to burn with the desire to give oneself.

Thus, if Teresa’s second conversion is delayed for almost twenty years, if the reformation of the Church is delayed for centuries, it is not that this pleases God, or that from these lengths of time He is busy doing something different! Or that He “went to the market” as Prophet Elijah describes concerning the gods of Baal.

This indeed, by contrast, gives us a glimpse of an urgent much needed endeavour on our part: to ask ourselves and indeed study the reasons why the Second Conversion failed to take place in the case of St Teresa and learn from it for ourselves and for the life of the Church. What caused it to happen? How come she was not only a good Christian, but also a committed nun, spiritual, faithful and obedient, yet despite all that she wasn’t triggering the second conversion. Can we trigger it then? What can we learn from her second conversion? What can we learn studying this turning point, from looking at her life before, and during the second conversion and of course her life afterwards! 

Studying St Teresa of Avila’s Conversion

Considering the “second conversion” of St Teresa not as proceeding not from a pure decision of God, but from the human perspective i.e. what as individuals we can do, what we can avoid,… is a necessity in honour of  God’s action: it was He who sent us a Prophet, i.e. Teresa, to teach us, to show us a real second conversion,  a proper Reformation.

It is surprising to see to which extent the conversion of St Teresa of Avila, her second conversion, is so little touched on, studied and the elements which embody it are so rarely studied or examined in greater depth! We don’t seem to see any relevance in it! Like bees attracted by the flower, when we take her writings into our hands we fly to the flower of the graces that the Lord is showering upon her after her second conversion, we stand in awe in the face of all that God has given her - all that He made her achieve, her foundations, her books, her apostolic endeavours! But we hardly stop to consider that this nun had been for no less than twenty years a nun in a monastery not creating any ripples, a simple nun, with hardly any relevant events in her life and hardly any effects on the Church to speak of. She could have continued like this for the rest of her life, had she not undergone her second conversion! For some reason this does not seem to move us! We take God’s graces for granted! Indeed, we have a very weird understanding of God’s behaviour! We end up not gaining a great deal from this living Parable that He gave us: St Teresa’s life, her struggles in an turbulent sea for twenty years!

It is therefore mandatory for whoever would like to work in the Spiritual Life, teaching it, conveying it to others, to study with great care Teresa’s part in her conversion, the reproaches that God made against her, the different elements of her conversion, the stages of it. The benefits that come out of this study are simply beyond human comprehension, because they will enable us to understand the very known - but still “mysterious” for the majority of us – passage from the third to the fourth mansions: how can we facilitate, remove the obstacles for this crossing! What can we do to “open” that Divine Fountain in us, the Fountain of the Outpouring of God’s Graces, of “Grace upon Grace”.

Conclusion

It is of the utmost importance to focus on St Teresa’s Second Conversion in order to extract from this research and study, the elements of teaching that God gives us through her life and teaching.

She tells us about her conversion in her Autobiography: Chapter 9 and the chapters that precede it and Chapters 23-24. As a result, from this first stage in the study, having gathered the elements, one will find them crystallised and synthesised in her book: The Way of Perfection. In fact, this book in its entirety and in its structure, is the living embodiment of the teaching that we can find about her Second Conversion and which we can be viewed in her Autobiography. This book holds the secret that is needed to “trigger” the Second Conversion and therefore all the Graces that God wants to pour into us… “grace upon grace”.

Jean Khoury

Holy Week 2018
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147: The Importance of Leading a Spiritual Life

The mission of the School of Mary is to teach Spiritual Life to adults giving them the minimum necessary knowledge in order to have a personal spiritual life and allow our personal relationship with the Lord to grow and reach its fullness.

Teaching plays a very important part in allowing a healthy spiritual life to initiate and empower every person. Without that teaching, one remains ignorant of many vital and practical elements of our faith and therefore, unconsciously, are subject to random results in what one is doing in order to get closer to God. The reception of Grace, even with a sacramental life, can remain very limited, or even clogged.

Ignorance is sadly a key factor in that. Why? Because the person is not yet in control of his or her own personal spiritual life. Things are done randomly, just as they come, in an amateurish way. The consequences of this is an “under-life”, a limited life, an under-developed life. Even if the person has some success in their family life or work, deep inside, the core is lacking. His or her Christian life cannot blossom with only the commitment of an hour every week at Mass.

