185- Spiritual Formation

Introduction

In this article we would like to answer the following questions:

- What is Formation in Spiritual Life (FSL)?

- How is it different from: Formation in Consecrated Life, Spiritual Theology Teaching, Spiritual Direction, Confession, Courses, Catechesis, Talks on a Spiritual Subject, Theology, Meditation, Personal Spiritual Life, Personal Prayer Life, Community Life...?

- What does FSL require?

The Prophetic Branch of the Church

and the Birth of “Spiritual Formation”

In the Prophetic Tradition of the Church, i.e. Monastic Life, Religious Orders, “Formation in Spiritual Life” is a very specific task to the point that in the early phases of formation in Monastic and Religious lives we have the appointment of a person called “Master (“Mistress”) of Novices”, and “Master” for the remaining Junior years that precede the final consecration (final vows).

It is true that the “Master of Novices” and of Junior years (“Master of Students”, “Mistress of Juniorate”) cover more than just “spiritual formation”: they have also to form the candidate into the specific style of life (Monastic, Religious) and of the specificity of the Order or Congregation’s spirituality, traditions and uses. So “Spiritual Formation” will not be the only task of the Master, but it remains the main one because without spiritual life, without a living and growing relationship with Christ, the entire life fails to have any meaning, it has no purpose no power to it. Let us remember the fundamental meaning of Monastic Life, which is traditionally and historically the first form of “consecration” (if we exclude the early ones like Consecrated Virgins...). If we look back to St. Anthony the Great, Father of all monks, and father of the prophetic branch of the Church, if we meditate on his life (see his life written by St. Athanasius) we notice immediately that first he received a call (“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mt. 19:21)), and is not just starting a life on his own impetus and choice and secondly, the journey that is triggered by this call, is all unified around one thing: searching for God, for Jesus, doing all that could be done, to find Him and Him only. Nothing else does matter, at all! This is why the desert was his reality and why the “symbol” of the Desert remains a central one for the Prophetic Branch. It is from his call that all other vocations blossomed, and all other forms of life found meaning and purpose.

Therefore, the archetype of any person who is starting out to belong to this branch of the Church, the Prophetic Branch, features two qualities:

• the call is call from Jesus (not necessarily leaving everything material behind (mind you it was progressive in the life of St. Anthony, proceeding from material things to more subtle things, through emotions, imaginings, thoughts, until he reached union) and
• his life is unified by this quest, this huge desire to search for Christ and never to stop until finding Him in the Union with Him.

Hence the fact that the “Spiritual Formation” is the main task in the formation offered by the Master of Novices and the Master of the following juniorate years up to the final consecration/vows.

Nothing can be put above “spiritual formation”. It is true that human formation, psychology, community, daily tasks are very important, but without Spiritual Formation as the main “manager”/focal point/point of reference it ceases to work.

The person who knocks at the door of a monastery in the Desert is chiefly a person who is Called! And if the person is really called by Jesus, then Jesus and His Grace working in the Person are the main players (of course with the free will of the person in play) in this Call. This is why, sometimes, the Monks in Egypt do test the call rather harshly: they do not open the door of the monastery and leave the candidate outside, in the desert... sometimes for more than one day! Motives are examined! The person can be fleeing his responsibilities in the world, his difficulties, and struggles! He can be a one who is depressed. And on and on.

The monastery is not a place for “losers” or people who have failed in the worldly life. In Egypt for many years for instance, it still is very rare to accept a candidate without a University degree! Why? Because it is so common to have one, and not having one could well be a sign of something unsound! This is just an example for a specific country, not a rule for all places. In other places people can have a successful job for years and this is just as good.

Therefore, it is imperative that the intention, the motivation, the very drive of the individual is checked. Who is calling whom? Is the Grace of Jesus working in this person? Is he or she really called by Jesus, driven by Him, attracted by Him?

Then, however, if the person enters it does not necessarily imply mean that he or she has reached the goal! They are just about to start the journey to reach Union with Jesus. The person now will have a “Master” appointed to his service, who will follow him all the time and form him. Hence the existence of “Spiritual Formation”. Again, as said above, admittedly, there are plenty of other aspects to this formation, we agree on that, but the main one is a “Spiritual Formation”, because this manages everything.

What is “Spiritual Formation”?

Does the applicant embark on Formation immediately? Are there other steps before Formation? Yes of course! Today we have a variety of other steps before it:

- The person goes to see (“come and see” (John 1:39), pays a visit to the monastery or religious house!

- The person can afterwards go and spend more time with the Monks! Although here the “style of life” is very much to the fore as well as the necessity to know to which state of life Jesus is calling the person: “spiritual growth”, “human maturity” and a balanced life are involved implicitly and constantly.

- Afterward living inside the monastery or the house for a certain period of time though not as a monk as yet, can be envisaged.

And it is only after going through these stages, even though they are not mandatory, and the discernment linked to them, that the person might be accepted as a Novice and start the real steps of formation.

