98: The power of Lent

The Grace of Lent Tide

It is of utmost important to understand the changes that happen at the beginning of Lent, throughout it, until we reach Easter Sunday.

Lent starts with a ritual of great humility: having some ashes put on our forehead, often in the form of a Sign of the Cross, accompanied by a word from the Priest that invites us to embark on the Journey of spiritual combat and warfare.

All the Community gathers humbly that day, in order to receive the Seal of that starting point. It is not a sacrament, but it is a sign of a deep grace, “the grace of Lent”. During that intense time of Lent, God seems to double His Grace for us. If during the year He seems to lean more on us, i.e. on the results of our last Lenten period and Easter Grace, during Lent He seems to redouble His grace in order for us to dig deeper. Our journey is a journey of spiritual growth, transformation, sanctification and it goes in circles, but at each turn we go deeper, like a helix (coil); each year, we go up a gear, and Lent is the moment when we change gear. This is why it is important to live Lent fully. In order to do so we need to become aware that God is giving us this redoubled Grace.

Doubling His Grace

Often we call Lent a “time of conversion”, and conversion means to leave creatures, abandon them, and go toward the Creator. Right? Of course it is about opening ourselves (because of God and with God) as well to God in our brothers and sisters. It is still “conversion”.

I would like to focus on another word: a spiritual deepening.

Turning to God, to Jesus is fundamental. But it is important not only to turn to Him, as if the rest of the whole year were spent away from Him, but to go deeper in our relationship with Him. And God's Providence sets up for us this very special time of Grace called Lent.

Discovering/deepening Friendship with Jesus

One of the great ways/means that God uses to reach us in Lent is through the abundance and power of His Word. Scripture is here to help us deepen our relationship with God. Let us remember that we are constantly crossing from one state to another: from the state of a Slave who doesn't know the will of his Master to a Friend who gets to know the will, feelings, behaviour of his Friend. That's a change and a half I would say. Who changes us? Who transforms us? Jesus' Word for us. This is why the main and first activity of Lent is to sit down, take time to listen to Jesus, preferably on a daily basis, in order to undergo this deep change.

The powerful grace of Lent is here to help give us a little push in order to sit down, be quiet, pray, ask and beg in order to listen to the word of our Friend, Jesus, who wants to share with us his thoughts. This can't happen without the Help of the redoubled Grace of the Holy Spirit. So imagine God, from on high, doubling the amount of the Holy Spirit he is pouring out.

Mary the Mother of Our New Heart

One person we hardly mention during Lent is Mary, while often the Feast of the Annunciation occurs during Lent and this is very meaningful. Why? Because the Annunciation is the embodiment of the renewed Grace of Lent, where we sit down, and want to listen to Jesus, to God, to his word. In Lent God wants to renew our heart, he removes some stony parts of our heart to put more human flesh into it. This human part comes out of Mary's Oven, where the Holy Spirit works renewing us. We need to seek the new heart, and this new heart is at the image of Mary's heart, even more: it is made by the Holy Spirit in her womb.

Let us listen to the description of this deep operation that God performs in us cyclically in our life, during Lent: “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:24-27)

The Holy Spirit Gathers Us Up

God “gathers” us, this is the Grace of Lent. If you keep quiet you'll sense this discreet increase in the Grace of God, and will start to sense in which sense it goes: it gathers us up. Not “all of us”, but all the parts of our being. In fact we are divided by all that attracts us outside, our energy is scattered here and there. The Grace of God “gathers us”.

It Gathers us closer to God... who dwells in us. And in order to do so, in order to get us closer to us, it has to make us bear more of a resemblance to God: we need a new heart, a heart of flesh moved by the Spirit of God.

How does this happen? With the Powerful guidance of the Word of God. We are rational beings, we have a mind, and this mind guides us everyday. But is the light of the mind purely a natural light? Are all the thoughts and desires that move us from God? Are they inseminated by God's Light? It is very important to understand that the best thing that can happen to us is to receive the Word of God's light in our mind, heart, feelings, imagination, visions and dreams. It is like allowing the Sun to rise on the land of our mind.

A person who never allowed the Light of the Sun to shine on his land can't imagine the difference. This is why God gives us a redoubled grace during Lent to bring us from the land of darkness (our mind left alone) to the land of the Sun, Jesus, where the soil of our Mind is inseminated by the Light of the Word of God. This is a unique experience that shows us that the Lord is not only Risen, but that he is living amongst us.

Without the Holy Spirit, this experience can't happen.

Not guiding, but Being Guided

In Lent we are constantly crossing from being without a Guide to having a Guide, a Shepherd, Jesus himself. We often live our life being the boss of ourself, even if we are Christians and very committed Christians. We are the boss of ourselves. This is not correct. We do even manage Jesus, and tell him where we are going, and he has to make it work, otherwise we will get upset with Him. We take him in our car, beside us and we hold the driving wheel, decide, drive, and he has to sit quietly and make it happen. Is that normal? Not at all. We need to discover this new way of doing things: having him as our real guide, learning to sense him (with the spiritual senses that the Holy Spirit make grow in us), to listen to him, to prefer him, to be patient for the right moment, to allow Him to guide us, and be happy for being with him having him as our only Treasure in life.