Without teaching there is no awareness. Without teaching one can’t handle properly ones spiritual responsibilities. We are talking here about a teaching that has practical implications, not just mere theory. The practical teaching shows us how to do something, which if we put it into practice will help us receive new graces. Consequently, our spiritual life blossoms like a flower in Spring. On the other hand, if we don’t receive practical teaching, we will not know what God wants us to realise in our life; the gifts He wants to give us because we have not learned how to receive his grace in a fruitful way. Practical knowledge is vital because it reveals our identity and shows us what we are to do. We need to know how to react when God moves us. He needs our cooperation. He will not force Himself on us and we need to have this awareness on how to receive his grace.

Teaching Dogma, Liturgy and Sacraments, teaching Moral Theology is good, but it will never work without a proper spiritual life, and without a practical teaching that facilitates it. The Catechism tells us this. Pope Benedict XV1 tells us this in his first encyclical, Deus caritas est (English: "God is Love" ). This is not new!

‘Great is the mystery of the faith!’. The Church professes this mystery in the Apostles' Creed (Part One) and celebrates it in the sacramental liturgy (Part Two), so that the life of the faithful may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father (Part Three). This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer. (CCC 2558)

But receiving a new Teaching, new to you, if not in itself, pushes you out of your actual boundaries, out of your comfort zone. Who likes that? Very few people like the experience unless it is for a good reason. Even so, one can find it too pushy. One was living in a blissful state of ignorance but now the sudden arrival of this teaching on spiritual life upsets it! However, one has the opportunity now to control ones spiritual life; one can feel more responsibility for ones his own life and the future, the spiritual future. The more you know, the more you receive, the more God asks you later to give an account of what you received. God is just. He will not ask you to give what you don’t have, or work on talents or gifts that you don’t have or what you are not aware of. But now you start to discover the richness of the Gift of God. You can explore at the same time all what is needed to correspond to His Gift and receive the Graces God wants to give you, now you have more work. You need to move on from the lethargic state you were in to a more pro-active state. Staying still now means one is rooted in Jesus through silent prayer. Wouldn’t we want to remain rooted in Jesus in everything? Advantageously, what is happening is that a deep spiritual life is offered to allow us to remain centred, grounded and rooted in God. This gives a great peace and contentment. Curiously, the majority of human beings don’t find it, do it, so they remain agitated, wandering here and there without a goal. Isn’t it preferable to remain still in your busy life?

This requires effort and is indeed demanding. This is why, many years ago, while teaching, toward the end of one of my courses, a gentleman, attending the same First Level Course of Initiation into Spiritual Life (also called: “Solid Foundations”) said to me in front of everybody: “Jean, why are you teaching us all this? Why are you giving us all this information about Spiritual Life?”

I thought he knew! And he knew! But his question in fact was saying between the lines: our lives now have became more responsible. Do we like that? Oh that state of blissful ignorance, how we miss it! Yes, if God created us without our consent, He will not save us without our consent! (pro-active consent, active collaboration). As a consequence of that Teaching, things are becoming more complex, we need to move and do things! We need to learn more, practise, read!! 

The other day, while teaching the First level Course a lady said to me: “what happens if people don’t know all these things? Can they still receive the Graces God wants to give them? What will happen to them?” 

Hmm… I replied: the aim of this Course is to take the student from a “random” life in the Grace of God to a “responsible” life. Random to Responsible! St Paul says in his letter to the Romans:

“But how are men to call upon Him in whom they have not believed?

And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?

And how are they to hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14)

How will they know if they haven’t heard the Good News? This is why the Lord commands us to Evangelise, to Preach, to Teach, to “Form Disciples” for Him. It is not a choice, it is an order: go and preach the Good News! Life is vital. Feeding your children is vital, it is not optional.

One of the greatest truths taught to us by Pope St John Paul II is that every baptised person, by virtue of his or her Baptism, is a missionary. You can see that in his Encyclical letter “Redemptoris Missio”. It is by the virtue of Baptism that we receive the mandatum (order), the “sending in mission”. Let us remember as well that the Priest at the end of the Mass when he says: “Go in peace”, he is not saying: “...that’s it, the Mass is ended, go back to your normal life”. On the contrary, he is saying: “Now that you received Christ in your heart, in your mind, in your will, in your emotions and in your imagination, I (as your Parish Priest, and in His name) am reminding you that now you have a Mission from Christ, to transmit Him to others, starting with your family, your neighbours and your work place!