To a great extent much importance should be placed on to the previous stages because they prepare the person! Faithfulness to Christ in the previous stages is a vital necessity to allow growth and maturity, both spiritual and human.

If a person is not ready, it will not be helpful to start the Formation proper i.e. the Noviciate. Spiritual growth is important! It is inadvisable to give food that belongs to a further stage of spiritual development to a person who is in need of another milder type of food. In order to be ready there are many stages that are required beforehand! If they have not been completed the future “athlete” will fail to be ready to start the “training”!

Everything counts in the life of a human being. Formation at home, at school, at church, in the university, at work, each step being full of challenges that form the person. Even a person like St. Therese of the Child Jesus went through all these stages before entering the Monastic life at the age of fifteen. One can read about and analyse all the formation she received at home, the training she went through and it was not easy! A helpful suggestion would be to read the first part of the “Story of a Soul”.

To continue then…. After all these initial stages have been completed, proper Spiritual Formation can start! Mind you, it does not mean that no spiritual life has been lived beforehand! Not at all! A great deal was lived and realised on the Spiritual level. But it was not necessarily the main driving force and the Call of Jesus was not yet clearly heard, or if you prefer, the long stage of preparation had not yet been accomplished.

It is in a way rather rare to admit, but it is the bitter reality continually experienced that if important aspects of the previous formation are not accomplished it complicates things later.

Spiritual Formation starts.

Against all other explanations, it must be understood that Spiritual Formation should commence only once all the preparatory stages have been completed. Against all other definitions it must be said that Spiritual Formation is meant to form the person and support him on the journey to real and full Union with Jesus.

What does “Spiritual Formation” provide?

Spiritual Formation, through the Spiritual Formator and his or her collaborators, offers essentially three aspects that need to be in constant interaction:

1- Science: teaching spiritual life. The main science here is Spiritual Theology. Offering the teaching on the first stages of Spiritual Life: what the first stages are, the means for growth of Spiritual Life, types of prayer (the most important from among them), the effect of the work of the Holy Spirit in us, the elements of discernment, the conditions for growth....

2- Experience: not only talking about “prayer” and “love” of neighbour but acting on them:

• taking time for prayer on a regular basis (Mass, Divine Office, an hour of Lectio Divina, one or more hours of Prayer of the Heart, spiritual reading), and allowing contact with others in order to have opportunities to love, to forgive, to be patient, to help others and to share what is common with them.
• A good balanced daily schedule of an ordered life is important.

3- Means of Discernment: on a regular basis: meeting with the Spiritual Master. Going to Confession. Having Spiritual Direction.

One cannot have one or even two of the above areas of Spiritual Formation and neglect the others. The combination of the three harmoniously, under the constant vigilance and supervision of the Spiritual Formator, is fundamental. Thinking that “Spiritual Formation” can be achieved with one of these elements or worse “sub-element” is simply to live in illusion.

Lay people need to be spiritually formed

In the Gospel, the Lord called everybody to follow Him! He invited us all to become holy. Council Vatican II insisted on this call and reminded the whole Church that we need to focus on this Call. It is the exact same call we were considering above, the call that St. Anthony heard one day when he entered his Parish Church.

Now, in the times in which we live, we are able to see the difference between the state of life and the call for Holiness while initially, whoever heard the call, literally left everything and followed Jesus into the desert of this quest. Today, because of many centuries of development we are able to distinguish between the various forms of life (Monk, Religious, Community, Movement in the Church, or just living alone (hermits, virgins)... and lay life (married or single)...) and the spiritual life. Within formation itself, we actually do distinguish today between what is proper to “Spiritual Formation” and “Monastic Formation” or “Religious Formation”, or Formation in a New Movement in the Church, or Lay Formation in a Movement of the Church or a third order.

It is true that we have not yet reached the maturity to distinguish between “Spiritual Formation” in a specific religious family in the Church and “Spiritual Formation” for everybody. We still focus strongly on the differences between the different “schools of spiritual life” and do not yet see the core of teaching in “Spiritual Formation” that belongs to all of us. Despite this lacuna, we do distinguish between “Spiritual Formation” on one hand and “Religious” or “Monastic Formation” on the other hand.

Hence, if we say that “all are Called to Holiness or Union with Jesus”, and if a lay person hears the call one day, and either already has a state of life (is married for example), or has chosen to remain single in the world, he or she is also in need of Spiritual Formation.

Would it be different from the one described above? The “Spiritual Formation” as opposed to the Monastic or Religious formation mentioned above is in fact valid for all of us… lay people included.

Spiritual Formation

Now comes the big question: if the Church claims that all, one day, when they will be ready, will hear the Call of Jesus to follow Him, and if this includes lay persons, how then can they receive their “Spiritual Formation”?