Jesus' Love

It is not only about being guided by Jesus, but learning to enter deeper into Jesus himself, discovering his love for us and learning that new reality: that life is worth it because of him because of having him as our unique love. We then start to learn how to love him “with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength”. Loving Him in himself, and not loving him because of what we can get of him. He is not only our Creator, not only our Redeemer, he is our love, the only love, the one that gives meaning to our lives.

Under Jesus' Guidance

As we said, in order to be under his guidance, we need to sit down, and be quiet, ask for the Help of the Holy Spirit, open the Word of God on today's pages (the Reading of the Mass). What will the word of Jesus do to us? Well it will change us from the old creature (old man) to the new creature, made by Jesus on the Cross, coming out of his side, coming out of Mary's womb.

The Word of God, meditating on the Word of God, being in the presence of Jesus, allowing His word to enter within us, we discover its operation: it removes the masks, the fancy dress (costume, disguise) we are wearing, and brings truth into our lives. It removes this double life in us, the inner one and the outer one. The word of God pierces the surface of the outer skin we put on and reaches the depths of our being, our heart, touches us, and makes our heart blossom under the action of the Grace of the Holy Spirit, make us take one step forward in the unification of our being (inner and outer).

The spiritual Senses

One of the most important characteristic of the new way of life with Jesus is the growth in us of “spiritual senses”. This reality is often mentioned by the Fathers of the Church and the Mystics. In fact, our new inner being develops under the new Action of the Holy Spirit. Our new being, received in Baptism and in Confirmation, wakes up, and develops in a specific way: new senses develop in our inner being and their function is to allow us to listen, see and sense Jesus in our lives. Our soul, as the image of our body, develops new capacities, senses, antennas, that allow us to receive Jesus' Spirit (the Holy Spirit), inner guidance. Indeed, our new inner Master is the Holy Spirit: He explains to us Jesus' words, He reminds us at the right time of Jesus' words, He connects us with Him, He gives to our conscience new senses, making us “feel” Jesus' emotions, desires, and guidance.

Lent time, being the time where we deepen our relationship with Jesus, is the time where the Holy Spirit develops our inner being. It is important to take him as our real inner Master and listen to Him, or better said: ask him to help us hear Jesus' words, sense and follow His guidance.

Certainly that deeper opening toward Jesus will open us to his body: our brothers. We can't claim to love him if we neglect him in our brothers and sister. So a greater attention to him in them will increase.

Which Direction?

Where would this new faithfulness to Jesus take us? It will make us much more docile and flexible to Jesus' will and guidance. It will make us more humane. It will help us fulfil our normal daily duties in a better way. In fact, it is not leading us astray on a new and strange/unknown path, I mean in the daily basis of our tasks. We will still have 24 hours/day to live, we will still sleep 6-7-8 hours a day, we will still eat, rest and meet our friends, we will still work, have the same duties at home, but paradoxically everything will change. The exterior frame might not change (it might!) but the interior frame will change. It is like when you fall in love: you have somebody in your life. This person is with you all the time, makes the sun brighter and the evening more beautiful. It gives you a new taste, a new meaning. Wouldn't you call this: happiness? A long lasting one? A real one? Yes, indeed.

Conclusion: The Power of Lent

Is Lent doing all this in our life? Can it?? Welcome Lent, welcome the Grace of Lent!

In fact, the core of Lent is Jesus; He is doing all this. His Passion, Death and Resurrection does all this. Lent is a series or Graces we receive, that will prepare us to receive the Big Grace of going in a new way through the Passion-Death-Resurrection of the Lord. We will then be able to Rise more with him and in him.

Let us thank God for increasing his grace in us in Lent, let us embrace Lent, let us be unified by its grace and unique purpose: getting closer to Jesus.

97: The power of Fasting

Some time ago, after having put up the post “What is Christian fasting?” I received this question:

Question: Thank you for this post on fasting! It just seems to me, Jean, that this practice of fasting has been lost somewhat in the modern Church. It seems there is not much explanation on the power of fasting or the reasons to fast or how often one should fast. I know that strictly speaking we are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and that Fridays are a day we ought to try harder to carry out penances.

From the above, I can see that fasting helps us to reach the "Groom" - Jesus. Please could you explain more about the power of fasting?

Also, Jesus in Mk 9:29 explained to the disciples that certain demons cannot be expelled except by prayer and fasting. Does this mean that in certain situations we ought to combine the two? Like when? How often should a Christian fast?

Answer: First thank you L. for your question. We are asked to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Abstaining (from eating meat) happens during Lent, during Advent, during the year on Fridays, and many traditions kept Wednesdays and even Saturdays (in honour of Our Lady) as abstinence days. In the Roman Latin Catholic Rite, Abstinence was (and is) more about not eating meat. Pope Benedict did mention it with regard to Friday.
In what follows I will use only the verb "fasting" in general and flexible terms.

General Aspects of Fasting

Fasting is about self control, helping the poor (you give what you have saved) and you honour the Passion of the Lord (on Friday). It helps as well in spiritual warfare. In order to grow, we need to change our “attachments”, “enslavement”, “addictions”, into other Spiritual “Attachments” first, and then, at a second stage to even get rid of these “spiritual attachments” and strive for Jesus only, the “naked Jesus” as the mystics called Him, not trying to go to the king for any benefits but just for his sake only, finding in Him all your good.