So, people can’t know what God wants to give them on a daily basis (“Give us our daily Bread”) if nobody explains it to them. There is a “Body of Teaching” dedicated to that: the science of knowing what God wants to give us (God’s Gift) and how we can receive it on a daily basis. If nobody specialises in this Science, if nobody teaches that, we end up by having empty teaching, non edible bread, and our life becomes stagnant. If nobody teaches me, how will I know? If I don’t know, I won’t be able to do anything. I might receive a strong grace from time to time, like once a year during a Retreat, but nothing else! Instead of receiving “grace upon grace” (John 1), discovering the richness of the Gift of God, diving into its immensity, discovering the Love of Jesus and how it fills all dimensions of life I won’t be able to know Jesus, to fall in love with Him, to receive his “Daily Bread”. I will be an “under-developed Christian”.

130: St Teresa of A 9/16: The Movement of Contemplative Prayer

It is an essential part of the Mission given by God to St Teresa to teach us how to practise the Prayer of the Heart. In truth she can be considered to be a major Prophet. Admittedly she is not the first one in history to do this, but, by an exceptional grace, God wanted her to leave a legacy greater in breadth and depth that would impact on the Church at a very critical moment in its history. In fact, when the Protestant Reformation claimed that each person needs to have a direct personal relationship with God, the Lord sent this great Prophet to the Church to show us the orthodox and therefore fuller way to have it. In every sense she embodies the perfect way to have a personal relationship with Jesus. She takes her time in her books (Autobiography, Way of Perfection, Interior Castle) to explain to us in a very practical, flexible and accessible way how to practise the Prayer of the Heart, indicating what happens, how we feel it, and how we can discern it. It will be of great benefit, now, to explore her precious teaching and learn from her how to practise the Prayer of the Heart.

St Teresa learned how to practise the Prayer of the Heart by reading some well-known authors of her time especially Francisco de Osuna (1497 – c. 1540), on his Third Spiritual Alphabet. In particular his explanation of the word 'recollection' was of great help. It might be useful, here, to recall what we emphasized in earlier chapters, that she had to be determined to give everything to Christ, to become totally his, in order to give a solid foundation to her prayer life so that the Prayer of the Heart would commence bearing fruit. It is worth remembering that before her conversion, she practised only intermittently what Francisco de Osuna described on how to recollect oneself. It is also helpful to reiterate here that the foundations of the Prayer of the Heart are laid, first, when there is a call from Christ to follow Him from close proximity, followed by an inflow of the Grace of the Holy Spirit, the total and determined gift of oneself, and lastly especially by the determination to follow Him, unconditionally and selflessly. The Prayer of the Heart is not a relaxation technique, a form of entertainment, or a quest of any kind! It does not occur just out of our pure initiative, it happens in a very precise context, the context of a relationship that starts with Christ, where we put our hand into His Hands, in order to walk with Him and follow Him. St Teresa teaches us that the Prayer of the Heart is a love encounter with Christ where we are immersed in Him, where He pours into us his Love, the very essence of the Holy Spirit. We can add without fear of betraying her teaching (see end of Way of Perfection) that the Prayer of the Heart is the extension of our most recent Communion, the 'digestive' process that comes with it! It is a substantial meal where the human being is fed, mostly in the very depths of his heart! What is more to the point, however, is that the effects of this food appear quite rapidly!

What now has to be considered is when to practise contemplative prayer. This covers the material aspect of the practice in space and time. According to St Teresa, we can practise the Prayer of the Heart in two forms: first, by dedicating to it short moments during the day, as if to nourish and sustain ourselves during the journey, and secondly, by choosing to dedicate one or two specific moments during the day for longer practice. As we know, St Teresa established the rule that her reformed nuns would practise one entire hour of Prayer of the Heart in the morning and another hour in the late afternoon.

The next consideration encompasses the method to be used. In her book, the Way of Perfection, in chapters 26, 28 through to 31, St Teresa offers her best description of 'how to practise the Prayer of the Heart'. But an important point must first be clarified. As we underlined in the previous chapters, the grace of God is offered to us in two different ways: first, through general ordinary help, and secondly, through personal and direct Grace. The journey of our heart (our very being) until it is immersed in the furnace of Christ's Love is then divided into two parts: the first part depends on us, when St Teresa invites us to activate and use the general help of the grace of God, but then she tells us that the second part is simply the free response from God.

