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

119: The Starting Point in Spiritual Life

Question: Can you please elaborate on “God loves you”.  How should we as humans in a noisy, difficult and challenging world filled with earthly temptations..... feel... the LOVE of GOD, in quantity, quality or in faith? How to internalise it or tailor it to suit the human being, to use it and benefit from it. To see how this love is conveyed, in order to make good use of it and use it to the maximum without distractions and with optimal fruitful capacity. Like the seed that grows in a favourable and fertile soil.

God is God, and the human being is the most imperfect being, who will die with his weaknesses and illnesses.... It is hard to compare "apples" with a "chalice" for example.....

Awaiting your reply .....with deep gratitude.

Answer: Thank you very much R. for your trust and for your question.

“God is love”, and “God loves you” are expressions that we are used to. But sometimes it is important to enter more deeply into their meaning.

"To Love" means "to give oneself" to the person we love. Take marriage for example: we are called to love, to give our consent, to give ourselves to the other person. It is the same: love is love, love is to come out of ourselves and give ourselves.

So, when we say: “God loves you” it means that He wants to give Himself to you. He doesn’t give gifts or presents, He wants to give Himself, nothing less.

So this is the starting point!

Now, as you say: "we are busy", "we have noise", outside and inside of ourselves. There are temptations: laziness, tiredness, etc.

But we have good will, and we have the Gift of Faith that we received in Baptism, that guides us toward God, and tells us that since He wants to give Himself to us, receiving Him, therefore, is possible. So, the conflict between our busy noisy life and the Life of Receiving Him in us seems only apparent, but in reality it is possible to receive Him - through a Journey of Growth of course.

Faith received in Baptism is a very little Divine Seed planted in us by God and this Seed - Jesus in us - should become the biggest Tree of the garden.

First and foremost we must see: God wants us, He needs us, He has a divine Desire/Thirst to give Himself to us. He is the one who calls us, not we who do so. He is the one who is searching, day and night, for us. He doesn’t shout in order not to put pressure on our freedom, but he shouts silently… It is important to know all the above.

We are invited to open a way in the sea of our busy life to God himself in order to start do the gardening work: ploughing the soil to introduce oxygen, offering Sun, and watering the soil/seed.

The General help of the Grace of God is constantly given to us to fulfil our part: to ask, to knock on the door, to search for Him. If it is given constantly to us, this means we need to use it, enact it. It depends on us to do so. It is a matter of freewill.

If we are really convinced that there is a Way to receive God, that this is what God wants to do to us and that taking time to receive Him in our life is essential, then we can say this prayer:

“Dear God,

I know that you want to give yourself to me,

you know how weak I am, how busy I am, and how noisy is my life,

how I don’t find time to sit down and stay with you,

so please, help me, rearrange my daily schedule

so I can find the right time to listen to you and receive you.”

This small prayer, the prayer of a total beginner but full of good will, is very powerful if it is made with pure intention. After having done this prayer, one has to open his/her eyes to see God starting to fashion a Way, like Moses who opened a way in the sea.

There are two essential parts in this activity of "God to be received", this "Divine Bread" (God himself):

1- one is to sit down and listen to Jesus and put into practice what He says (opening the daily Readings of the Mass),

2- is to sit down and receive Him deeply in us (going back to Jesus' host in our heart, received in the Eucharist).

These two parts, these two activities are vital, because they nourish our Tree, and allow it to grow. They allow us to receive God's love.

These two aspects of the Bread that we need to eat are given to us during the Mass, but even if we attend Mass, we often do not digest the food that we have taken in - we say to you O Lord: "Give us this day our daily Bread"… "our daily bread" is your daily Word that you want to give us to put into practice, "our daily bread" is as well the Fire of your Love and deep union with Jesus received in the Eucharist and taking time afterwards to interiorise Him: His Body, Blood, Soul, Spirit and Divinity.

The Journey starts… as it started with Mary, Jesus’ Mother and His best disciple, the one who had Faith in God's Words. In Her the Holy Spirit formed Jesus… with Her and the Holy Spirit God forms Jesus in us, He allows that Seed in us to grow. God said to us: I want to give you a new heart, a heart of flesh (like Mary’s heart)… So this is as well our prayer:

"give me a heart like Mary’s heart.