If they do not want to belong to any movement in the Church (providing of course they offer proper “spiritual formation” which is not always the case), or if they do not want to join a third order (Franciscan, Benedictine, Dominican, Carmelite, Jesuit,... third orders or fraternities), where can they find a proper “Spiritual Formation”?

Some might think that a “Spiritual Director” is a “Spiritual Formator”! Well, of course he is not. He might be capable of wearing that hat also, but normally this is not the case. The “Spiritual Formator”, as is described above, has infinitely more science, experience, formation and discernment.

I am well aware that today both “Spiritual Directors” and seekers wish to give and receive respectively Spiritual Formation. They wish that the two functions were the same, but they are not! The Spiritual Formator offers exceedingly more to the seeker than the Spiritual Director! Please re-read above.

Today we need a place to form “Formators in Spiritual Life” and not only “Spiritual Directors”.

Spiritual Formation Offers
Science	Experience	Means of Discernment
A Teaching in Spiritual Life. The First Stages of SL: Courses, Sessions Reading Studying	A Daily Schedule including: Prayer times Work times Love our brothers	Meeting on a regular basis with: Spiritual Master Going toConfession Spiritual Direction

Books that can help understand the first stages:

• Augustine’s "Confessions".
• "The Life of St. Anthony" by St. Athanasius.
• "Autobiography" of St. Teresa of Avila.
• "Story of the Soul" of St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
• "Imitation of Christ".

Readings that can help understand “Spiritual Formation”:

• "Way of Perfection" of St. Teresa of Avila.
• Therese of the Child Jesus’ early letters in the Monastery to her sister Celine.

184- The Immaculate Conception in the Light of Christ our Saviour

or The Contemplative Meaning of the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception

In this text I will be endeavouring to help the reader see the connection between the mystery of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the Mystery of Our Redemption, i.e. Jesus on the Cross saving us.

Let us go back to the definition of the Immaculate Conception as it is given by Pope Pius IX, a reminder of which is given in:

“Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.” (Catechism 491)

“Immaculate Conception” means that Mary was born without inheriting original sin, as we all inherit by conception in the womb of our mother.

It is a « grace » and a « privilege » that Mary received. What I would like to go into in depth here is the relationship between Our Lady as the Immaculate Conception and the Lord Jesus our Saviour.

It is important to realise from the start that the grace was not given to Mary by shortcutting the Redemption realised by Christ. It is a temptation in fact to forget from where and how this “privilege” comes and is given. It is because of Christ, foreseeing his Redemption on the Cross, and coming from it that Mary who receives the grace of being saved from original sin! Otherwise, if Mary were not saved by Jesus, She would be a parallel being to Jesus, coming directly from God. However, in fact, Mary is a daughter of Adam and Eve, but by a preventive act doesn’t receive original sin. She is saved by Jesus on the Cross, and therefore, by a mysterious design of God, is conceived redeemed, i.e. without allowing Original Sin to touch her soul and her being.

Therefore, the difficulty for us is not to accept that Mary was saved by Jesus. The difficulty is just to accept that Mary saved by Jesus is born before the event itself of the Cross, that God, foreseeing and knowing about the Cross, chose to do it even before the birth of Christ. This is the main difficulty I think. We all believe that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23-25) as St. Paul puts it, or better said that all inherit “original sin”. Mary also is supposed to inherit it, but by the grace of the Redeemer She not only fails to receive it, but it also fails to touch her being, from the first instant of the creation of her body, soul and spirit.

In this sense, the Eternal project of God to have us holy and immaculate in his presence, as St. Paul expresses it (Ephesians 1:3-6), is realised in Mary, from the first instant of her creation. Does this mean that after her birth She didn’t need to remain faithful to God? Of course not, She had to walk the walk, and fight the fight, to remain faithful to God’s Grace. Being preserved from Original Sin, being full of the Grace of God from the first moment of her conception, doesn’t mean that She didn’t grow in the Grace of God in ways that we can’t fathom, it doesn’t mean that she was locked in the impossibility of sinning! Of course not! Being in God doesn’t lock our free will but maintains our freedom because we are in a real friendship and not in a state of slavery to the Grace of God. One remains free, keeping his free will! And therefore, She had to fight when all the opportunities of disobeying God presented themselves! Hence all her acts are meritorious, as we say in theology, because of her use of her free will, her corresponding to the grace of God and doing God’s will.

Note: The absolute merit comes from Christ! Nobody can merit the Redemption for we only have one Saviour! Only one who is God and man. But her merit comes from the fact that She is following the grace of God. So the grace of God growing in her merits more graces. “The charity of Christ is the source in us of all our merits before God. Grace, by uniting us to Christ in active love, ensures the supernatural quality of our acts and consequently their merit before God and before men.” (Catechism 2011)

In this sense: from all Eternity, God knew that He would accomplish our Redemption through His Son, on the Cross, and offered the first fruit of the Redemption to Mary.