God, it is to be remembered, is at the door of our being, He never violates our freedom and never forces us to enter into HIm. On the contrary, Almighty God waits for us to give ourselves to Him. If we offer ourselves to Him, if we entrust ourselves into his hands, if we throw ourselves into his very arms, his response will be immediate and He will possess us and we will be immersed in Him while his Holy Spirit is poured into us. As we have seen, according to St Teresa the process entails two 'steps' which she calls 'Prayer of Recollection' and 'Prayer of Quiet'. The first one is realised when we give ourselves to Him, thereby expressing our choice to Him, and the second one, in response to the gift of ourselves to Him, occurs when He gives himself to us, namely, when we are immersed in Him. In the Prayer of the Heart both of them are inseparable.

As will be noted, consequently, when reading St Teresa's writings two expressions stand out sharply when delineating these parts of the journey: 'Prayer of Recollection' and 'Prayer of Quiet'. One could be tempted to think that these are two consecutive stages and ways of practising the Prayer of the Heart. A beginner for instance, would be forgiven for thinking one would start with the practice of the 'Prayer of Recollection' and subsequently after a few months or even one or two years, according to God's will, he or she would then be moved on by God toward a more supernatural prayer, that is, 'Supernatural Recollection' or in fact right into the 'Prayer of Quiet'. This vision entailing successive sections is erroneous. The 'Prayer of Recollection' and the 'Prayer of Quiet' are two halves of one and only one fruit: the complete act of the Prayer of the Heart.

God's Desire to Give of Himself

It is a fact, however, that commentators are often misled and are even induced into thinking that these are successive stages. The reason is based on a partial understanding of the Supernatural, that is, the Theology of Grace. Theology is extremely firm that God gives himself to whom He wants, when He wants and in the way chosen by Him. However, the freedom of God the Giver of the Grace of God is but part of the Theology of Grace. The other more significant part that is not always taken into consideration, is the desire in God himself and his thirst to give himself to us. Indeed, God has an overwhelming thirst to give himself to us! The saints tell us, indeed, and from experience, about this all-consuming desire. Therefore it is imperative that the two aspects of the unequivocal truth on the Theology of Grace be joined to understand that if we offer ourselves to God, He will never delay in coming to possess us and pour his grace into us. When using the general help of His Grace we clarify our availability to God, and in turn He does not coldly stand back watching and waiting, detached and inactive. According to the knowledge of the saints - St.John of the Cross, St.Therese of Lisieux to name but a few - this is definitely not the real God. He is thirsty, He IS Thirst itself, and we are the water that can quench this great thirst. Therefore if we practise the Prayer of Recollection (Way of Perfection chapters 26, 28-29), his reply is immediately offering us the first stages of his supernatural action, mostly the Prayer of Quiet, where the in-dwelling of God commences. (Way of perfection, Chapters 30-31).

Theology of Grace

The following explanation deals with a delicate matter concerning the Theology of Grace and its interpretation, but it should be understood by everyone in order to understand what God really desires of us and how we are to implement this desire in order to grow steadily in the Spiritual Life.

When we say that 'God gives himself 'the way He wants, when He wants to whom He wants', this sounds very incomplete because it gives the impression that God, for some unfathomable and mysterious reason, or simply for the sake of safeguarding his total freedom, acts strangely, and and has no real desire to communicate with on a regular basis. It also gives the impression that the Grace of God is like a delicacy which He is in two minds about imparting to us. This is definitively not the case. Herein, lies the crux of the matter from which huge confusion results.

In order to clarify the matter, let us first of all state that no-one challenges the freedom of God, no-one interferes in his decisions. But it must not be forgotten that He died for us and this in itself reveals the insatiable thirst He has to give himself to us, all of us, all the time and abundantly. It is impossible to endure what He did for each one of us, as evinced by his sufferings, Passion, Death, without his being totally committed to love of us and without being consumed by his Thirst for us. Otherwise this would seem to contradict the received belief. Given this, then, wherein lies the difficulty? Two incorrect assumptions cause this difficulty to arise. First, the thirst of God is not clearly perceived, nor is his constancy in wanting to give himself to all of us, all the time and abundantly. Secondly, there is confusion between the perception of the Grace of God (which falls into the soul and or the body, being an extra and optional 'crumb' from the divine table), and the Grace itself (that is uncreated and communicated to our supra-conscious spirit, but imperceptible to the conscious soul and body).

