208- CoronaVirus

Dear Friends, 

We live in difficult times and the news of not being able to attend Mass leaves the majority of us in shock. We don’t know what to think. Also, confinement changes everything in our life, daily routine, relationships, family, community, work and movement. After the initial shock, we are trying to make sense of this trial. If we allow God’s wisdom to guide us, we might even find in it a deep benefit. In fact, is a great opportunity for us to deepen the fact that our Christian Worship should always be not only physical but also “in Spirit and in Truth” (John 4:23-24); with our heart and not only with our lips (see Matthew 15:8, Isaiah 29:13); entering into our inner room, closing the door of our senses and praying to God (see Matthew 6:6) who is spirit (John 4:23-24).

We often take for granted that the Mass is a right, while in fact the Mass is a Present from God. We take for granted that we have Priests while in fact they also are a Present from God. Without Priests there are no Masses! We need to pray for our priests, seminarians and for vocations to the Priesthood.

Today, what is available and offered to us is to attend Mass via the internet. It a challenge for us but it is also, paradoxically, a huge blessing. God is inviting us to really appreciate the beauty and spiritual depth of the Mass. He wants us to go deeper into it. How can this happen?

1- We have been constantly aware of the direct link between the Liturgy of the Word and Lectio Divina. The latter is the digestive process of the Grace received during the Liturgy of the Word. Today, in our confinement, let us take the opportunity to receive the Grace of Jesus’ Word for us today. Let us renew our practice of Lectio Divina in order to enter deeper into the first part of the Mass.

2- Also, in the second part of the Mass, during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, when the moment of Communion arrives, when the Priest invites us to do a “Spiritual Communion”, we need to really do it, opening our heart to Jesus who wants to come and dwell in us. More so, we can take a silent time right after our Spiritual Communion, in a “Prayer of the Heart” like attitude, in order to benefit from the Sacrament of the Eucharist. We can also, at any other designated time, resume the Prayer of the Heart, continuing to benefit from our Spiritual Communion.

Lectio Divina and Prayer of the Heart are intimately connected to the two Liturgies of the Mass, they allow us to digest the Grace of God received and benefit spiritually from it, grow in our knowledge and love of Jesus and discover in Him new depths.

During this time of confinement, God is calling us to the desert. He wants to talk to our heart and wants to offer us exceptional graces, drawing us closer to Him and revealing to us new dimensions in our Christian life. (see Hosea 2:14)

After this time of desert, by the Grace of God, we will go back to normal life, but it will be a transfigured Christian life, having benefitted from many graces given during this special time. It will be a new start.

Let us pray for each other, entrust each other to Our Lady, entrust our Country and all countries to Her and the entire World. Let us entrust the sick and the prisoners. May the Grace of Our Lord be always with us. 

Please pray for me.

Jean Khoury

www.schoolofmary.org

Sunday 22^nd March 2020

200- The Prophetic Creed

The Christian spiritual journey has two large consecutive periods of growth. Each one is triggered by a specific Call and a Conversion and each has its own creed and teaching content. The formation that belongs to the first period is called Catechesis and it follows immediately after Baptism. One of the main elements of Catechesis is the Creed: a summary of the fundamental and vital elements of Faith that enable us to be saved. In former times, the formation that belongs to the second period was called Mystagogy. Sometimes it immediately followed Baptism, but often it occurred a while afterwards. It is often triggered by “Second Conversion”. Mystagogy is more than just a deeper understanding of the mysteries present in the Sacraments. It is an enlivening and deepening of the life of the Faithful, a unique, personal and immediate experience of the Risen Lord and following Him in the Power of the Holy Spirit.

In the early centuries, Mystagogy, this new stage of growth, developed and became more apparent through the quest for God in the Desert: monasticism. A baptised person would hear the Lord’s call to go deeper into the faith and seek perfection. He would actually leave the world and go into the Desert to search for Union with the Lord and live for Him only. (See the Life of St. Anthony written by St. Athanasius, who is also the author of the Nicene Creed.) If we look at the Church as a whole we can say that she has three functions represented in three different bodies, perfectly united and interrelated: the Kingly function (Pope and Bishops), the Priestly (Parish and Parish Priests) and the Prophetic one (Monks and all who have heard the Call to follow Jesus).

It is important to understand that within the “Universal Call to Holiness” that originates in Baptism, there is a significant distinction between “knowing that we are all called” and actually “hearing the Call and starting the journey”. The first period of growth belongs to the Baptismal life in the Parish: living Catechesis to the full. While the second period belongs to the “call of the desert”, “call for perfection” or simply “Jesus’ personal call to follow Him”. The Call for perfection is emblematically mentioned in the Gospel story of the rich young man who asks Jesus to tell him how to reach Perfection. The Lord divides his answer into two stages:

1- the necessity to practise Moses’ Commandments first

2- to go and sell everything, give the money to the poor and go and follow Jesus.

