SPIRITUAL DIRECTION 

ACCORDING  TO  

ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS

Quote for Today - December 14, 2013 - Feast of St. John of the Cross


"Spiritual directors are not the chief workers, but rather the Holy Spirit. They are mere instruments. They only guide souls by the rule of faith and the law of God according to the spirit which God gives to each. Their object, therefore, should be not to guide souls by a way of their own, suitable to themselves; but to discern, if they can, the way which God is guiding the other."

St. John of the Cross: The Ascent of Mount Carmel (16 Century).


Comment:

That's the job of a spiritual director. In other words, stay out of the way. It's like Gamaliel's advice in The Acts of the Apostles 5: 34 - 39. Don't get in the way of God. 

Now here's the job of those persons who want to get out of themselves and be with and into God. This comment is also from St. John of the Cross:

"Ecstasy is nothing but the going forth of a soul from itself. It's being caught up in God. It's what happens to the soul that is obedient, namely, that it goes forth from itself and from its own desires and thus enlightened, becomes immersed in God." 

[Spiritual Sentences and Maxims of St. John of the Cross - 16th Century.]

Comment:

Pope John Paul II and many other folks have written and talked about John of the Cross - so start exploring his stuff - some of which you can catch on the Internet. Check it out - but talk to others about what it gets you thinking about. Hence the value of spiritual direction in one's life.

LIGHT AND DARKNESS

Quote for Today - Friday - the 13th day of December, 2013

"When He came - there was no light; when He left - there was no darkness."

Anonymous

Question: Wouldn't that be a great eulogy?

Picture: taken in Sagrada Familia in Barcelona in 2011. 

HEADS UP!

Quote for Today - December 12, 2013 - Thursday

"In a museum in Havana there are two skulls of Christopher Columbus, "one when he was a boy and one when he was a man."

Mark Twain [1835-1910]

Notes: 

At this date, there are no authentic portraits of Christopher Columbus. This painting is by Sebastiano del Piombo - dated 1519.

This is not the only story of head relics.  Here's what Wikipedia reports about the head of John the Baptist: "Several different locations claim to possess the severed head ofJohn the Baptist. Among them: Umayyad Mosque in Damascus; San Silvestro in Capite  in Rome;  and the Residenz Museum in Munich, Germany (official residence of the Wittelsbach   rulers of Bavaria from 1385 to 1918). Other heads were once said to be held by the Knights Templar at Amiens Cathedral in France (brought home by Wallon de Sarton from the Fourth Crusade in Constantinople),  at Antioch  in Turkey (fate uncertain), and the parish church at Tenterden in Kent, where it was preserved up until the Reformation."

Moral of the story: Heads up! You never know if what is on the sign in a museum or wherever is true.

WORDS

Quote for Today - December 11, 2013 - Wednesday

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."

Rudyard Kipling [1865-1936] in a speech, February 14, 1923, found in The Times, February 15, 1923

Questions: Agree or disagree?  If agree, what words knocked you out? And of course, for the sake of transparency, in the course of preaching, I've seen many a person fast asleep.

COMFORT

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 2^nd Tuesday in Advent is, “Comfort!”

At first "Comfort" did not sound like a homily title.

Yet, there it is - the opening word in today’s first reading from Isaiah 40: 1-11.

“Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God.” [Isaiah 40: 1.]

SECOND ISAIAH

That message is the opening words of a whole new Isaiah - called “Second Isaiah” - Chapters 40 to 55 -  written 150 or so years after First Isaiah - Chapters 1 to 39. The scene and the audience is not Jerusalem - as was First Isaiah -  but those in exile up in Babylon.  They certainly needed comfort. They certainly needed hope. They certainly needed to have a dream that they could return home.

HONEY OR VINEGAR?

I ended my homily last Sunday with a wondering about which way is the best way to go - whether it’s in preaching, teaching, coaching, parenting - or what have you.

I made reference to the famous quote: “You catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than a barrel of vinegar.”

I contrasted Scold Christianity - Severe Christianity - Strict Christianity - vs. Compassionate Christianity or Joyful Christianity.

It seems on first glance that Pope Francis is going the way of the spoonful of honey vs. the barrel of vinegar.

We’ve all met coach, teacher, A and B.

We’ve all met or experienced Father Strict and Father Sweet.