Fasting in general terms is depriving ourselves of something (in general: food (a meal), but it can be anything else as well, like “speaking” (chatter, gossiping), alcohol, cigarettes, TV, other pleasures, other types of loss of time, useless activities,…). In doing so, we create a space for a spiritual activity. We help get rid of bad habits, we reach a greater freedom.

Food can be very addictive (other pleasures as well), whereby the body can control us instead of us controlling it. Control comes through fasting, through other activities instead (like prayer, meditation,…) that will fill us.

With the Grace of God, and with the advice of the Spiritual Director, we can find the right fasting to do, and its amount/degree.

Expelling Demons

You quote the Lord saying: “certain demons cannot be expelled except by prayer and fasting”. Of course. But today, who believes in “demons”? Who believes today that sin as well is an invitation for a “spirit” to take his place in us and be fed (yes be fed: when you do something according to his will you are feeding him, he becomes a parasite in you)? A “small spirit” maybe but still a spirit, i.e. an unwelcome being in you, a new master in you. (I said “small spirit” in order to differentiate it from formal possession.) There are many types of spirits, from the most insignificant ones (low materialistic ones) to the nastiest (most spiritual ones). How do we define addiction today? What is a vice? (vice vs virtue) what is the negative effect that the repetition of a bad act (a sin) has on us? Jesus himself gives the answer: "Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). One can’t come out of it through his or her own strength, being in a vicious closed circle (like addiction).

This is why we need to experience the Power of the Grace of God that can help us, free us. We need to ask for it. This experience is simply unique. But it comes at a cost: begging (prayer), spending time with Jesus, exposing ourselves to the Rays of His Love and Mercy, and with the help of God fasting, i.e. abstaining from doing certain things, most importantly food. Because food controls a lot in our behaviour.

Intercession

It is true as well that sometimes we are invited to pray a lot for somebody, or for a cause, and it is normal to couple prayer with fasting, for it gains more power. But with discernment, because we can fall, after a while, into spiritual pride (see below).

Eating the Word of God

It is very important to understand the relationship between eating and listening to the Word of God. Both are food: our bread and the Word of God. If our experience of food is only “bread” and what comes with it, we are in a very poor human state. We are treating ourselves as if we were worse than animals, just having a body, nothing else.

Fasting means directing our appetite to the Word of God, as a real food for the soul (mind, will, freedom,…). It is treating ourselves as really having/being a body, a soul and a spirit. We honour therefore hidden and buried parts of our being (soul and spirit) that haven’t been used for some time (or for long time), watering them, helping them to flourish and blossom. We need to give Divine Food to our Soul, and to our Spirit. We allow God to dismantle various enemies of our soul and spirit, when we turn our attention toward them by fasting with the body, by focusing on the Word of God. Jesus’ words to Satan are a Golden Rule for us: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the Mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4) Jesus is God’s Mouth.

This is why fasting in Christianity is important. It is capable of casting the devil/Satan away. Satan doesn't like the Truth, he is the father of Lies, a Liar from day one says Jesus (see John 8:44). Please note that, in his Temptation, Jesus dealt with Satan using not only the Word of God but a correct reading of the Word of God (in fact Satan was distorting it, so the Bible is not enough, we need the Holy Spirit to make it alive). Why? Because the Word of God bears the Truth, is the Truth, and the word of God helps the Truth enter in us. And the devil hates God’s Light, he prefers to hide behind the darkness of his lies.

For advanced persons

I did say, that after some early experiences with Fasting, one has to ask the advice of his/her spiritual director and follow it diligently even if he/she doesn't like it. The merit of fasting doesn’t only come from what we do. We need discernment. The merit comes from the obedience to a competent spiritual director. Sometimes after a powerful experience of fasting, we could be tempted to fast more, idolising fasting. Turning to our spiritual director he/she might say: well fast less, or in smaller things (like St Therese, she did plenty of small things: l’ascèse de petitesse : the asceticism of little things). We might feel then rightly frustrated, because you started to idolise fasting, become very attached to certain practices, thinking that this is what is saving you. Jesus saved you, and your obedience to him is what matters. What more secure obedience can we have to Jesus than the one through the spiritual director?

This is why, it is of the utmost importance to be very pure in revealing all our thoughts and intentions to the spiritual director (I am aware that these practices are not practised today in the western churches, but this is the clear advice of our living tradition still (see the Desert Fathers and the activity called “revealing the thoughts”, in spiritual direction). I know that we are miles away from that, but mind you, this is a powerful means, because it is one of the highest "affirmations" of the Incarnation: Jesus gave his authority on earth, this being the extension of the Incarnation. This way (obedience) is one of the most powerful ways to disperse the devil, from within or around. “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God.” (1 John 4:2-3)

Fasting in Lent

As mentioned above we do fast during the year, on Fridays, some on Wednesdays and even Saturdays. But Lent is not only concerned about these days, but it is concerned about a general attitude for all the days. Fasting in Lent has a more specific meaning.

Let us remember that Lent time was engineered around celebrating each year, at a specific time of the year (Easter), the memorial of Jesus' Passion. We do remember Jesus’ Passion at each Eucharist, this is obvious, we remember Him during each week, since we could live each week like a holy week, following Jesus from Thursday evening… through Friday, until he rises on Sunday. Which is great.

But for Lent, we prepare ourselves to celebrate each year in a deeper way the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection.