We may consider that the first stage ensures Salvation, while the second offers Union with Christ and full realisation of the “Gift of God” (John 4:10).

At this juncture in the life of the Faithful, something new is started: a Call to follow Jesus from close up, to plumb new depths of Baptism. It is true that being baptised gives us potentially the capacity to follow Jesus! But, significantly, at a certain point in our life, hearing Jesus' Call, is something different and vital. The new journey as of now has its own "rules" and its own "set of beliefs" or “Creed”! This “new” Creed is not opposed to the common Creed, on the contrary, it proceeds from it and deepens it. If we consider that the Creed as we know it is the creed of the Catechumens and the recently baptised and confirmed, we can then consider that there is another Creed that serves as a framework for this new period of growth.

The elements that constitute this Creed are twelve as in the first Creed. They are the main vital truths that command the entire vision of the new period of Spiritual Growth. In fact, the second conversion introduces us to a new world and this Creed – our new contemplative eyes – allows us to contemplate it in its entirety. Without these vital truths one would not be on the orthodox path. Thus, one should now be able to say:

“I believe in *Jesus' Call, in time; *Jesus’ Promises; *the stages of Growth of Spiritual Life; *the different levels of the Action of the Holy Spirit in us; *Our Lady's role in our spiritual life; *the necessity of the assimilation of the Sacraments; *the Full Development of the Virtues; *the necessity of determination, perseverance and the Pascal dimension of the Cross; *the need for appropriate Formation; *union with Christ’s Mystical Body; *a different level of Apostolate; *the Eternal Father's Providence, Love and Mercy. Amen.”

Saying this Creed often, strengthens the belief in the elements of the commitment to answer Jesus’ Call.

Here follow short indications regarding each article of the Prophetic Creed. It goes without saying that each one of these deserves a long explanation and presentation.

1- Jesus' Call, in Time	Second Conversion. Entering into a personal relationship with Jesus. Hearing the Call. Following Him closely. Jesus is the Groom. Jesus is The Everything.
2- Jesus’ Promises	Jesus Promised us: 1- Union with Him / Acquisition of the Holy Spirit. 2- Fullness of Love. Life is: becoming one with the Son, being embraced by the Father, breathing the Holy Spirit.
3- The Stages of Growth of Spiritual Life	Union of will. Deep purification. Betrothal. Spiritual Marriage. Flares of the Holy Spirit. To love God as we are loved by Him. Participation in the Lord’s Passion. Dying out of Love.
4- The Different Levels of the Action of the Holy Spirit in us	Inner Master of the sanctification. Personal and direct action in us. General vs. Particular Help of the Grace of God. How to be in Synergy with the Holy Spirit. Human vs. Divine Modality. Necessity for Transformation. The Transformative line of our journey. A deeper understanding of the Scriptures.
5- Our Lady's Role in our Spiritual Life	It is under her care and maternity that the journey is achieved. Necessity for a total and constant entrustment to Her. Her Faith is transmitted to us.
6- The Necessity of the Assimilation of the Sacraments	There is a necessity to assimilate the Sacraments: the sacramentality of the Word of God (Lectio Divina) and the Eucharist (Prayer of the Heart). Living in the presence of God.
7- The Full Development of the Virtues	Virtues (Faith, Hope, Love), the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit need to grow in us. Two types of Contemplation (Lectio Divina, Prayer of the Heart). Participation in the Lord’s Passion. Humility – Detachment – Love, practised heroically.
8- The Necessity of Determination, Perseverance and the Pascal Dimension of the Cross	How narrow is the door and the Path! Necessity of courage, endurance and resilience. Meaning of suffering. Learning to unite it to the Cross. Temptation. The different types of ‘nights’.
9- The Need for Appropriate Formation	Necessity of: Formation – Spiritual Direction – Spiritual Friendship.
10- Union With Christ’s Mystical Body	The Whole Christ is Head and Body (the Church). We can’t divide up Christ. We need to be united to both.
11- A Different Level of Apostolate	New Modalities of Apostolate develop throughout the journey of growth. Being united with Jesus’ Mystical Body engenders a new dimension of apostolic zeal. Transformed by the Holy Spirit into a living flame, our spirit, together with Him, sends out flares toward others, giving them the Holy Spirit in turn.
12- The Eternal Father's Providence, Love and Mercy	Everything works for the good of whomever commits to this path. God's Providence embraces us: the help of the Angels, the Communion of Saints, St. Joseph’s vigilant help.