Form Jesus in me as you formed it in Her…

or, better, like what Nicodemus said:

as an adult, let me be in my real Mother, Mary,

so Jesus can be formed in me.. (see John 3)".

I hope this helps as a starting point.

Two essential ways/means to receive God’s love can be summed up us: sit down and listen to his Word (open the daily readings) and sit down and receive Jesus deeply in you, like the tree receives the Water. The two highlights of the Mass.

Let me add one point about "feeling" or "not feeling" God. The Living Tradition of the Church says the following: believing (which means to open our heart to the Gift of the Holy Spirit, to God's Love) gives us the experience of this Love - and not vice-versa.

Believe first, i.e. open yourself to receive, then you will see, you will experience.

Faith is an opening of the heart that leads to an experience.

In this "experience" we have different levels, like on a very high mountain:

1- the lowest part of the mountain has houses, streets and trees (senses)

2- the higher part of the mountain, has sometimes lakes (feelings emotions), grass

3- the highest parts of the mountain, have rocks that lead to the highest point (mind, will, memory)

4- The highest part of the mountain is not the one we have just mentioned (number 3), it is the part that lies beyond the clouds. This part of the Mountain can see the sun directly (the spirit, or heart)

In our experience of God, some rays, refracted by the clouds could fall in the parts 1, 2, 3. But in fact the real direct Ray of the Sun, God himself, is given only to the Highest part.

This is why we say that "we live with/in Faith": we know that the Sun shines in that highest part. But that highest part in us, is beyond consciousness, it is "supra-conscious". When we receive Communion we know that we have been touched by His Divinity. Where did it happen? In the supra-conscious part of our Mountain: above the clouds (4). So the lower part says: “I believe!” but in fact it is the experience of that Highest part.

In that experience of God let us not be deceived by what falls into the conscious part (1 to 3), we know that He pours Himself into the highest point of the Mountain. If He gives us some crumbs in 1to3 this is fine, but the Substance of His Being is given to us in 4.

110: The Implementation of Spiritual Formation

As we saw in the previous post, in order to reach Holiness one needs “spiritual formation”. Spiritual formation encompasses three areas:

1- Learning doctrine/science (Courses, Workshops),

2- Putting into practice the teaching, i.e. having the experience of it, and

3- Receiving discernment from an experienced person (one to one tuition + spiritual direction).

These three areas are distinct but interconnected; therefore they should be combined.

“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

The one that “may be overpowered” is spiritual “experience” standing on its own (without discernment and doctrine).

The “two can defend themselves” are “experience” and “discernment”.

The three strands are: “experience”, “discernment” and full “doctrine”.

Note: Why “full doctrine”? Because half science, or being half knowledgeable damages more than it can help. St Teresa of Avila repeatedly warns about this and says that the help she received from priests/monks who were half learned harmed her substantially.

The School of Mary offers everybody “teaching” and “discernment”: Courses, Workshops, One to One Tuition, Spiritual Direction (although spiritual direction doesn't have to be sought exclusively at the School). Putting into practice the teaching is something personal. When the time is right, in reply to God's Call, it is up to the person to decide to put into practice the teaching, in his/her own life/schedule.

The teaching is divided into three main levels, following three sections of the full spiritual journey:

First Education (Undergraduate Equivalent)

1- Level One Foundation Course: implementing the foundations of a strong and healthy spiritual life, starting to dedicate time for prayer, on a regular daily basis, supporting that first serious step in spiritual life.

1'- Intermediate1 Courses: with more teaching, supporting a sustainable rhythm of growth, in the first stages. Equivalent to the 4^th and 5^th Mansions of St Teresa of Avila. Reaching a more stable state: “Union of Will”. Completing the First Level Course with other courses.

2- Level Two Foundation Course: providing the teaching on the most decisive moment in spiritual life: the deep radical purification.

2'- Intermediate2 Courses: with more teaching supporting that stage. Completing the Second Level Course with other courses.

Further Education (Graduate Equivalent)

3- Formation in order to start teaching elements of the First Level Course.

4'- Level Three Foundation Course.

4''- Further Courses on the Third Level.