In the Early Ages in the Church we had something like 3 days to fast then it became longer (a week), until it took the 40 days of Jesus in the Desert as a role model (And Moses fasting 40 days before the revelation of God on Sinai and the People of God in the Desert for 40 years). But all this effort is aimed at preparing ourselves to celebrate (and benefit spiritually which is the key aspect) from the Grace of the Memorial of his Passion-Death-Resurrection. This memorial is the core of our life, and it can easily (because of weakness and routine) become superficial, and not bring the expected fruits. This is why we need to “dig deeper” in order to give more space in our life to Jesus and to the Power of His Resurrection. This is essential. So “lent” is about “digging deeper”, making a greater space in us.

And Fasting in Lent is orientated toward this goal and bears this spirit: getting closer to Jesus, closer to his Cross in order to discover the Power and Glory he gives us when he is on His Cross. The Cross is the most powerful Revelation of God’s love and we need to learn to do that.

So, Lent and Fasting in Lent should have this specific spirit to it: getting closer to Jesus’ Passion, meditating on it, drinking from it, crying because of our sins, when our Saviour looks at us like he did to Peter after he betrayed Him. “Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.” (Luke 22:59-62)

96: Why Jesus hides his Divinity?

Question: From the Gospel today why does Jesus appear to deny His divinity? "Why do you call me good... No-one is good but God alone" (Mark 10:17-27).

Answer: Thank you very much for your question. This is an fundamental question which puzzles all who find passages from the Gospel where Jesus tries to keep quiet about his divinity. It became even a “locus theologicus” and has a name: “the Messianic secret”.

In the Gospel, Jesus commands silence in many instances. An example is Mark 8:29–30: "And he asked them, But who say ye that I am? Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. And he charged them that they should tell no man of him." Jesus also issues commands of silence after miracles and healings, e.g. in Mark 1:43–45 in the cleansing of a leper: "After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, 'See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.'" We could include parables and secrets of the Kingdom of God as in Mark 4:11: "And he said unto them, Unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all things are done in parables."

First there is a difference between denying and not saying or hiding. He is not denying (that would be lying) but he is acting progressively (pedagogically). Jesus' intention is pedagogical. In order to understand how God worked in the History of our Salvation (think of the Old Testament) and in order to understand how Jesus worked we should think of an aspect that Blessed John Henry Newman deepened and presented to us: “development” and “envelopment” as a Divine pedagogy. God never starts by saying things directly, and clearly, because we don't have the capacity to receive things as holy as they are. So he starts by enveloping himself and the deeper truths about him. Exactly like we do with Children: we tell them things in a certain way when they are young and the more they grow, the more they are capable of understanding and bearing what we have to say, so we open wider the veil, increase information, until they are capable of handling the naked reality/truth (the process of development).

Jesus' divinity is not a light matter to be played with or a subject of debate or arguments. It is the most sacred part of God himself and it is not offered up to be ridiculed. It should be handled with great care and respect. It should be handled with purity.

For the pure and the prepared, God reveals Himself as he is. But in order to reach that purity and holiness, we need to be purified through a journey of growth.

This is why saint John built his Gospel as a journey of purification through the 6 signs he offers us (chapters 1 to 11), until we reach the Cross (18-19), and are enable to “enter” into Jesus' Opened Side.

God doesn't give his pearls to the swine. And he advises us not to do so.

Objection: Should we consider a beginner as a “swine”, an impure person to whom we should hide the knowledge that Jesus is God and the necessity to believe in that from day one ?

Answer: Not really, because experiencing his divinity is the first goal in spiritual life and one needs to know it from day one, even if it is not experienced yet. One embarks in the journey. It is more for people who are not opened to receive Faith. (Faith is a Grace)

If we read carefully saint John's Gospel we will notice various aspects arround Jesus' Divinity.

- First we can see that that there are two ways to reach the Discovery of Jesus's divinity: the first way is to start through baptism by the mere initial baptismal belief (the Creed), and, at the end of the Journey, to reach Jesus divinity, by becoming united to him. Saint John of the Cross describes the grace of the Spiritual Engagement as a powerful glimpse of Jesus' divinity. St Theresa of Avila says that in the 7^th Mansion, we see what we believed in while within the previous mansions...

The Gospel of St John starts with one of the First apostles' affirmation: Rabbi you are the Son of God (John 1:50-51), and finishes with that amazing affirmation of St Thomas who was allowed into Jesus' side: “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28).

- Second: one can see throughout St John's Gospel that on the journey of purification (the 6 signs), at each stage people respond to Jesus in different ways. You have the ones who believe, but you have as well the ones who don't, who react very humanly, who struggle. This is intentional in John's mind: he shows the journey of purification, the struggles, the obstacles to reach that experience of Jesus' Divinity that he calls: Faith. Faith for him is entering in Jesus, being transformed in Him, and therefore being able to receive the Holy Spirit, God's Life (see John 20:30-31).

We see then the necessity of a journey of purification. We can translate these following words of Jesus “blessed the pure, they will see God” (Mt 5) into a more precise statement: “Blessed whoever will get his heart purified because he/she will See God.” or “your duty is to become purified in order to see God”. This is why the Masters of Spiritual life from the very beginning of their teaching stated that the goal of the monk is to realise his purification (see Conferences, John Cassian). Let us finally remember as well that the journey of transformation/purification makes us similar to God, to Jesus. This is why and how we will be able to see him “as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Conclusion: we can't say that the Lord denies his own divinity, but he uses the divine pedagogy, i.e. he works progressively with whoever is ready and to the others, he speaks in symbols (parables), fulfilling the golden rule: not to give pearls to the swine.

