67: How to enter in your inner room

Jesus is our Spiritual Master; He teaches us how to pray. Here is what He says: "When you pray, go to your (inner) room, close the door, and pray to your father in Secret" (Mt 6:6).

How can we imagine the 'inner room'?

This video (see at the bottom) uses a diagram to help us "see" the "inner room".

A big green circle represents our "inner room".

This Circle has an inner chamber where God dwells (IV).

This Circle has an outside door (on the left)!

And the chamber (IV), inside, has a door as well.

During the day, and during prayer we can be in any of the three positions shown below (see the three hearts):

1- Outside, busy with the outside world (I).

2- Inside of our inner room (in the green area II).

3- In the inner chamber (IV), with God (the Fire). (we will see later the blue area (III) and what it means)

I guess that we often remain outside of this "inner room" (I). But this is not what Jesus says. On the contrary, He says that we should be "praying all the time", and He says as well: "dwell in Me" (John 15:4).

First: is that diagram accurate?

One can wonder: "is that diagram accurate"?

Well, if we look carefully, we will notice that this representation is following the structure of the Jerusalem Temple.

The Temple has at least two types of places: 1- One where God Himself dwells, the "Holy of Holies":

2- And the rest of the Temple where sacrifices are offered and people can dwell in order to pray and present their praise to God.

As you can see, in the Jerusalem Temple there is a curtain that separates God (the Holy One) from the rest of the Priests and the People.

By his death, Jesus opened a new way for us (He 10:20): 'the curtain of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom' (Mt 27:51) the curtain that separates the Holy of Holy and the Holy (Hekal).

We are able then: to access God directly, to enter His Kingdom, we are able to access God at any time. This is the Christian Prayer: to be introduced in the direct and immediate very Presence of God.

On the diagram, this means that the door of the dwelling place of God in our heart has been opened by Jesus:

How do we pray according to Jesus?

Now, back to Jesus explanation of how to Pray: "When you pray, go to your (inner) room, close the door, and pray to your father in Secret" (Mt 6:6)

Jesus' words are very precise: 'enter the inner room and close the door'.

The door He is mentioning here is the 'outside door', the door that communicates with the outside world through the senses. Jesus invites us to shut the door.

Jesus invites us to be focused not on the creatures outside, but on God who dwells deep in the 'inner room'. This effort belongs to us and we are invited to do it. This is the least we can do for an instance when we meet somebody for dinner: we are focused on that person, on all what this person is about to say or do.

'and pray the Father': To 'Pray the Father' means that we ought to be with Him, in the inner chamber, to taste His Kingdom, His Light and the Fire of His Love. In order to enter, we need to ask, to knock at the inner door, God's one. This effort shows God our choice, our desire: this is shown on the diagram by the area in blue (III), where we gather all our energy in order to ask God to enter His Kingdom.

When we knock on the door, God opens to us, and lets us in. God always opens to us, He is Our Father, a father cannot close the door to his children: 'ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you' (Mt 7:7). 'ask' to enter inside, where God is dwelling, and God will give you this Grace. 'seek' God inside of you, and 'you'll find' Him. He dwells in you, but you are outside of Him. Therefore, 'knock at' His door, and He'll open to you.

When we are inside, in the Kingdom, experiencing the Love of God, this is Prayer. God pours Himself in us. This is why it is so important not only to always do this movement when we pray but to do it very often throughout the day. It nourishes us and replenishes us.

We should reach a point in our life where we can handle the outside things without letting our heart be outside. Remember what Jesus said: 'your heart is where your Treasure is' (Matthew 6:21). God, His Fire of Love IS our Treasure.

Here below is the video-presentation on "how to enter in your inner room". Don't hesitate to watch it, its not that long (a bit more than 5 minutes), and if you like it, please do share it with your friends. I hope this helps.

56: Prayer of the Heart #4: What depends on us

Still studying the "Prayer of the Heart". In order for the "Prayer of the Heart" to succeed, two acts should be fulfilled: one depends on us, and the second depends on God. Fulfilling our part brings us to the meeting point (or the Sacred Threshold) between our freedom and God's one (see previous posts). If we do not do our part, we don't reach that point, and Prayer doesn't work: we do not enter in God, and therefore God doesn't pour Himself in us, he can't transform us in Him. Therefore, "what depends on us" is of the utmost importance. We need to understand it, learn it and, mainly, learn to practice it.

In the 3 following slides we go through "what depends on us":

54: Prayer of the Heart #2: The Sacred Threshold of the Kingdom

If we read the Gospel of saint Matthew for instant, we'll rapidly notice the abundant use he makes of the word “kingdom”. In fact, Jesus speaks a lot about “entering the kingdom” and in doing so, He puts conditions. Like for instance: if you are rich you can't enter in the Kingdom, if you are not “like a child”, the same, you can't enter. What is the “Kingdom of God”, or the “Kingdom of heaven”? The Kingdom is the area of God, the “space” of His being, the “space” of His freedom, of His Life, the inner life of the Trinity.