Why is this so? Because only the New Skin can bear the New Wine, only a being that was never touched by any form of sin can bear to carry the Son of God incarnate; She is truly the Golden and real Ark of the Covenant, bearing the Living Word of the Father in her being! Her being had to be “solid” and not touched in any way, in order to carry the Holy Holy Holy.

This is the thought of the Fathers of the Church. They always considered Mary as the Most Holy Mother of God, “God” here being Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God.

Therefore, it is mandatory for us to better understand our contemplation of the relationship between Jesus and Mary and Jesus and the Church, on the Cross. We know that traditionally Jesus was considered the New Adam. St. Paul speaks about Him this way. Very early on, the Fathers of the Church went back to Genesis to the moment of the Creation of Eve, and saw in a comparable image of the birth of the New Eve from the side of Jesus “sleeping” on the Cross.

If we ask ourselves the question: “who is the first being that comes from Jesus’ side on the Cross?”, there is a tendency to think that it is the Church! While if we pay greater attention to the sequence of events and the connection between the mysteries of our faith, we will find that the first being to come out of Jesus’ Side on the Cross, the New Adam’s side, is not first the Church but truly Mary.

This is in fact one of the deepest aspects of the mystery of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. We say that She has been redeemed in anticipation! Therefore who comes first? Mary or the Church? The Mother of the Church or the daughter i.e. the Church? Who is the real Bride of Jesus? Mary is virgin and mother, and the Church can only be the Church if she is found to be in the image of Mary, virgin (giving all her faith to her Groom) and mother (bearing many children to the groom).

She shall be called ‘Woman’”!

Let us now contemplate something even deeper about the mystery of the origins of Our Lady, from whence She comes! Let us enter deeper into the Mystery of the Cross. Let us re-read Genesis, the mystery of the creation of Eve but under the light of Jesus and Mary.

“But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “at last, this bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”” (Genesis 2:20-23)

Without neglecting the more literal level of the reading, or the first intention of the human writer of this passage, the Fathers of the Church saw in it a deeper layer where they saw through Adam in a “deep sleep”, Jesus himself on the Cross, Jesus the second Adam.

If we continue in the same vein seen already by St. Paul and the Fathers of the Church, and if we contemplate in Eve Mary herself, the Bride, the New Eve we find in Adam’s words something very deep, an explanation given by Jesus as to who Mary is and on her origins:

“at last, this bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. “At last” after this long thirst to find a being that is similar to him (“suitable”) and a “helper”: when Jesus contemplates Mary He sees her the other way around: not him coming from her (he is her son) but her coming from him, extracted from him: “bone [taken out] of my bone and flesh [taken out] of my flesh”! Isn’t this the best definition of the Immaculate Conception, the best scriptural text that embodies it?

Jesus should be saying: I am from her, I am bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh! But strangely, and truly, He says the opposite, going deeper: She comes from me! Where and when? On the Cross, when my side has been opened up, the first redeemed being is the true and only bride: my mother, Mary. All her being is woven from the fibres of my being: She is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, She is extracted from me! What a mystery! I am her Saviour, one hundred per cent. She comes from me on the Cross! If She contemplates this wound in my side She can truly say: “this is where I come from, this is the Source of my being! I have been saved, redeemed by Him and She would sing the everlasting Song with great power, the only Song that can exist for it is eternal: My soul magnifies the Lord and Spirit rejoices in the Lord my Saviour: Jesus, the Son of the Eternal Son of God. I am his servant.

Note: Dante Alighieri said something very simple and at the same time extremely profound about Our Lady, when he said to her: “figlia di tuo figlio”,i.e. “daughter of your son”. He is indeed her “Father” in the sense that He is truly, truly her Redeemer! She is attached to Him and clings to Him as her Redeemer! “My Saviour”.

Let us now examine to the continuation of Jesus’ statement when He contemplates deeply his Mother profoundly: “she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man”. “taken out of”, extracted! She finds in Him her source and origin! This is why She is called “wo-man” (Ish-sha in Hebrew), because She is “taken from” man (Ish in Hebrew).

The only two times Jesus addresses his Mother in the Gospel of St. John (Chapter 2 and Chapter 19) He calls her: woman! In fact, He is saying much to us when He calls her “woman”; He is inviting us to delve deeper into our understanding of the origins of Mary… He is saying to us: here is my mother, yes, true, but I am her Redeemer, on the Cross, you will see, and She is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. This is the true way of contemplating her and understanding who She is.

Isn’t She the Immaculate Conception? Isn’t it written in the Scriptures? Yes.

Now consider this: St. John is the only Evangelist not to mention the institution of the Eucharist in His Gospel! He witnessed it, but despite that, he doesn’t mention it! It should seem strange to us! But instead, John does something very deep in Chapter 19, while witnessing the last will of His Saviour. He tells us the following:

“When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”” (John 19:26-27)

When a person is about to die, he or she might pass on his last will and testament. And his will is the most precious thing one can receive and one can consider it a duty to fulfil. The Lord’s will is to offer us his Mother. But He starts by talking to the mother of the Church and not to the Church itself. He says: “Woman, here is your son”. Which means: I see in you the one who comes from my side, the first redeemed creature. But also, you are the mother of the Church, the mother of all my Children.