We’ve all heard about parents playing the roles of Good Cop vs. Bad Cop.

Which or who is better? Is it an all depends? Does each person have to be true to themselves?

As I was thinking about this I wondered if a person could change if they actually saw themselves being strict, severe and too, too serious - and they wanted to be different or easier.

CARL SANDBURG

I remember reading in his book, The People, Yes, when Carl Sandburg addresses some of these questions in a poem, “A Father To His Son. A father wonders what to say to his son.

“Do I say, 'Life is hard; be steel; be a rock.'
And this might stand him for the storms
and serve him for humdrum monotony
and guide him among sudden betrayals
and tighten him for slack moments.”

Or does he say,

“Life is a soft loam; be gentle; go easy.'
And this too might serve him.
Brutes have been gentled where lashes failed.”

In that  poem he wrestles with the question of comfort or challenge - sugar or salt - the warning of a spanking or the promise of ice cream?

Carrot or stick?

WILLIAM BARCLAY

I remember reading in one of William Barclay’s commentaries - his wonderings about a  student he met. This fellow was too intense, too uptight, too severe - and everyone wondered if this is how Christ is and how Christ functions.

It certainly got me thinking about my outlook and my behavior.  

SCRIPTURES

And in our scriptures we certainly have both takes. 

I have been thinking of this since Sunday when John the Baptist seemed much tougher than Jesus - yet Jesus is described as fire - and burning the chaff and gathering the wheat into his barn.

In today’s gospel, Jesus is the Good Shepherd, searching and saving the lost sheep. In other gospels, he’s challenging folks like the Pharisees with tough love - because they could be a swarm of vipers.

CONCLUSION

So I am left with questions - and I don’t know how comforting questions can be.

So comfort or challenge? 

Fear or love?  

Reaching out or walking away?

A word or the silent treatment?

Which works best - in any given situation?

Sorry, Lord, I don’t know many answers many times. Amen.

JUST WATCHING, 

JUST HOPING

Quote for Today - Tuesday - December 10, 2013

"No matter how old a mother is she watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement."

Florida Scott-Maxwell in Measure of my Days (1968), page 16

AFRAID

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this feast of the Immaculate Conception is, “Afraid.”

That word is found in two of the three readings we heard today: Genesis and Luke.  

Adam is afraid.  Mary is afraid.

AFRAID - THE WORD

Afraid:  meaning frightened,  scared, hesitant, nervous, concerned, worried, tense, fearful ….

Afraid:  I always try to hear reasons why a word sounds the way it sounds. Listen to the word "afraid".  Hear the sound of friction - and fray in it. The letter “f” - the second letter and key sound in this word “afraid” - brings together our lower teeth and lower lip - as in biting one’s lip. That’s something we do when we are afraid or tense or feeling an “Uh oh!” To be afraid is to be bit or pulled or rubbed against by frightening forces. Something is biting us. OOOOOOhhhhhhhh! Uh oh!

Luke 1: 26-38 -  today’s gospel - uses the Greek word “phobos” for  “afraid”. We know the English word “phobia” from that Greek word - as in "phobias".   We have heard about dozens and dozens of phobias people can have: from autophobia [fear of being alone ] to zoophobia [fear of animals]. Does anyone here today have “chionophobia” - which is fear of snow? 

So the word “afraid” is an interesting word to explore.

ADAM AND MARY

In today’s first reading from Genesis 3: 9-15 - we hear about Adam disobeying God. He and Eve did not listen to God and ate the forbidden fruit.

Non-listening to God - as well as others - is often the root of many of our problems.

Communicating and questioning - what Mary does - can be the key to many of our solutions.

When Adam and Eve bit into and ate the forbidden fruit, uh oh, they became afraid. Why? Well they heard God’s voice in the garden. Next they hid. They felt exposed. They felt naked - disobedient - caught in their sin with only their skin. They were afraid.

Mary was afraid when she heard the Word of God. She had Joseph - but she was not married yet. When she was approached by God’s Message and Messenger - to do something for God that seemed impossible - she must have felt an “Uh oh!” -  because the story teller has the angel say, “Do not be afraid!”

And I’m sure you’ve heard a dozen times from us preachers: “This message of 'Don't be afraid!' is a constant in the Bible - when God reaches out to us!”