In that passage mentioned in your question, Jesus starts with the understanding of God as he appears in God's Revelation to Moses. Notice that Jesus' answer will proceed progressively: he will question him about his observation of Moses' Law first. Only after his positive answer will he dare add perfection, the Perfection he is bringing to the Law. He acted pedagogically.

95: Understanding the spiritual crisis in the Church

Today hardly anybody would speak about a “spiritual crisis” in the Church (while in fact there is one). Why? Because many new movements have blossomed in the Church and Pope Benedict has spoken a lot about spiritual life and Lectio divina.

To put it plainly one needs to understand that in order to have a flourishing spiritual life in the church, one has first to have two things at least:
 1- Spiritual Formation and 2- Intellectual Formation (Philosophical, Theological and Mystical (Spiritual Theology)). Spiritual formation is based on the intellectual formation. So if the latter is not done properly, the first won’t be done properly either and won't bear the expected fruits.

So: lack of Intellectual Formation leads to --> a lack of Spiritual Formation, leads to --> a weak, random, amateurish, DIY Spiritual Life. 

Today, we live in an amazing state in the Church. On one hand, we have people who are fervent, who are willing to do a lot, people who are already trying  many different things, but on the other hand we still don’t have proper Spiritual Formation. So people and pastors (Priests and Leaders) are left alone, having to improvise - in a DIY way - some “spiritual teaching”. “DIY” is amateurish of course, and spiritual life is such a serious vital, eternal matter that can’t be left to random or material preparation (it is supposed to lead us to holiness, to God himself, to the Union with Him, and this is not a superficial issue). But it is not their fault: there is no solid teaching in “Spiritual Theology” in the Catholic Universities today. So, to sum it up, there is a huge gap between the thirst/effort amongst God’s People and the poor formation offered.

Again, spiritual life can’t be dealt with in an amateurish way. It is the most important part of Theology, it is the Queen topic in Theology, and has a huge responsibility in the Church. But for years, it has been a very neglected side and weak topic. Spiritual Theology is still very much in its deep Crisis, and this has been so since the end of the 1940s.

The crisis originated in the existing distance between the “logical language” of studies (majorly at that time Thomistic), and the “bio-logic reality” of the human being (who is implementing the teaching). The church had an amazing renewal in Thomistic Studies (reviving the study of St Thomas Aquinas in Philosophy and Theology) and in Spiritual Theology in the 1920s and on. The Thomistic way is perfect for great sharp minds, in order to analyse, categorise and understand. In my humble opinion, the core elements (philosophical and theological) of Thomas Aquinas should be the background of any professor in Spiritual Theology (I know many won’t agree). Otherwise one can't understand the Master of all Mystics: St John of the Cross. (Many try today to understand St John of the Cross, without the Thomistic background! This still surprises me a lot, because it is like wanting to see a cell without a microscope.)

St Teresa of Avila, the most "bio-logical" mind

But normal humans wouldn't benefit (i.e. understand, grasp) from this language and mental structure. It has sadly proved unproductive (counterproductive) from the 1920s through to the end of the 1940s: Spiritual Theology problems remained very theoretical with hardly any contact or implication with the real human being. This is the reason why since the 1950s we don't have anything new (i.e. a complete synthesis/presentation/manual of Spiritual Theology) in that field in the Church to help people grow spiritually. Since, then there have been efforts, of course, but they always lack something. One must not forget the intellectual abyss the Church went through at the end of the 1960s and the 1970s. We haven't come out of it yet...

To explain the intellectual theological and philosophical crisis in the Church one can say: The difficulty is that we have to go to Thomas Aquinas (at least in the core elements), otherwise we might be speaking simple rubbish. Many alleged "theologians" have abandoned St Thomas and would laugh at you if you say so. St Thomas is for powerful sharp metaphysical minds, and not just any person can afford understanding him. So we dove crazily into the abyss (mid 1960s), by abandoning him. The rare ones today who still stick to him (or go back to him), are not necessarily grasping the problem (and the practical unproductiveness of his language if it is not translated into plain English). Plus, they might slowly be isolating themselves from the rest of we human beings. Why? Because it is as if you learned Latin, and nobody around you spoke it. So you meet with a few who learned it and that's it! This is not "working for the salvation of people" but working for hailing the past and not being able to translate it in to the present, as the Holy Spirit, through Vatican II, asked us to do.
What should be done is: after having digested St Thomas and St John of the Cross, we need to keep them at the back of our minds, and try (in our language and contents) to find simplicity, a simplicity that doesn't water down the substance, but conveys it.

This is one of the most difficult challenges that a human mind can face: study St Thomas Aquinas' Philosophy, and Theology, the Fathers of the Church, and the Spiritual Masters, the Mystics, and integrate them, digest them, having them become alive in you (with discernment and led by real spiritual masters), and then, having the charity to form concepts, words, examples, symbols and drawings that are in "plain English". Jesus spoke "plain English"... not intellectual Rabbinic Hebrew; He was able to do so, but he didn't. He is the Saviour, not a Dominican Brain.