But when Jesus says: “here is your mother” to each one of us, He is in fact giving us the one who is “bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh”; the one who will beget us to Eternal life, and the one who is so much part of Him. What is the Eucharist? His Flesh, His Blood (Bones produce the blood). He is offering us the possibility to be born again from Her, as his Body, his Flesh, his Bones.

It has taken the form of giving us something as profound as the Eucharist.

As a continuation of this text please do read: "The Practical use of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception".

183- On the Importance of the Incarnation

The Incarnation is fundamental for our eternal survival.

If we are not inside the Father’s House, it is vital we return to it. Only the Son Incarnate, because He is altogether God and Man, can leave the Father’s House (so to speak) and come to seek us out and rescue us, carrying us in Him - and not only “on him” like the shepherd carrying a sheep - taking us back to the Father's House.

He is the Father's House.

Do we want to spend Eternity excluded from of the Father’s House, where there is darkness, fear and hatred?

Being part of the Father’s House is vital for each and every human being.

The Incarnation is the Father building His House for us: the Son Incarnate.

The Incarnation doesn’t end when the Lord is born of Mary. The Incarnation ends, or realises its mission, or raison d’être, on the Cross and in the Resurrection and Ascension. He reunites us in Him on the Cross. He causes us to us rise with Him. He introduces us in Him (he is the Father's House). He makes us to sit beside Him (so to speak) with the Father, and we shine like the sun (Matthew 13:43) and He serves us, in God’s Eternal Banquet.

"He Saves us” means He purifies us, enlightens us, unites us to Him, and enables us to contemplate Him with His own divine capacity and love Him also with the same divine capacity.

Without the Incarnation none of the above could happen.

He became one of us, so we can, by listening to his Saving Words, and entrusting ourselves to Him, become Divinised.

If we read the Song of Song of Solomon, we discover in hidden Words the enjoyment and delight we are called to have with the Son Incarnate.

According to St Luke, only "in Mary" we can discover the depths of the Love of God. This Ferociously powerful and tender Love for each one of us, so that that it made Him become like us (except for sin) and carry all our being and darkness, to the point that He appeared to have become sin. This He did so that He could get as close as possible to our free will, to offer us His Light and Love – “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20).

It is from an extreme, incomprehensible powerful love that Incarnation has its explanation/origin. It is like an explosion of Love.

According to St Luke, only "in Mary" are we enabled to experience this Love in a lasting and secure way and grow in the experience of it.

The Incarnation allows us to have a share in God’s being, to experience His Being! Divine Humility. Divine Mercy. A mind-blowing overwhelming experience. Incarnation and its realisation (Passion-Death-Resurrection-Ascension) offer us the intimacy of God, like entering into the very bowels of His Merciful Being. The Incarnation continues till today since Jesus choosing to be in his fullness in his bride, continues to be among us, to preach, to give us his being, to transfigure us day after day. He is alive in Her and active through Her in the Holy Spirit. Incarnation continues to the very present time and will continue till the end of time.

Each one of us, having Christ in Him, being part of the Bride, continues and prolongs the Incarnation here in today’s world. If any person touches us physically, he or she is touching Jesus’ Body. This encompasses an even a greater Humility and Mercy from God. Our being is the prolongation of the Incarnation.

From us emanates the light and love of Jesus to the World.

182- Lectio Divina, From Pharisee to Publican

One of the most difficult things in Spiritual Life is to explain what we are supposed to do in order to make Lectio Divina work.

In fact, often Lectio Divina doesn’t work, not because God or Jesus doesn’t want to speak to us, or the Holy Spirit doesn’t want to work in us! On the contrary, Jesus is dying to speak to us. But what we don’t know is: what exactly depends on us to make it happen, what we are supposed to do in order to make lectio work.

St. Teresa of Avila puts it in a nutshell: not knowing the difference in the way the Grace of God works between the general help and the particular help, makes our spiritual life lukewarm, makes lectio divina “abort” quite often. We are often lost between two extremes and can’t find the right measure in between. The extremes are: either to use great aggressiveness, overriding the grace of God and His freedom, acting in fact with an arrogant attitude. Or, to be too passive and fail to do what we are supposed to do! So, in the end, the Grace of God, or more precisely the personal and direct action of the Holy Spirit, doesn’t occur.

If we look at the drawing above, which shows our heart, immersed in the waters of our being, about to give itself to God, and also showing the surface of the water which is the limit between God’s being/freedom and ours, we will see illustrated three different ways to offer ourselves to God, three ways of interacting with God.

It is not uncommon for people to get the general light of God, which corresponds to the moment where the two or more texts are saying the same thing, although through different words, in different places in the texts. But the part of the journey that is paradoxically more difficult occurs, when crossing from this moment to the moment when a clear light causes us to really hear what Jesus wants from us. Why is this so?