Third Cycle Education (Post Graduate Equivalent)

5- Research

6- Development in Spiritual Theology teaching

Do you have a guardian Angel? 1/2

(The following is taken from the eBook: "Seven letters from your Angel" please see the link here)

Introduction

Why a book on angels? Is it necessary to write one more book on angels? Knowledge of Angels, Experience and Discernment can always grow. Angels are so important in our lives that to know them better, by having more discernment of their presence and their help can completely transform us.

They are our friends. They look out for us and care for us. They are so close to us that missing the opportunity to communicate with them is quite sad. In fact, their presence adds Light, Love and Joy to our lives. They open to us new infinite horizons, and they help us see the meaning of our life and our mission. They are Messengers of Light and Love for us; Transmitters and Channels of the Light and Love that come from above.

Many wonderful books have been written on them, many movies have been made about them. Some traditions can still be explored more and more; their place in spiritual life better explained. We always need to increase our Knowledge, Experience and Discernment about them.

It is so natural to speak about them, or to let them speak. They are our friends, so naturally close to us. They have such a love for us, such a caring love, yet we are the ones who can't imagine how a friendship is possible with them. They want to speak to us but they don't know how to awaken our inner hearing. They are sad to see us without help, lonely and living within such limited horizons. They know that it is often difficult for us to "imagine" the presence of an invisible world, but their world is real, and the experience of it is so close and possible, that they invite people to broaden the Knowledge, Experience and Discernment of them.

An Angel is an invisible friend who is here, close to us, who never leaves us, and who wants to help, to guide and to transmit Light and Love to us.  They are neither the Light nor the Love but rather they are a channel and a servant. They are messengers of Light and Love and the channels that bring to us all that we need from Above. The word "Angel" means "messenger" from the Greek: "Angelos". However, they are beings, a complete and personal being just like you and me, although without a material body as we know it. They have an intelligence, a will and consequently feelings, albeit spiritual feelings so a normal friendship with us on earth is absolutely possible.

Note : In Jewish, Christian, Muslim and other traditions an Angel can be one who acts as a messenger, attendant or agent of God. The name given to the them indicates that what counts most is the tasks of the Angels in regard to man: angel (angelus) in fact means "messenger". The Hebrew malak, used in the Old Testament, signifies more precisely "delegate" or "ambassador".

In a way they have a double mysterious capacity; they see and are immersed in the Light and Love whilst at the same time seeing and communicating with us.

This book contains seven letters from our personal Angel. The first seven letters addressed to us from an Angel (be it male or female Angel – you choose which feels more appropriate), to open our eyes to the reality of Angels, to give insight into their world, and to guide us ever closer to new horizons in our lives. Each letter is centred on one specific "light" they are bringing to us. Each letter is a step in our lives that lets us - if we allow it - improve our life, our experience and our discernment. The letters can be read later again and again to deepen, in new circles, the same theme as often we miss things at first reading.

These letters from our Angel are the first step in our Knowledge, Experience and Discernment of Angels. But we must not forget that we are always "beginners" because we are growing, as in spirals, from a beginning to a beginning, in unending starts. So these letters will always be like new propellers that push us toward a new beginning, because we are facing an infinite horizon of Light and Love.

Do not forget: each letter is a personal letter from your Angel to you.

Though it is important not to read more than one letter a day, the attitude with which you receive this message from your Angel is important, because it helps you receive a greater benefit. The choice of the place and the silence surrounding you is important too. Light a candle and sit comfortably.

(From the eBook: "Seven letters from your Angel" please see the link here)

29: The Spiritual Journey 4a/11

What is the point of “knowing the stages of spiritual life”?

The knowledge of the stages of the action of the grace of God is fundamental for our life. It gives us a better idea of:

- what God wants to realise in us,

- the abundance of the Graces He wants to give us

- what we are supposed to do in order to receive all these graces

- the richness of the Synergy He wants to have with us

* Synergy: is a Theological expression, which comes from the Greek Fathers. It belongs to the Theology of the Holy Spirit, or the Theology of Grace. Synergy is the common, combined action of God and us, united. In this action God is always the first one, who calls, who initiates. He is the one that accompanies us during the action. He is the one that helps accomplish, realise, and give its perfection to our action. The action comes from Him and goes back to Him, glorifying him. When it goes back to Him, it goes back Him & us, us & Him.