In her writings, Saint Teresa of Avila mentions the "General help" and the "Particular help" of the Grace of God (see Life 14,6; 3 Mansions 1,2; 5 Mansions 2,3). We can understand the “Particular help of the Grace of God” as the fact of “entering in the Kingdom”. Or, if you prefer, the direct and personal Action of the Holy Spirit in you. The "Prayer of Recollection" uses the "general help" and the "Prayer of Quiet" uses the "particular help".  Saint Theresa of Avila calls the latter: "the supernatural" (see 4th Mansions chapter 1,1).

Between the “general help” and the “particular help” there is a red line, a “sacred threshold”. We are invited to cross that “Sacred Threshold” by using the “general help of the Grace of God”, offering ourselves to Him, asking for His Holy Spirit (His Love).

Saint Theresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Here is what saint Theresa of Avila says:

"For many purposes it is necessary to be learned; and it would be very useful to have some learning here, in order to explain what is meant by general or particular help (for there are many who do not know this) and how it is now the Lord's will that the soul should see this particular help (as they say) with its own eyes; and learning would also serve to explain many other things about which mistakes may be made." (Life 14,6)

She will then explain that in order to practice the "prayer of recollection" we need to use the "General help" of the Grace of God that is constantly given to us. We should use it, until the prayer of recollection becomes like a new acquired habit (see “Way of Perfection” chapters 28 and 29). To this act of “recollection” God replies with His Action (the Direct Action of the Holy Spirit). She calls this action: “Prayer of Quiet”. In the "Prayer of quiet", we are receiving the "Particular help" of the Grace of God that is supernatural (4Mansions 1,1) and infused.

These notions belong to the Theology of Grace that we learn while doing the basic 4 years of Theology. For instance, saint Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa T., I-II Q.109 a. 6, addresses this issue (see next post). He mentions two needs: one is the main need, which is to receive the Grace of God "and the second precedes it: to prepare ourselves to receive this first and main Grace". We need the second grace in order to receive the first and main grace. Since the grace that prepares us leads us to the main Grace, "knowing the existence of this preparative grace, and learning how to use it" are decisive and vital for all our spiritual life, worship and Christian life.

This preparative grace is "the general help of the Grace of God" (that help us move in the water from the bottom of the sea to the surface), that we use in the Prayer of recollection, to get closer to God, offering ourselves to Him, putting ourselves in the Hands of God.

The Main grace is when He comes, takes us and put us in Him: this is the particular help of His grace, the main action of the Holy Spirit that put us in a direct and personal relationship with the Risen Lord.

When Jesus says: “ask and you shall receive” He is just explaining the relationship between the “general help” (ask) and the “particular help” (you will receive) and the sacred threshold between them, this “red line” that defines the meeting point of the two freedoms: God's freedom (the kingdom) and our freedom (using the general help in order to show our choice, ask, beg, knock, ...)

Let us cross that “sacred threshold”, this is our vocation, our call. We need first to learn about it, and second: put it into practice, in order to receive the Action of God in our heart (the Prayer of the Heart).

15: The power of Christianity

Participating to His Resurrection

Saint Paul says that he would like us to experience the Power of the Resurrection of Jesus (Phil 3,10). One can expand a lot on the spirituality of the participation to Jesus’ death in order to participate to his Resurrection. We may call it rightly “Spirituality of Baptism” (see Rm 6,1-5). By contemplating Jesus Crucified, an exchange can happen: we give Him our burdens, our sins, our sufferings, our difficulties, and we take His Yoke: the Holy Spirit, that purifies and transforms our inner being. We, then, experience the Transformative Power of His Cross.

His Session at the Right Hand of the Father

Without questioning at all the validity, necessity, power and efficiency of this spiritual exchange, we may explore more of that “Power made available to us” by Christ and make one more step: delving in his “Ascension into heaven” and His “Session at the right hand of the father”.

In fact The Risen Son of Man, finishes His Journey not at the Resurrection, but at the Ascension and Session at the Right Hand of the Father. This is the final destination of His Humanity: the closest possible to the Father (in the Trinity).

The Unity between the Head and the Body in one Mystical Person

Let us consider our relationship with Jesus. In fact we have one Total Mystical Christ, composed by the Head, Jesus-Christ, and his Body, us. The Head is seated at the Right hand of the Father, and the Body is here on earth, but is deeply and mystically linked to the Head. The relationship between the Head and the Body is to be compared to a tie, a bond that is so powerful that it is unbreakable, indestructible. Divine Life, the Holy Spirit, is constantly flowing from the Head to the Body.