One of the reasons is that the person, after having received the general light of the Word of God, switches to almost a more receptive mode, where most of the attention resembles a ruminating state, where the person is almost in a dreamlike state repeating the words that speak to him in each text while expecting the clear will of Jesus to pop up at a certain point, out of His pure grace.

The reality, by contrast, is that there is still an important part of the journey of the descent of the word of God in us that is as yet unfinished, that is, proceeding from (a) to (b)). 

How do we go from (a) to (b)? From the general supernatural light to the particular supernatural light? From understanding that the Lord is talking about Mercy, for instance, as a general reality of the Gospel, to understanding that He is asking me to reconcile with a specific person?

Should I just continue to re-read the parts of the texts that now talk to me and wait until Jesus clarifies His request? It is most probable that nothing will happen because if this is done (i.e. switching to a more receptive attitude) we stop our collaboration with the Lord, stop showing our will.

It is as if the Lord needed a bit of encouragement to dare enter deeper within our being and point out the area He wants to heal. Lectio Divina – like any serious prayer – is an interaction between two beings, God and us, who each has his free will and is supposed to use it. If one stops showing his will and desire, it blocks the process! It is as if two persons were supposed to shake hands and one extended his hand to the mid-distance between them and the other, after having started to extend his hand, withdrew it before reaching the mid-distance. The two hands won’t meet, and in our case they won’t continue to work together - it is as if one ceased to collaborate!

The Lord will not continue to enter within us, because we are not allowing Him to do so! We are receptive, but this receptivity is passive and seems to have abandoned the aim of manifesting his own will. It is as if somebody went to see the doctor saying that he is wounded and happened to stop in the middle of the process of taking off his clothes to show the wound! How would the doctor then see the wound and apply the appropriate medicine to it? Will the doctor apply force and he himself remove the patient’s clothes? Not really! He will respect the reluctance of the patient to go further! This is in fact what is really happening! We stop in the middle of the process, thinking that by becoming more “receptive” we are really doing the right thing!

On the contrary, the desire and the intensity of the begging should increase! Not grabbing the word of God (say: Mercy) and directing it in our own way, but by directing our humble requests, face to face with the Word of God, in the right direction, namely, towards our will which is sick – in the direction of incarnation of that will.

Digging Deeper

It is by digging deeper within ourselves that we can open the way in us for the Word of God to come down, to continue its journey until it reaches the junction between the mind and the will! The word of God is supposed to point out in a certain area in our will what needs to be healed, changed and transformed on a particular day.

The temptation, however, is to unconsciously take a more spiritually comfortable attitude that will jeopardise the continuation of the descent of the Word of God in us toward our will.

Jesus himself said to the Pharisees: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Luke 5:31, Matthew 9:12; Mark 2:17). He warned the Pharisees by saying: the persons who think they are doing well, don’t need Him. And here is the essential question that the practice of Lectio Divina reminds us of on a daily basis: are you spiritually healthy? Are you doing well? Are you ill? Are you blind? Often our attitude, or if you prefer the spirit in which we practise Lectio Divina, seems to say that yes, we are fine. This is the big risk we run when we practise Lectio Divina in a rather half-hearted way.

By faith, out of the mysterious and deep light of faith, we know that since God is God, pure, holy, immense, there must be in us (compared to Him) some dark area, some wounds that need healing, some things that need change. But we don’t see them yet! While we have this general light telling us that the will of God for us today for instance is “Mercy”, we don’t see how it applies in us! Jesus will not force himself on us, showing us what He wants to change! Faith tells us that some area in us needs healing and needs to learn mercy, needs to soften and be more forgiving, and welcoming, but we don’t know how and toward whom! Faith, true faith, tells us that we are blind; faith, true faith is pushing us in a renewed way today, out of our comfort zone, telling us that we are not fine, that we need Jesus!

We shift our attitude, from an attitude of sufficiency, to an attitude of need, dependency and indigence. We accept true vulnerability, the need for divine help and true change.

We can humble ourselves by switching our attitude from the Pharisee’s attitude (one who feels he is really fine and doesn’t really need anything in particular right now from God), to the attitude of the Publican, who has come face to face with his true self, devoid of lies, welcoming God’s light, as crude and harsh as it can be, because he knows that this is the source of possible healing. We can switch attitude, from the person who doesn’t need a doctor to the person who is in urgent and vital need of a doctor and for healing, from the self-satisfied Pharisee to the spiritually poor Publican who counts on God’s mercy.

Who begged for his life? The blind man in the Gospel. It was vital for him!

When I continue my Lectio Divina, what is my attitude? Am I focusing on my healer, Jesus, or I am just relaxing and spending some quality time with God? Am I dealing with the text, trying to figure out some message that is for me, or am I hardly able to bear my state and am asking for the mercy of God, for his healing and to show me my real illness!