- In front of such knowledge we remain in awe, grateful to God, to Who He is, to all His Goodness.

- In the beginning, this knowledge is only in a “form of science”, not yet an “experience of God”. If, step by step, it is not put into practice, this knowledge can turn against us and condemn us saying: “you knew it, why didn't you put it into practice?” This is true.

- But in the same time we cannot choose between “knowing” and “not knowing”. It is the duty of each Christian to “seek the Truth”, in order to conform his life to it (putting it into practice). It is as well a sin not to seek the Truth. Jesus came to reveal to us not only the life of God, the Trinity, but to lead us to this life, showing the Way that leads to it, and the stages of such journey.

- Such knowledge is a place for new discoveries of what the Lord prepared for us. By it, we get to know better the content of the Revelation. These discoveries are a great source for graces in our life.

- The benefits of such graces are that they push us, they encourage us to dig deeper, to have a greater understanding of our life and of what it is worth. They build/shape our “act of hope”: they show us where God wants us to go, what He wants to realise in our life. Without the “act of hope” our life is emptied from its contents.

- We can't afford to remain ignorant of that specific knowledge and the Power it brings with it, in setting upright our Hope. If one doesn't know which door to knock at, how will he/she obtain all the graces that are enclosed behind the right door? This knowledge is vital for triggering the journey of our growth. It is necessary to help us reach the fullness of the height of Jesus (see Ephesians 4:13), i.e. the fullness of our salvation.

- Each stage and level is in fact the result of a deeper purification, and therefore brings a deeper and greater level of the Action of the Grace of God in the area that it freed/purified. Of course the Holy Spirit needs to reach the roots of our being in order really to “possess” the human being and really act with greater synergy/freedom in/with him. Until then, one cannot be totally “in the Hands of God”. Knowing all that is very important in order to prepare ourselves to receive all these graces, and to remind ourselves each day of them. It makes us accountable to them. This knowledge forms our conscience and helps us make the exam of conscience. As we see: who says “conscience”, says “exam of conscience”.

A better understanding of Jesus' Action

Let us now continue to deepen our understanding of the direct, inner, mystical Action that the Holy Spirit has in us in each stage of the Life of Jesus. Jesus wants to be our Way, this means that He opens the way for us, in order to come back to the Father, step by step, until we reach the Union with Him and the Father. Each step of His life has a meaning for us, belongs to us and is a teaching and purification.

In the diagram below one can see the little arrows that go from Jesus' life to us. So the “descent” of Jesus is really a descent in us, and a purification action in us, that goes deeper and deeper in us, until He reaches the “bottom of our being”.

4- Jesus' descent in us, out of Love

As we see, we have to descending arrows, one in red (Jesus' one) and one in blue (our one). From each stage of Jesus' life, we have arrows that go from Jesus to us. The redemptive, transformative action of each act in Jesus' life brings graces to us. The grace, the influence of Jesus on us is symbolised by the little arrows we see going from the red descending line, to the blue one. The purification Jesus is performing is each stage of His life is seen this way:

1- The first main stage of the purification Jesus performs in us starts with the beginning of His Ministry.

Christ purifies our body, our senses and our attachment to earthly things. Remember: this phase starts with his Call to the first disciples and therefore they leave everything (as it is stated in the Gospel) and follow Him. They leave their dear ones, their work, their ambitions, their dreams. They found the Messiah, therefore, they found everything in Him. They will follow Him for three years, they will be healed by Him, and receive His teachings. They will receive as well the power to heal and preach.

2- The second stage of their purification is when Jesus, after rooting them in Him, starts to predict for the first time his Passion and Death. The “end” of His Life, doesn't look anymore positive. Definitely, he is not an earthly Messiah. Things start not to work in a human way, according to the human view of Jesus follower. It is not all positive, successful, magic and easy. Jesus starts to show a different way, it is like a junction on the way. Jesus starts to go deeper in his formation and purification of his apostles. He purifies their emotions, their heart. He teaches them to love not out of the goodness of the person they love, but out of the Goodness enclosed in God. Instead of just establishing a human reign, Jesus starts to head, with determination, toward Jerusalem, and toward His supreme Sacrifice.