A significant question now presents itself: why does God not give the 'perception of the Grace' with the Grace itself? The answer is important for it illustrates that the beginner tends to confuse the perception of it with the uncreated Grace itself and, as a consequence, will easily idolise the 'perception', and deviate from Faith, going astray from the True God. It is only faith that leads to the real Uncreated God.

As a conclusion, we can say that the truth that 'God gives himself the way He wants, when He wants to whom He wants' would generally apply not to the core of the grace – the condition, as we have seen, being the gift of oneself – but to the perception of the grace of God. Thus a fairer evaluation would be to say: 'God gives the perception of his grace in the soul/body the way He wants, when He wants to whom He wants'.

Theology of Grace and St Teresa

A brief aside is indicated here to clarify some points St. Teresa makes on the Theology of Grace. When St Teresa of Avila reminds us what theology says concerning the freedom of God to give of himself 'when He wants, to whom He wants, and in the way He wants', we must be aware that she is at an early stage of her spiritual life (Autobiography). At this early stage she cannot distinguish between first, the core of the grace poured into the spirit, secondly, the perception of the grace in the soul and/or the body and lastly a possible particular effect on the body – tears. When explaining this supernatural action of God in prayer, Teresa uses the allegory of watering the garden, where water is the Grace of God, with the human being himself as the garden. However, here, 'water' comprises these three realities and they have become fused together, without Teresa consciously realising it in her mind, namely, receiving the grace in the spirit, second, feeling the grace (soul/body), third, having tears as a more common effect in the body. This may be misleading, hence the explanation given above which comes from St John of the Cross' teaching. This is a further reason that seems to reinforce the aforementioned partial understanding of how the Grace of God works. In addition to what has just been outlined, therefore, we have to bear in mind the difference between the General help of the Grace of God and the Particular help of the Grace of God, as seen in previous chapters.

In conclusion, it must be realised that it is necessary to remember the crucial fact that the foundation of the Theology of Prayer should be based on a complete and clear understanding of its vital component – the Theology of Grace.

The Nature of Contemplation

Added to this is the fact that having a correct understanding of all the above-mentioned concepts would immeasurably aid the proper understanding of the nature of contemplation. As a previous chapter illustrates, during the first part of last century, theologians discussed and argued interminably about the nature of contemplation. One group stressed the importance of the human element in it, which makes it something that is acquired by human effort, and the other group laid great stress on the importance of the supernatural (infused) aspect of it. As it happens, both are right: both stress the decisive aspects of contemplation, the human part and the divine part. Both are vital for its success. It is the story of the meeting of two beings: God and the human being... The Prayer of the Heart, it is important to realise, is essentially the story of an expressed love between them (and to love means to give oneself), and that it is impossible to take into consideration only one of them and ignore the other. Both beings have free will, both can give themselves. The Prayer of the Heart is the mutual gift of each of them to the other. A similar mutual gifting occurs during Communion: God gives himself to us, and we give ourselves to Him. Communion should remain a very important point of reference for us in our practice of the Prayer of the Heart – we cannot afford to neglect it.

God, being in his very nature love, comes out of himself, and stands at the door of our being and, incredibly, He waits. He does not enter. He never forces the door. With divine respect and love, Almighty God knocks and waits. If we are really willing to love Him, if we really want to give ourselves to Him, then a 'union', a 'meeting', an 'embrace' will result. The meeting of two free beings, in an élan of mutual love, presupposes the use of two mutual freedoms! Christian contemplation is this meeting, this sacred kiss, the supernatural embrace! In no way can it exclude the personal initiative of both beings! The solution to having a correct orthodox understanding of the nature of contemplation, consequently, comes through recognising the two modalities of the action of the Grace of God: the grace that prepares us to receive God and the Grace itself of receiving Him within us. Christian contemplation, it must be emphasized enough, cannot be either acquired or infused, it is both: it consists of two parts of one unique journey that goes from where our heart initially beats to the Furnace of Love in Christ.