In fact, we have here in these stories the beginnings of religion. Often it is  fear - afraidness - falls - and wanting to drop out and hide - that bring us to God - to a power greater than our weakness. 

Questioning and questions can also bring us to God.

Being open or being closed? Now that’s a question. Now that’s a life choice.

Adam hid. Mary questioned.

Adam did "No". Mary said, "Yes!"

THE ORGINAL CHOICE: TO BE THE OLD OR NEW ADAM AND EVE.

I’m assuming that our scripture readings place these 2 people: Mary and Adam - or these 4 people - before us: Adam and Eve, Mary and Jesus - as we come to this feast of the Immaculate Conception.  In theology, Mary and Jesus, are called, “The New Adam” and “The New Eve.”

They are placed before us as choices - on how to live life - how to live it to the full - or how to hide in the dark.

In fact, is that the original sin: choosing darkness instead of choosing the light?

Hey Lucifer - means “Light Bearer!” It’s the name of the great fallen angel. [1] In today’s first reading he’s pictured as a serpent, a snake in the grass, crawling along - hissing sin - dismissing God - trying to bring down to his level God’s first people - Adam and Eve. The Serpent tries to bring them down to the dust from which they were sculpted and created by God. This is a push for the horizontal - when our call is to be vertical -  to evolve upwards  - to rise up - to stand up straight - be tall upon the earth.

I loved the joke about a person who dies and wants into heaven - but Peter is not sure if they should get a pass through the Golden Gates. “Well,” says Peter, “If you can find Adam or Eve in 20 minutes you’re in.”  The person comes back with them in 5 minutes. Peter astonished says, “How did you find them so fast?” “Simple!" says the person, "They were the only ones without belly buttons.”

So Adam and Eve started from scratch - with no belly buttons - with no history - but with all the gifts of paradise. They could have everything they wanted - except the fruit from one tree.

Hey there’s always a catch….

There’s always forbidden fruit ….

That’s our origins story. That’s what makes the story so original.

Otherwise the story would be boring….

Question: Why? 

Answer: Mystery....

So they bit - the snake’s story …. and the rest is our history.

Afraid - and sin - and darkness - and hiding - entered our world with them - but then sin became no longer that original.

Well, Mary grew up in that world - but with one original catch. 

Because of  Christ - because of the New Story to come - she was born without the original sin. 

And that’s what we celebrate today.

The Immaculate Conception is an original concept. It's a mysterious teaching from our Church - which took a long time to be articulated - agreed upon - and promulgated.  As I was trying to put this into words, I realized how difficult it is to state what the Immaculate Conception means. It certainly is one of a kind - original - and obviously a mystery.

Let me say this.  Mary had a belly button from her mom - and Christ had a belly button from Mary. That’s us. We don’t start from scratch.  We are connected. We have background. We are part of a history. We are called to be in communion with each other and our history. We begin with Adam and Eve’s story - and in time we can embrace Mary and Christ’s story.

Mary is conceived  without sin so she can bring Christ - who is without sin - Christ who is light - without any darkness  - into our world.

Mary does not have a Divine Nature.... Christ does.  

This feast of the Immaculate Conception brings us smack into the great struggles and controversies and heresies on how Christ is.

Mary is without sin, but this doesn't mean she is not one of us. She felt fear - was afraid - questioned - but then Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

CONCLUSION

Maybe that original “Yes” is the message here - to say  that rather than the original “No” of Adam and Eve.  We have the choice each day to say “Yes” or “No!”

OOOOOOO

NOTES:

Painting on top: Master of Moulins - c. 1500, Coronation of the Virgin Mary

[1] In The New Jerome Biblical Commentary - one can read the following when looking at Isaiah 14: 12-15: “How!: Hebrew ‘ek parallels the ‘ek that opens verse 4b and probably intends to mark a major division. The poet applies to the king a non-Israelite myth of a god (the ‘shining star, son of the dawn’ [verse 12], conceals a proper name, Helel ben Shahar) who aspired to ascend the mountain of the gods and make himself equal to Elyon, for which presumption he was cast down to the netherworld. In the Latin Bible helel was rendered lucifer (‘light-bearer’) and since some Patristic writers saw in this piece an account of the fall of Satan, Lucifer came to a dame for the devil.” [Confer page 239 for this comment by Joseph Jensen, O.S.B.]The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Isaiah 1-39, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 07632, 1990.