Once the blind mean sees, he sees his own defect, his own lack, the space in him for Jesus.

Faith tells me that despite all the progress I might have made, I am still in need of starting today anew, and that I am a really blind person, a really ill person in need of Jesus!

This is the real question Lectio Divina pushes me to ask every day: am I in need of Jesus today or are we just nice buddies? Or a comfortable worshiper? Or just a scrupulous member of the faith who has to fulfil some sort of prayer routine just to feel that all is well?

The general help of the grace of God puts a switch into our hands every day, so we can move from the Pharisee attitude to the Publican attitude.

“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

Humbling oneself is really in the hands of each human being! It is the heart of the art of spiritual life. We all need to learn this art!

“many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first” (Mathew 19:30; 20:16)

Humble yourself before God and He will fill your heart. It is in your hands, within your capability, it is your decision! Gathering together your energy every day, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, this is within your capability, within your means.

Lord Jesus, show us the way to truly humble ourselves. Our Lady, help us and show us how we should even beg more once we start to see the supernatural light of God; open the way in us for the Word of God, to beg our Doctor to show us our wound by opening all our being without any condition or restriction. Show us O Mary, the journey into ourselves, the journey of descent, humbling ourselves, creating a greater space within ourselves for Jesus’ vital healing! Show us Our Lady how to renew it every day.

Remember, there are many passages in the Scriptures which give us the indication of the necessity to humble ourselves in order to receive the Grace of God, i.e. the particular help of the Grace of God, which is the personal and direct intervention of the Holy Spirit in us: 

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6)

“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12 and see Luke 14:11).

“He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.” (Luke 1:52)

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” (James 4:10)

“But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."” (James 4:6)

“This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Remove the turban, and take off the crown. Things will not remain as they are: Exalt the lowly and bring low the exalted.” (Ez 21:26)

“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” (Ps 51:16-17)

181- Pope Francis’ Spiritual Input

Today, there is a lot of confusion within the Church. Many voices are speaking at the same time, often claiming to be right, judging, and deciding what is right and what is wrong. The least we can say is that their discordance creates confusion in the mind of the average faithful.

From a Gospel and from a Spiritual Theology perspective one can notice that various documents and interventions of Pope Francis are addressing issues that belong to a certain stage of growth in Spiritual Life, and of course are meant for real people in the actual Church who are at this stage and would do well to listen to his advice. Not the least of these documents is his letter on the “Call to Holiness”. His kindness and meekness, however, are seen as a sign of weakness. This attitude is very comparable to the case of the Lord, seen by the then Jewish authorities, Scribes and Pharisees, as being very lenient. The emblematic climax of the shock between them can be seen in the case of the Adulteress (John 8:1ss): Moses said we should kill her! What do you say? i.e. are you with the Law or against it?

This stage of spiritual growth (Proficients), to which the Pope is appealing, is described in a masterly way by St. John of the Cross in his book “The Dark Night”, Book I, when we review all seven mortal sins applying them to spiritual life and to spiritual people: spiritual pride, spiritual gluttony, spiritual jealousy…. In this masterly treatment of these seven illnesses or sins he is not talking to beginners in Spiritual Life, but rather to advanced persons (proficients), whom he calls in one particular expression “the spirituals” (los espirituales see Dark Night Book I 1,3; 4,1; 8,1; 10,1…).

One of the major contributions of St. John of the Cross in Spiritual Life and in Spiritual Theology is his Doctrine about identifying serious defects, not in Beginners but in Advanced persons. One can almost say that this is his starting point when writing. In the Prologue of his book “Ascent of Mount Carmel” he declares that he wishes to “say something to relieve the great necessity which is experienced by many souls, who, when they set out upon the road of virtue, and Our Lord desires to bring them into this dark night that they may pass through it to Divine union, make no progress”.

To a certain extent, if we intently embrace all the span of Spiritual Teaching and Spiritual Masters over the past twenty centuries, we can easily say that this approach, despite the fact that it is true, and well in the spirit of the Gospel, is still new: i.e. it has never been presented with such clarity and abundance before St. John of the Cross! St. Paul, in fact, says that the devil can come in the angel of light vestments/garments, trying to seduce us (see 2 Co 11:14).

The good spiritual person is not tempted anymore by bad things, by obvious sins, but rather by spiritual sins, and they are very difficult to identify especially for the person who has not practised advanced discernment.“Spiritual sins” then can be identified as the devil offering a good thing to the person. In fact, it looks slightly shinier andmore « convincing », but less meek and humble and indeed less obedient, more seductive and one that inflates the spiritual ego. So, the “spiritual person” has to choose between a “real good” and a “fake good” that appears to be equally good but, in fact, is offered by the Devil. The foundation of this discernment is the following: not anything that is spiritual is good. By “spiritual” we mean: invisible, and maybe coming from God. The spiritual realm, by definition, is not the material visible realm! Do we know it? The non-material world is not only comprised of God but also has angelsand the Devil. And the Devil can (God allows him to do so) fake “graces” or “spiritual graces”. At this stage the discernment to make is between the real Lord and imitations of the Lord. St. John of the Cross will even dare to set three ways that claim to reach God and not two.