People are still tempted today to go back to the Thomistic structure (which is "logical", not "bio-logical"). Who wouldn't ! It is the most solid and sound thing we have. But in the end, you should nourish people with something given in "plain English". The core question is: Is "Spiritual Life" (Spiritual Theology) translatable into plain English yes or no? Jesus' answer is a very powerful "YES". (This is the challenge we have been facing for years.) It is very easy for a professor today to use mysterious and non understandable words/expressions. But is this helping people? This is having a poor mind, incapable of making yourself understood.
Can't we find words that are more accessible and be at the level of people and stop insulting them? It is indeed insulting them. Jesus never insulted us, and he is our role model. He used very simple and easy symbols and examples, but still, he is the most profound teacher in Spiritual Life. We should impose on ourselves that discipline of respecting people, i.e. learning the most difficult concepts of philosophy, theology, and mysticism, but in the end, we need to spend the same amount of time to find the right "plain English" words and examples, in order to talk to our brothers, fellow human beings... not to an intellectual rare elite that can understand Thomas Aquinas.

This is why I felt impelled to "build" an entire formation, given in “Plain English”: the School of Mary.

94: Lectio divina in daily life 2: The depths of spiritual life

(continuation of "Spirituality 91")

2. The depths of spiritual life

St. Paul speaks about the transition to adulthood: “Brothers, I could not talk to you as I talk to men who have the Spirit; I had to talk to you as men of this world, as to little children in Christ. I had to feed you milk, not solid food, because you were not ready for it” (1 Col 3:1-2). But those who go through this transition receive “the power to understand, together with all the saints, how broad and long and high and deep Christ’s love is”; they know the love of Christ “which surpasses all knowledge” and fully enter into the fullness of God (cf. Eph 3:18-19). St. John of the Cross also mentions this transition in his writings, but in stanza 36 of the Spiritual Canticle he seems to propose even more to the person who is already well advanced: “Let us enter into the heart of the thicket”, i.e. into the profundity of God’s wisdom. Let us consider more closely now the form the two commandments may take, in the light of lectio, for people who have come to these heights.

a) “The highest pinnacle of Scripture”

St. Paul reminds us that God wants us to be holy (cf. 1 Th 4:3). If lectio is a way of searching for God’s will, this implies that it leads us to holiness. And what is holiness? It is full union with God! So lectio takes us by the hand, like a pedagogue, and leads us to Him. It helps us to accomplish the first commandment, which is to love God, by allowing Him to dwell in us.

In this sense, we can say that the Bible is an “accident”[1] (with the scholastic meaning, according to which it contains the substance: the Word of God). This implies that the Bible in fact is not in itself absolute. It contains a substance, i.e. the Word, the eternal Logos, who is the ultimate goal of our search. The role of lectio is to lead us to the Word. Lectio is not an end in itself.

We are going to consider this more closely with reference to some Christian writers, three of whom are Church Fathers. But let us first remember that the two geniuses of Christianity, John and Paul, summed up the Gospel and Scripture in their own manner. St. John says that everything in Scripture leads to faith in Jesus’ divinity: “these things have been written that you may believe” (Jn 20:31). “This is how we win the victory over the world: with our faith” (1 Jn 5:4). Here, “faith” is synonymous with “union with God”. St. Paul sums the Bible up in this way: “For I decided not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ” (1 Co 2:2), and in another passage, where he speaks about love: “I may have the knowledge and understanding of Scripture, but without charity I am nothing” (1 Co 13:2)! Let us now look at how each of these authors approaches the question of the pertinence of the Bible in terms of the written message.

Dionysius the Areopagite and the highest summit of Scripture

Dionysius the Areopagite begins his work Mystical Theology with this prayer: “Deity above all essence, knowledge and goodness, Guide of Christians to Divine Wisdom; direct our path to the ultimate summit of your mystical knowledge, most incomprehensible, most luminous and most exalted, where the pure, absolute and immutable mysteries of theology are veiled in the dazzling obscurity of the secret Silence, outshining all brilliance with the intensity of their Darkness, and surcharging our blinded intellects with the utterly impalpable and invisible fairness of glories surpassing all beauty”[2].

Here Scripture appears to be God himself. It is no longer a question of exegesis in the usual sense of the term – even in patristics. Scripture, like a sublime sacrament, conveys God himself to us. At the summit we find the “the super-essential Radiance of the Divine Darkness”. In another work, Dionysius speaks of the “Radiance itself (coming) forth from the holy thearchic words” (Divine Names I, 1). This super-essential Radiance has always contained, in a quite indescribable way, the terms of all knowledge. We simply do not know how to conceive it, describe it or grasp it in a kind of vision, because it is separated from all things (cf. Ibid., I, 4). This ray then seems to come forth from Scripture as if out of a tabernacle.

Dionysius discloses a new perspective for us by showing us that Scripture contains a Radiance. He therefore invites us to go beyond our exegetical methods, even the deepest ones, to consecrate ourselves to God and to nothing  less. This idea is certainly out of the ordinary for us, and perhaps it reveals the deepest mystery of exegesis. It is true that his description is very brief. But a good knowledge of mysticism[3] can help us to better understand what he means.

So Scripture is compared to a high mountain which must be climbed by growing through the four levels we have been considering, the last of which plunges into God himself in such a way as cannot be grasped by the intellect alone. And there, at the summit of Scripture, we receive the super-essential Radiance.