It is more than a union, it is a unity, a “mystical unity”, an identity. This is why Jesus identifies Himself with His Body, saying to Saul who is persecuting Christians: “why do you persecute Me?” (Acts 26,14).

How to receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit

The Power to receive from Jesus is simply the Holy Spirit. All the Power of Christianity lays in the Communication of the Holy Spirit.

How can we receive the Holy Spirit in a more powerful way?

The more we Dwell in Jesus, the more we receive the Outpouring of His Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus said two things:

1- You should rejoice that I am going to (sit at the right hand of) the Father (see John 14-16), because I’ll be sending you the Holy Spirit.

2- (While I will be seated at the Right hand of the Father) “Dwell in Me” (John 15) because this is the way to receive directly from Me the Holy Spirit.

This is why the Priest, during the Mass, says: “lift up your hearts”; so Jesus, who is seated at the right hand of the Father, can take our hearts and put them in His Heart, so we are enabled to receive the Holy Spirit.

The Power of Christianity

Stephen says that he sees « the Son of man standing on the right hand of God » (Ac 7:56). Why this statement is perceived by the Jews who didn’t become Christians as blasphemous (see Acts 7:57-58)? While for us, Christians, being able to see the Son of Man at the Right Hand of the Father is the highest achievement, and the most powerful outpouring of God? Why Jesus’ victory (to sit at the Right Hand of the Father), reaching such closeness with His human nature to the very Nature of God, is blasphemous?
In may religions, including actual Judaism, it is not at all conceivable to be that close to God. It is blasphemous because God is considered as being only High, but never that Close to us His creatures. Or, said in a different way: our human created nature can never reach God, where He IS. Let us remember that the reason why Jesus is killed (I mean the decision made by the Jewish authorities at that time) is that He declared himself being God, equal to God (see the Passion according to S. John)!
What a privilege for us to know that this is not true!
What is Blasphemous to some is the highest Power to others. Let us at least use this Power given to us!

We are all invited to meditate and contemplate this great mystery: the fact that part of us, Jesus the Head, in His Human Nature, is already at the closest to the Father. So let us be actively "in Him", using our freedom to benefit from that incredible privilege.

Let us benefit from this Power

He (as a man) is already reigning in heaven, united with the Father. Contemplating Him (seated at the right hand of the Father), we contemplate our victory. We contemplate were our heart should be, all the time.

This is how we can be in the world but not from the world (John 15:18-20; 17:16), from Christ seated at the Right Hand of the Father. Contemplating, we are united with Him, and we receive the Holy Spirit… like Rivers of Water (John 7:38)... This is the Prayer of the Heart.
Let us practise the Prayer of the Heart... constantly...
Constantly, and actively, be "in Him"... to receive his Holy Spirit...

How are your taste buds?

14: The mystical dimension of the New Commandment

“One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, «Which is the first of all the commandments?» 
Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! 
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 
The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.' 
And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." 
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.” (Mk 12:28-34)

« you are not far from the Kingdom of God » is a bit disappointing, as a statement. Jesus didn’t say: “you are in the Kingdom of God”.

Nobody can question the validity of the two Commandments of Moses; they are not abrogated by Jesus: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets” (Mt 5:17). But in the same time there is a difference between Moses Law and Jesus “Law”. Certainly there is no contradiction between them, but there is a superiority, a perfection in Jesus Commandment: “I have come […] to fulfil [the commandments]” (Mt 5:17). When Jesus shows the way to the Kingdom to the rich young man, He starts by checking if he fulfilled Moses Commandments, he says: “did you fulfil the Commandments?” the young man said: “yes, from my youth”. Jesus here is speaking about Moses Commandments, summarised by the two commandments mentioned above. In this case, Jesus didn’t say either: “you are in the Kingdom”. He said: still “you lack one thing” (Mc 10:21) to enter the Kingdom.

Saint John says that Jesus Commandment is not new, but it is new “in us” (1John 2:7-8): “Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.” (1John 2:7-8)

The question now is to try to understand in what lays the newness of the “new Commandment” and how it is “superior”, “more perfect” than the two Commandments?

“I give you a new Commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:41)

Jesus is very clear: “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:20)

The mystical dimension of our transformation in Jesus, makes Jesus grow, live in us, and act in us and with us: “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Ga 2:20). This is why it is not possible to just “apply” the New Commandment, without being transformed in Jesus, in order to “enter the Kingdom”. This is why saint John in his first letter says that the Commandment is “new in us”.

John states it very well: “the darkness [in you] is passing away and the true Light [Jesus] is already shining [in you].” (1John 2:7-8)

Without the mystical dimension, that implies real transformation of our being, letting the “new man” in us grow (Jesus in us), there is not Christianity.

How are your "taste buds"?