The following is a more representative rendering of St. John of the Cross original drawing. Followed by an English translation. Please note the numbering in red on each of the three ways/path to reach Union with Christ.

1- A way to the right: the way of the spirit gone astray, the person who follows the world: filled with material goods (“goods of the earth”) and therefore material sins (“possessions, joy, knowledge, consolations, rest...”).

2- A way to the left (that does not reach the summit of the mountain of Union with the Lord): the imperfect spirit, the person who is spiritual but who falls into a new spiritual temptation of “spiritual goods” that are not purely God”, the “Crucified naked Lord” as he puts it. The same list of material goods is included here as well, but all specified as spiritual: pride, becomes spiritual pride, gluttony becomes spiritual gluttony, human consolations become spiritual consolations.… 

3- The little path in the middle that reaches the Union with God.  This path rejects the “spiritual good” that is not God himself! In fact our unique and only good is God himself! We go to Him not because of his graces but for the sake of Him. It is as if we do not go to the king for his money and goods but for he himself, even if he is naked and crucified.

Identifying the second way, the way to the left that does not reach the top of the mountain is a total stroke of genius. Spiritual people normally do not know the difference between 2 and 3, it is all one for them! Hence the necessity of discernment and humble obedience! Otherwise the devil will play with that person like a cat with a mouse!

God allows spiritual people to undergo this stage in order to encourage the person toward a deeper obedience and purification. It is absolutely necessary. Still may “spiritual” idols need to be addressed! Idols that are “spiritual”, but which are not purely God himself. Many many people fall into the trap. Why? The fake good looks in fact so good and seduces and many fall! Significantly, St. John of the Cross says that it is almost impossible for any human being not to fall, even a little bit, in this type of sins!

They are sins, however, real sins! But since they appear in the garments of light, and look (apparently) good, people can never identify them as “sins”! On the contrary! We are dealing with spiritual persons who already avoid sin in all its forms! But this new spiritual form is unknown to them! So they fall!

Do we have this teaching in the Gospel? To a great extent we can say that the issue is addressed in the Gospel and on numerous occasions, and the persons who often embody this attitude are the Pharisees. If the Gospel is written for us, it means that all that is in it is for us. So, if the Gospel mentions the Pharisees, the evangelist is not mentioning a Jewish issue, but a typical Christian attitude: one can be perfectly Christian, and a serious committed Follower of Jesus and have the sins, not of the beginners, but of the advanced and these sins are embodied in the Christian Pharisee! If one were to compile a list of all the different passages that are related to the (Christian) Pharisee in the Gospel, one would obtain a picture of the typical deviations proper to advanced Christians. We know pride! It is the most horrible of human sins! But did we ever hear about spiritual pride? It is the pride that a very committed and spiritual Christian can have about spiritual issues? This sin for instance (and many others) does exist, but on a spiritual level: hence, one can think that he or she is better than others spiritually, in the eyes of God. One can think that he or she is a saint! One can think that he or she knows more and better about Spiritual Matters than others. One can think that he or she can discern more and better than others. And this does not include the search for spiritual powers and performance, seeking mysterious knowledge,mysteries, and not fail to be filled with intellectual spiritual pride….

And mostly, what the Lord underlines in the Pharisee is this distorted tendency of leaning on different “spiritual values” or elements, and in their name condemning our brother or sister in our heart!

Mind you, all the above can hardly be seen! We are fooled, deceived! The devil is really hiding under garments of Light, under the pretense of being like a real Angel of Light. A “Higher than Thou” attitude, thinking that we know better, and therefore we can judge, evaluate better than many people, including our leaders! Spiritual belief in oneself then becomes an inflated spiritual pride.

Many of the interventions of the Pope are to help people in this state. Of course, when one is filled with Spiritual Pride, he is the person least capable of listening! But still, the Pope has to talk, has to say it, as the Lord did when He underwent his ministry in Jerusalem. One can read and hear the entire Chapter 23 in the Gospel of Matthew, dedicated to this last necessary battle against the Pharisees and Jerusalem leaders! This applies to us Christians for the Gospel is written for us, not just to tell us past events: it is still valid today; in each generation of Christians we still have the temptation of behaving like the Pharisees.

Who has ears to hear, will hear.

A lot of the confusion which many Catholics feel today comes from the unresolved issues described above. They come from the fact that many “spirituals” do not listen to the Pope, do not obey him, and doing the worst work of the devil they end up by doubting what the Pope says by not seeing the real and pure spirit in his words. Today, in the Church, many voices are talking at the same time and they do not all come from God, but many come from the devil, very well disguised under garments of Light.

8 Sept 2018

Nativity of Our Lady
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