St. Augustine, Charity is at the heart of the Bible

St Augustine

St. Augustine considers that the entire Bible speaks of one thing only: Love – of loving and loving with a pure heart… in unity with the heart of God. Summing up all of Scripture, Augustine says: “Only one thing shines forth from the holy pages: Charity”[4]. The Bishop of Hippo teaches us that the Bible leads to love, but not just to any kind of love. This reminds us of the explanation St. John of the Cross gave of the height of spiritual life: the flame, the sparkling. It is then quite understandable how the Bible vanishes in the face of the reality to which it leads us: the “ineffable sighs” of God loving himself in the soul. And here is what Augustine tells us: "it is not necessary for a preacher who wants to talk about charity to read the entire Bible because charity springs forth from every page". Moreover, the Master himself attested this – and the Gospel gives an account of the scene: when asked which precepts of the Law are the greatest, he answered: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind” and “You shall love your neighbours as yourself” (Mt 22: 36.39). In order to keep us from searching for anything else in the sacred text, he then added: “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Mt 22:40). If this is already true of the Law and the Prophets it is even truer of the Gospel.

“Of all, then, that has been said since we entered upon the discussion about things, this is the sum: that we should clearly understand that the fulfilment and the end of the Law, and of all Holy Scripture, is the love of an object which is to be enjoyed, and the love of an object which can enjoy that other in fellowship with ourselves. For there is no need of a command that each man should love himself.”[5]

“And thus a man who is resting upon faith, hope and love, and who keeps a firm hold upon these, does not need Scripture except for the purpose of instructing others. Accordingly, many live without copies of Holy Scripture, even in solitude, on the strength of these three graces. So that in their case, I think, the saying is already fulfilled: ‘Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.’ Yet by means of these instruments (as they may be called), so great an edifice of faith and love has been built up in them.”[6]

In fact, what is found in the Bible may be summed up by the three theological virtues: faith, hope and charity.[7] Augustine refers all understanding of Scripture to these virtues. This was to be the basis of biblical interpretation throughout the Middle Ages.[8]

St. Thomas Aquinas and the New Law

In his “answer” in I-IIae, q. 106 a. 1, St. Thomas says: “the New Law is in the first place a law that is inscribed on our hearts, but that secondarily it is a written law”, and then in ad 1 he adds: “The Gospel writings contain only such things as pertain to the grace of the Holy Ghost, either by disposing us thereto, or by directing us to the use thereof”. The Holy Spirit is then the New Law written on our hearts. He is the heart of the Bible.

These examples help us to better understand that we are called to reach the point where one single word suffices to centre us and give us what is essential: God. So, lectio is not a means for finding solutions but the sacrament of the encounter with the Lord; and the Bible, after having taken us by the hand, leads us to the summit of the Mountain of the Knowledge of God.

(to be continued...)

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[1] “accident”, as used in philosophy, is an attribute that doesn't affect the essence of a subject.

[2] Mystical Theology I, 1.

[3] Firstly of his own mystical doctrine; and for this it is necessary to read his entire work Mystical Theology.

[4] En. In Psalmos 140.

[5] De doctrina christiana I, 39.

[6] Ibid.I, 43.

[7] Cf. ibid.

[8] See H. de Lubac, Medieval exegesis. Also see Origen, who says that what we look for and find in the Bible is the Logos himself (H. de Lubac, History and spirit, chapter VIII § 3 and 4), and that the Bible, like the Body of Christ, are transitory realities (ibid.).

93: St James explains Lectio divina 3

Not committing mistakes in what we say

“if any one makes no mistakes in what he says he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also” (James 3:2). What is the perfect man? The man who has synergy happening perfectly, synergy between God's action in him and his ation. This means that he is purified and transformed in Jesus, so he became docile to the Holy Spirit: Jesus lives in him, so all what comes out of his thoughts, and of his mouth, is coming from this harmonious collaboration between Jesus and him.

This means that lectio divina transformed him, word by word, brick by brick, until Jesus became alive in Him and started to move him with his Spirit.

Lectio divina is meant to change the soul, act by act, part by part, step by step. A word from Jesus after the other transforms our being to Jesus to become alive in us. In fact each word received burns, transforms that part of the soul that produces that act into a 'portion' of Jesus himself.

"Perfection" is obviously expressed in all sorts of different ways, but the most easy and palpable way to notice it, is speech. What comes out of the mouth, comes from the abundance of what is in the heart says Jesus (see Matthew 12:34). The speech reveals what is in the roots of the human being, his heart. The quality of the speech (and first thoughts) reveals the perfection of the person.

In his third advice to a religious "against the world" (the world with its thoughts and behaviour is considered one of the enemies of the soul), saint John of the Cross quotes St James: "If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man's religion is vain" (James 1:26) which is close to the initial quote: “if any one makes no mistakes in what he says he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also” (James 3:2), but he explains it saying: "This is applicable to the interior, quite as much as to the exterior tongue - to thoughts as well as words."

From three tents to one Tent

The Mystery of the Transfiguration tells a lot about Lectio Divina.