3- The third stage of the purification of the Apostles is when Jesus enters his Passion, with His Last Supper when he offers his Body and Blood to his disciples. He starts to get sad, knowing he is facing his Passion and Death, having to carry all our sins, having to drink the cup of our sins and of our darkness. Knowing that he has to undergo all the suffering, the unjust treatment, for our sake. Jesus starts to enter with his human nature deeper in Our Soul. He carries our darkness, like a sponge he sucks all our being, grabbing us in His Hands, in order to bring us to the Father.

He purifies our Soul, absorbing in Him our darkness, the distance between us and God.

4- The Fourth and last part of Jesus' purification that He performs on us, is to reach the Cross, and be crucified for 6 hours. 3 with the Sun, and 3 without sun. That shows the degree of darkness he was in. In this vital great moment of salvation, Jesus is totally absorbing us in His Being, becoming us, out of Love, i.e. by the Action of the Holy Spirit.

(to be continued...)

16b: The "eyes" of the Guide

Yesterday I was in a hospital, following the case of a friend. His doctor couldn't understand why he had fevers, going up and down. After trying antibiotics for 10 days, thinking of an infection, seeing that the fever is still there the doctor deduced it can be that. He then had a guess, and ordered a Scan. The scan revealed a stone between the kidney and the bladder. The stone measured exactly 5,5 mm. We know now exactly where it is and what was happening. Quite urgently my friend will have to go through a surgery to extract that calculus, avoiding possible complications.

We know as well that the development of Neuroscience (and many other sciences) boomed these last 20 years because of the development of new generations of scanning machines (the fMRI).

Few years ago (without these machines) we wouldn't have been able to diagnose (at least so rapidly) many diseases.

What is a scanning machine? It is a machine, that allows us to delve in the human body, and see, with greater detail and precision, what the naked eye can't see.

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Well that fact made me think a lot about Spiritual Theology. All what it addresses, is directly non-visible: the soul (mind and will, memory, imagination, inner senses) and the spirit (the upper part of the soul). The "Master in Spiritual Life" is like a Doctor : he needs to diagnose the state of the person he sees. And in order to diagnose, he needs to see inside.

Only few saints had that special gift of seeing in the heart. Would this mean only very few people can offer Spiritual Direction? Only few people can teach Spiritual Theology? “a blind man cannot guide another blind one, they will both fall” (Luke 6:39) says Jesus.

Without these "scanning machines" and "powerful analysis means" they have today available Doctors were sort of “blind”. They had to use other means in order to “see” (in fact: “guess” or “deduce by more visible symptoms" and "gathering knowledge fro the greatest number of cases”).

How does a human being access his own soul and the soul of the others? The same for the spirit (this highest part of the soul that enters in the direct contact with God, and is, by definition, super-conscious) how can we access it?

For sure one cannot dismiss the help of the Holy Spirit in order to help the Spiritual Master, to remind him, to open his eyes, in order to “see” what is happening. But the Holy Spirit doesn't work in a miraculous magical way. He supposes the presence of our effort, that is: our correspondence to the Grace of our state and call: our study, our experience and our discernment received through spiritual direction.

Do you see what I mean? In order to build, in the “Spiritual Master”, these eyes that will help him/her see what is happening in this mysterious, mystical, world of "spiritual life", the Holy Spirit is asking him to do three things, to grow in the practice of them, and to excel in them:

1- experience: delving in the experience of God, and not just reading or studying. And growing in the experience of God.

2- science: learning about the experience of God by reading, studying, and receiving the grace of understanding what he/she reads and the grace of recognising (connecting what he reads/knows with what he experiences). And on top of all that, studying and doing research in that area.

3- discernment: becoming first a disciple, seeking “spiritual direction”; receiving the needed discernment. Humility is necessary, and listening to God who speaks, teaches and corrects through the spiritual director.

As we see, this is a combined effort, not just a Grace given from Above. This combined effort between the Holy Spirit and the person called to that service, for years, will end up by building "new eyes" that will help him recognise, see, analyse and measure what is happening in the soul of his brothers and sisters.

So we have the call, received, to follow the steps of the “spiritual masters”, starting to go down in humility, experience, science, recognition, discernment, growing in all these elements, for years. This will generate like new eyes. The eyes of the Guide.

This requires an effort. Studying requires an effort. Holiness requires an effort. This is how the salt remains salty (see Mt 5).