Let us remember that the early christian liturgy took the liturgy of the word of the Synagogue (in the Sabbath) and added to it the Gospel and a letter from the New Testament. We have a trace of this structure in the actual Syriac Orthodox Church Liturgy. So this means, we have: one reading from the Torah (Moses) and one reading from the Prophets (Elijah) + readings about Jesus (Gospel and a letter from the New Testament).

When we listen to this liturgy, we have the impression that the three or more readings are three distinct texts, bearing three different messages. We tend to say with Peter: "Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." (Mark 9:5) In fact, this is clear indication of the sacramental challenge of the Liturgy of the Word. We need to ask ourselves: To whom are we listening? Why do we still have a reading from Moses and another from the Prophets (Elijah)? Do we have 3 texts, therefore three messages?

In fact the supernatural action of God during the liturgy of the Word is essentially led by Jesus himself.

Peter sees division, and offers to build 3 tents, according to his initial perception.

But then, the supernatural action of the Father will happen: a Cloud will overshadow them, and the only voice of the only God the Father will be heard, and it will draw the attention to Jesus only. “And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” Would this exclude Moses and Elijah? On the contrary, it will unify everything under one, and only one Tent: Jesus himself: “And suddenly looking around they no longer saw any one with them but Jesus only”.

Here is how John will tell us about the Transfiguration: “And the Word became flesh and pitched his Tent among us, full of grace and truth; we saw his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father” (John 1:14).

So, the action of the Father is to 'speak' to us and in us His Son, to utter his Word (the Son) to us, asking us to listen to Him only and essentially. The overshadowing of the Divine Luminous Cloud has this effect, to put us all under the only Tent of the Son. So, in the end, instead of seeing Moses and Elijah with him, we see only Him.

Even if we have two or three texts in lectio divina, in fact, it is one Light that we receive, one message, Jesus speaks to us.

We have everyday the same experience Peter had: initially seeing two or three texts, and finally, with the Power of the Holy Spirit (the Divine Cloud), seeing Only Jesus, the only Divine Tent.

So the initial questions we asked ourselves have the following answers:

- To whom are we listening during the liturgy of the Word, when we read the Torah (Pentateuch) and the Prophets? - We are listening to Jesus. Because the Liturgy of the Word is about Him, wanting to speak to us.

- Why do we still have a reading from Moses and another from the Prophets (Elijah)? - We have them because the Old Testament is the Word of God, and as we see in Luke 24, there is a very important experience we need to have, by the Power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus opens our mind, and therefore enables us to see Him in the Old Testament: a Transfiguration of the Text of the Old Testament happens, and its letter (like Jesus cloths) is transfigured, and we start to see his Face in the text of the Old Testament.

- Do we have 3 texts, therefore three messages? - We have 3 texts, but only one message given from Jesus to us, one Tent remains: Jesus' Tent, because he is the only begotten of the Father and he came to talk to us and give us his words that are Spirit and Life, Holy Spirit and Divine Life.

Become a "Doctor"

St James has this advice: "Only a few of you, my brothers, should be teachers/doctors, bearing in mind that we shall receive a stricter judgement." (James 3:1) How does this apply to Lectio divina?

Lectio divina is not about accumulating knowledge on the Bible. It is not about knowing or studying the Bible. It is about listening to Jesus, through the Bible. The difference is huge. In extreme cases, one can have a PhD in Bible (Exegesis) and not doing on single Lectio divina.

One speaks to the mind only, left to itself. The other speaks to the will (all the person), through the mind. Of course it is better to have both, since it helps. But if the amount of knowledge exceeds the amount of "digested" light, it damages more than it helps.

The digested light is the light that we receive in Lectio and becomes flesh in us. This is the listening process made complete (listening and putting into practise). The "non digested light" is the one we contemplate like in a miror, and then leave it and forget: "Anyone who listens to the Word and takes no action is like someone who looks at his own features in a mirror and, 24 once he has seen what he looks like, goes off and immediately forgets it." (James 1:23-24)

Becoming a doctor in a dangerous way is accumulating knowledge without digesting it. It is like greed. One listens but no action is taken.

Lectio divina reminds us of the correct use of the mind. It is not against learning, studying, but it just warns us, like St James, that the more we accumulate (like in greed) the more we have to give account. That word that we accumulate without putting into practice is already judging us.

Lectio divina brings wisdom to a frenetic mind. The majority of us have a frenetic mind, wanting to know, but not applying what we learn. The Word of God, source of knowledge on God, on us, is not always used for that purpose: improving ourselves.

"The same tongue"

St James says: "the blessing and curse come out of the same mouth/tongue" (James 3:10). How this affects our understanding and our practice of lectio divina? As we saw above there is an "inner tongue", i.e. our mind produces thoughts. The mind (pushed by the will) is the main faculty that deal with the Lectio, in the sense that we need to have a clear understanding of Jesus' will. The mind is sacred and should serve the lord...

What the mind and will produce (the inner tongue) require from us a great attention and vigilance.

Our inner speech, our inner acts (acts of the mind and will) are very important. St James is inviting us to watch our acts, the roots of our acts. Only God sees our inner "tongue"... but our inner "tongue" is our judge: watch carefully how you judge things: if you have mercy, mercy will be done to you. The same way you judge people and things will be applied to you.

A great vigilance should be applied on the thoughts and inner acts that we produce and they should be full of God's Grace: Mercy, Compassion, practicing Spiritual Hospitality (receiving everybody, unconditionally, in our heart).